Police officers in the English city of Hereford have been ridiculed online for seemingly using a 7.5-ton recovery lorry to tow away an electric scooter that weighs less than 45kg.
The Hereford department of West Mercia Police posted an image of the e-scooter on the back of a flatbed lorry on Facebook on Friday.
In the caption of the aforementioned post, the police were keen to point out that the use of electric scooters is illegal on public roads in the UK (with the exception of a small number of pilot schemes):
You can’t register and tax them because they don’t meet the safety regulations required, so the result is that you simply are not allowed to use them on roads, pavements, or other public places. If you do use an E-Scooter in those places you could face prosecution. Even if you are given a fixed penalty ticket, riding without insurance attracts a £300 fine and 6 points on your driving licence. If you don’t have a licence, the points would be on it when you apply for one.
Followers of the Hereford Cops Facebook Page were nonetheless quick to poke fun at their local police force, asking why such a large vehicle was required to confiscate something that can easily fit in almost any police car.
One page follower wrote “I wonder if they could have found a bigger town truck for that scooter!!!! That would have fitted into the boot of a police car surely.” Another Facebook user sarcastically commented “Should have got a bigger truck don’t think that ones big enough.”
Some users also commented on the fact the e-scooter was unsecured in the photo. However, the police were keen to point out that the image had been mocked in their own yard. Therefore, one would expect that the electric scooter would had been transported in a secure manner.
Photo credit: Hereford Cops