Jim Shannon

It is a real pleasure to speak under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for securing the debate. I want to give a Northern Ireland perspective. A senior doctor in the Belfast trust has aptly described the number of children being injured by e-scooters as an “epidemic”. It is an epidemic, not just in Northern Ireland but across the United Kingdom. More than 120 children within the Belfast trust area have been treated for injuries sustained in accidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters in the past 24 months. A similar picture is emerging in England, where a study estimates that nearly 500 children have been injured in e-scooter accidents since 2019. Sadly, those figures do not surprise me. In my Strangford constituency, I regularly see e-scooters practically flying past the window along the footpath in front of my office, with pedestrians jumping aside to avoid being injured in a collision. Across the UK, 59 deaths involving e-scooters have been reported, 10 of which involved people under 18. We cannot wait for another child or older person to be hit and suffer life-altering injuries or worse. We must do everything we can to prevent a 60th death. I welcome the Minister to his place; it is good to see him back in harness again, so to speak. Pedestrians are not the only ones at risk; riders are vulnerable to serious injury. Research into major trauma cases highlights the potential for devastating head injuries and damage to internal organs, yet reports suggest that less than 6% of e-scooter riders in Northern Ireland wear a helmet; in England that figure is estimated to be below 2%. Again, the threshold for a long-lasting injury—