Police in Norway seize e-scooter modified to travel three-times speed limit

Electric vehicle tuned to go at 36mph impounded in Norwegian capital

A person on an electric scooter drives past the bus lane on a street in Berlin. The speed limit for e-scooters is 12.5mph in Germany. (AFP via Getty Images)

Police in Norway have seized an electric scooter tuned to travel at 36mph – nearly three times the speed limit.

The e-scooter was impounded by officers in Oslo during a road safety policing operation in the capital.

E-scooters in Norway have a speed limit of 20 kilometers per hour (12.4 mph).

The motorised scooter was seized on Monday in the centre of Oslo in a joint operation between police and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, during which two of the electronic vehicles were stopped for speeding.

E-scooters being trialled in the UK have a maximum speed of 12.5 mph.

Proposals for a wider rollout of the scheme suggest sticking to the 12.5mph limit, which the government says is the same speed limit applied in France, Germany and Denmark. However it is also consulting on whether raising the limit to 15.5mph would be more appropriate.

A report by MPs earlier this month urged the government to legalise e-scooters in the UK as a low-cost and environmentally friendly alternative to driving a car.

The UK is one of the last countries in Europe where the use of e-scooters on roads is illegal, and they are banned anywhere except on private land.

MPs said if the government took “swift action” on the issue e-scooters could become legal forms of transport on roads and cycle lanes by spring 2022.

In 2018, a 15-year-old boy was told he would be given six points on any future UK driving licence he held after being caught riding an electric scooter “at high speeds”.

Cleveland Police said the unnamed boy, who appeared in court after he was caught by officers, was “given six points which will be added to his driver’s licence when he is able to have one”.