Get Private E-Scooters Off All Transport For London Services Immediately
The National Federation of the Blind of the UK wants all private e-scooters off all Transport for London Services due to the fire risk they pose following the recent e-scooter fires at Stanmore and at the Parsons Green Station. The film showing the smoke filling the train and the fire from the e-scooter was frightening and terrifying. If the fire had been in rush hour and underground, people would have been burnt to death, choked to death and crushed to death with the resultant panic that would have set in due to the smoke and flames. The charity cannot understand why there was not an instant ban on them being allowed to be carried on TfL services and calls for immediate action to be taken to prevent further risk to human life.
Sarah Gayton, NFBUK Street Access Campaign Coordinator, stated:
‘Its been a month since the Transport for London e-scooter fire at Stanmore and just under four weeks since the e-scooter fire at Parsons Green Station and TfL is carrying on as nothing has happened. It is absolute insanity to allow passengers to take private e-scooters onto the underground and on any of the services. These e-scooters are an immediate fire risk and they need to be off all TfL services. Imagine being squashed together on the underground when one of these machines starts to smoke and then bursts into flames. There would be absolute panic and people would get killed, they would be burnt alive, choked to death from the smoke or suffocated to death through the crush. It is that simple and there should have been a ban introduced instantly after these fires happened. The NFBUK calls upon Andy Byford to take immediate action and to ban them’.
Reference London Underground: https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/london-underground-shocking-video-shows-22065642 4 November 2021
Example of e-scooter smoking and catching fire on twitter, this is not in the UK however it clearly illustrates what happens.