PARENTS, young people and children have been warned that motorised scooters are not toys.
They should only be taken onto a public place by people who are of age and who are properly insured and have other necessary documents.
The alert comes from a solicitor after a case where a young man was prosecuted for using one of the scooters, as he did not have insurance or a driving licence and he was not wearing a crash helmet.
Flintshire Magistrates Court at Mold heard how the BVGR mini motorcycle, or motorised scooter, was a mechanically propelled vehicle which came within the definition of the Road Traffic Act.
John Andrew Walkowski, 22, of Shotton, was stopped by police one day in August of last year as he rode one of them in Courtland Drive in Higher Shotton.
Prosecutor John Wylde said police asked for his documents and he replied: 'It's only a toy.'
Defending solicitor Phillip Lloyd Jones told magistrates his client had not appreciated that the motorised, mini scooter was a vehicle under the terms of the Road Traffic Act and simply regarded it as a toy.
Walkowski was fined £30 with £30 costs. Due to the number of penalty points on his driving licence he was also banned from driving for six months.
After the hearing, Mr Lloyd Jones said the case should be a lesson to parents and young people as there was a feeling among many that they did not need necessary documentation.
'They should realise the consequences that could befall them if they are caught using such machines in public,' he said.
Mr Lloyd Jones said he understood that one of the major retailers had been so concerned they had issued public notices warning people that driving licences, insurance and all the necessary documentation should be in place before people rode them, and that they should not be regarded as toys for children if they were being used in public places.
