Kettering grandmother left 'bruised and angry' after crash with e-scooter rider on pavement

Watch the moment Shirley Smith was knocked to the ground in a crash with an e-scooter rider

A grandmother has been left bruised and angry after she was knocked over by an e-scooter rider who tried to blame her for the crash.

Shirley Smith, 67, was on the pavement outside her house in Kettering, Northamptonshire, when she was struck on Tuesday, 9 April.

Footage of the crash was captured on CCTV which has been shared with the police who are investigating.

Mrs Smith had just left her house on Windmill Lane to meet a friend when a woman travelling "very fast" on an e-scooter "came out of nowhere".

"This scooter just came and smashed into me and knocked me to the ground," she said.

"I was a bit dazed to start with, but I composed myself and got up and she just looked at me and said 'you weren't looking where you were going'.

"She didn't even ask if I was ok, she didn't help me get up and I was just angry. I ran back to the house."

The government is currently running trials around the UK, including in Kettering, where people can rent electric scooters from licensed operators.

The rules say you can use a rented e-scooter on the road, except motorways, and in cycle lanes, but not on the pavement.

Mrs Smith says she has been left bruised and shaken, but avoided serious injury.

"Mentally, it's made me very angry," she said. "For about three days all I had was anger. I knew the bruise was coming out and if somebody touched me on my arm it was very tender.

"There was a lot of anger, not because I'd been knocked down, but her attitude and her blaming me."

Rental company Voi said it had banned a rider from using its services again in any of the cities in which it operates.

Jim Hubbard, from the company, said: "When I first saw the footage I was shocked and startled and thought I wouldn't want a loved one of my own, such as my mother, going through this experience themselves, which is why we took immediate action to ban the rider responsible.

"E-scooters should not be ridden on the pavement; they should be ridden on the roadway.

"The general rule is they should be ridden on places that cyclists are welcome, so roadways and cycle lanes, but pavements should be avoided."

Voi has contacted the police to help them with their investigation.

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police confirmed the force was investigating, and appealed for anyone with information to call 101.

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