Are electric skateboard legal in the UK?

Just to help, the answer seems to be an unfortunate yes :frowning:

Hover boards were banned by 72 of the Highway Act 1835.

I am on my board everyday, often in central London, I have never had any issues. Been past massively secure buildings swarming with bored police (the most dangerous kind) - they donā€™t care. I think unless you are driving like a cock and endangering people they are not going to bother you.

One thing that has been niggling me is the guy who has recently gone to prison for knocking a girl over while cycling a bike with only one brake and she died. If bike with just a brake missing is enough to send him down theyā€™d have a field day with an accident on a powered skateboard. Iā€™d say I am pretty safe and always slow down when passing anyone on the cycle paths but I guess you never know when someone is going to drift out when youā€™re overtaking them.

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itā€™s all about riding defensively, yeah itā€™s a PIA to have to slow down all the time but if it saves injury to yourself or someone else itā€™s worth it. I am especially mindful of cars, itā€™s fairly obvious who is going to win that one :slight_smile: I think the biggest safety factor gain is remembering to constantly look over your shoulder and keep good spatial awareness of everything around you at all times - the potholes, grates and manhole covers donā€™t make this easy to do but itā€™s a necessity IMHO

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Iā€™ve ridden through London a couple of times, many times around my town, passed hundreds of police and nothing so farā€¦

Im here in irelandā€¦but in the uk a male was stopped on a electric skateboard and breathalysed He was found to be overā€¦he went up in front of the judgeā€¦the judge said he could not say it was a mechanically propelled vehicle he threw it outā€¦ill see can i find it on the net

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I was going to quote this too, did so in a previous post. After reading it I ride on roads in London but my commute to work goes against the general flow of traffic so I have plenty of open roads and cycle lanes for the narrower parts.

I live in North London and have clocked just over 950 miles since building my board in May. I can say Iā€™ve never had an issue and I believe its because I show consideration for my own and the safety of others (cars included).

Ride safeā€¦ And floor it when no one is looking

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The common consensus is that they are not. e-bikes enjoy a special exemption provided that they meet a number of conditions (including a 15 mpg speed limiter), mobility scooters are actually allowed on pavements (and not roads) if they have a 8 mph speed limiter and quad bikes need to be registered with DVLA and that starts with obtaining whatā€™s called ā€œtype approvalā€ (meaning you need breaks, rear view mirrors, registration plates, etc). In short, the police could argue an e-board is a carriage and would need DVLA approval. I am aware that a number of Silicon Valley start-ups are trying to get the UKā€™s road laws modernised to accommodate electric skateboards and scooters but progress is slow.

I have ridden about 15 miles a day on an Evolve board, mainly, around London. I tend to stick to the cycle lanes where police officers (in full view of me) seem content. I hear that, occasionally, the police in London blitz riders targeting e-boarders but if I were to see that ahead of me, Iā€™d stop and walk pass them.

If you are on a pavement or boarding dangerously, I am sure the police would want to find an excuse to prosecute but my experience is that they are not particularly bothered.

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I ride down embassy row and it is guarded by the police. They have never said anything apart from asking about my board and how I made it.

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