Jon Moss [Hampstead Village Voice]

THE former drummer in Culture Club has warned about the dangers of e-scooters after his son was badly injured in an accident while riding one.

Jon Moss’s son Clyde was out on his e-scooter near Finchley Road a fortnight ago when he came off, breaking his left tibial plateau – the area where the shinbone meets the knee. The 23-year-old required surgery and faces 10 weeks of recovery before he can walk ­normally again.

Mr Moss, best known for his time in the legendary 1980s band, compared e-scooter riders to many inexperienced ­drivers in their first cars.

“Most people don’t know what to do in an emergency,” he said. “They’re unsure and they panic. It’s all fine until there is a situation where they’re in danger.

“You’ve got a very tall T-bar and small wheels, so if you have to stop quickly, you’re going to do what most people do on a bike and put your foot out, but then you can end up twisting it.

“They’re dangerous and shouldn’t be legal. I don’t think they’ve been tested properly. They’re being trialled in parts of London and I don’t think people know what the dangers are.”

Trials began at the start of this month in six ­London boroughs where people could rent the e-scooters. Camden is not included in the first tranche.

Currently e-scooters are illegal to ride in public places, but they have become a more familiar sight on pavements over the past 18 months.

In the trial, which involves several firms already involved in ­renting bikes out in the capital, they are limited to 12.5mph, and only people with provisional or full driving licences can use them.

They should only be ridden on roads and in cycle lanes, not on pavements. Yet many currently being used are privately owned and have a far higher speed limit and differing safety features.

In July 2019, TV presenter Emily Hartridge became the first person to be killed on an e-scooter in the UK, when she ­collided with a lorry at a roundabout in Battersea.

Other injuries have been reported, and Mr Moss believes that his son’s accident should be ­another warning.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.

“He could have come off and hit his head, he could have come off and gone underneath a lorry on the Finchley Road. My message to people is that these are not toys. People see them as toys and have a ­different mentality. They think it’s all fun until something happens.

“There should be some sort of test, even if it’s voluntary. You won’t know what will happen until there is an emergency, apart from that you have got the pain and danger to yourself and other people. You can have a very, very serious accident on these things and they’re dangerous, more so than they seem.”

Mr Moss, 63, said it reminded him of an ­accident he had on New Year’s Eve in 1978, when he was thrown through the front windscreen of his car in Frognal while on his way to see the Ramones at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park – because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

“I lost a lot of blood. I woke up thinking I was in a First World War trench. I was in a bad way,” he added.

Commenting on the start of the trial in parts of London, Transport for London’s walking and cycling commissioner, Will Norman, said: “E-scooters have been on our streets for some time now but with very little regulation.

“This trial will have safety at its heart, bringing in rigorous precautions and parking measures while taking the needs of all road users into account and seeing what role e-scooters can play in London’s future.”