Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website for E-Scooters 4 Less, www.escooters4less.co.uk, seen in August 2023, featured a webpage titled “ARE E-SCOOTERS LEGAL?”. Text stated “If you’re looking to buy an E-scooter, it’s important to understand where you can and can’t ride it. The sight of more people riding e-scooters on roads may make you think they’re okay to ride. However, there are different rules for different areas of the country. It’s important to do your research before riding”. This was followed by further text that stated “E-scooters are legal to ride on private land and are being trialed [sic] in some areas of the UK, including London. With more people avoiding public transport […] it’s believed the police are taking a lenient view on e-scooter use unless they’re being used recklessly. At E-Scooters 4 Less, we believe it’s only a matter of time until electric scooters can be ridden freely in the UK”. Text at the end of the ad stated “When riding an electric scooter, it’s important to ensure your rear braking lights are visible and you obey the rules of the road”.
A second webpage contained images and description of an E-scooter available for purchase. At the end of the page a section titled “ARE E-SCOOTERS ILLEGAL?” featured text that stated “E-scooters are being trialled on the pavement in several areas of the UK. For now, they’re banned but our customers tell us regularly that these rules aren’t enforced if you are both safe and considered when riding your e-scooter. We believe the UK government will soon make electric scooters legal again”.
Issue
The Driver Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), who stated it was illegal to ride privately owned electric scooters on UK roads and in public places, challenged whether the ad was:
1. misleading; and
2. irresponsible.
Response
E-Scooters 4 Less did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by the lack of response from E-Scooters 4 Less and the apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
1. Upheld
The ASA considered the Department for Transport’s guidance on powered transporters (an umbrella term that included electric scooters, last updated in July 2020), which stated that electric scooters (e-scooters) could only be used on private land, to which the general public did not have access, with the permission of the landowner or occupier. Although there were currently some very limited exceptions of use in public areas that related to rental (as opposed to privately owned) e-scooters only, we understood that the use of e-scooters outside of those circumstances was illegal. We also understood at the time the ad was seen there were no proposed changes to the legal status or permitted use of privately owned e-scooters.
We considered that, despite the increasing prevalence of e-scooters, consumers would not necessarily be aware of the legality of using them. We understood that the e-scooters featured on the advertiser’s own website were for purchase for private ownership. We considered that the text “E-scooters are legal to ride on private land and are being trialed [sic] in some areas of the UK, including London” gave the impression that consumers would be able to ride privately owned e-scooters, which were not part of those trials, legally on public roads in some areas of the UK.
We further considered consumers would understand the text “When riding an electric scooter, it’s important to ensure your rear braking lights are visible and you obey the rules of the road” within the context of the Highway Code. We considered consumers would be aware of the legal requirements for motorised vehicles using a public road to have a working break light, and because of that, would interpret the text “the rules of the road” as a reference to mandatory rules for road users and that those applied to e-scooters. We therefore considered consumers would understand that they would be able to use a privately purchased e-scooter on a public road if those mandatory requirements were fulfilled.
We also considered that the use of “we believe it is only a matter of time until electric scooters can be ridden freely in the UK” would be interpreted to mean that it would soon be possible to ride privately owned e-scooters legally in the UK on public roads. Because it suggested that a change in law was imminent, we considered that this text further strengthened the impression that consumers were able to ride privately owned e-scooters on public roads.
Because the overall impression of the ad was that it was legal to use privately owned e-scooters on public roads and pavements, we concluded the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1, 3.3 (Misleading advertising) and 3.9 (Qualification).
2. Upheld
As above, we understood that the use of privately owned e-scooters, other than in limited circumstances, was illegal. In areas where rental scooter trials were taking place, it was prohibited to ride those e-scooters on pavements.
We considered that the manner in which the ad described privately owned e-scooters suggested that they could be used on public roads in the UK and that consumers would understand it was legal to use them in those ways.
Furthermore, we considered consumers would understand the text “Are E-scooters illegal?” along with the text “E-scooters are being trialed [sic] on the pavement in several areas in the UK ” to mean that it was legal to ride privately owned e-scooters on the pavement in trial areas. We also considered that the text “… it’s believed the police are taking a lenient view on e-scooter use unless they’re being used recklessly” and “For now, they’re banned but our consumers tell us regularly that these rules aren’t enforced if you are both safe and considered when riding your e-scooter” gave the impression that the law would not be enforced in cases where riders were cautious and sensible. Because the ad implied that both privately owned and trial e-scooters could be used in ways that were contrary to current legislation and suggested that enforcement on the law was lenient in that manner, and that the legislation could therefore be ignored, we concluded that the ad was socially irresponsible.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told E-Scooters 4 Less to ensure future ads did not mislead and were not socially irresponsible by suggesting that e-scooters could be used in public places in the UK. We also told them to ensure their ads made clear that the use of e-scooters was currently permitted only on private land, and there were no forthcoming changes to the law or leniency in enforcing it. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
