The rise of takeaway apps like Deliveroo and Uber Eats mean fleets of moped-riding delivery drivers are now a common sight in Britain’s towns and cities.
But while they are undoubtedly helping to fulfill our desire for convenience, one issue is concerning road safety advocates – why do nearly all of them have learner plates?
Unlike car drivers who must spend months preparing for practical and theory tests to gain a full licence, anyone over 16 can ride a moped with no test whatsoever.
All that is required is a provisional licence and a certificate showing the rider has passed a one-day training course that does not even test riders on basic knowledge of the Highway Code.
The rub? You have to continue to display an L-plate on your moped.
While these lax rules have long been a boon for youngsters looking for a cheap way to get around, critics believe they have become a loophole that’s allowing full-time professional takeaway drivers to ply their trade on busy city streets without any ‘proper’ road safety qualifications.
They argue that this ‘crazy’ situation is putting other road users at risk, not least because these drivers often work long hours and have to rush around to meet tough delivery quotas – raising the risk of an accident.
A row of mopeds all showing learner plates outside a McDonald’s on Clapham High Street last week
Over a two-hour period on a midweek evening on Clapham High Street, MailOnline only saw two delivery mopeds without L-plates out of the dozens that whizzed past
All that is required is a provisional licence and a certificate showing the rider has passed a one-day training course that is impossible to fail
The claim that red and white L-plates are being used routinely by full-time delivery drivers who couldn’t possibly be considered learners does not seem to be in dispute.
Over a two-hour period one midweek evening on Clapham High Street in south London earlier this month, MailOnline only saw two delivery mopeds without L-plates out of the dozens that whizzed past.
On Newcastle’s Grainger street, all of the six mopeds that passed by in an hour had the plates – although they were vastly outnumbered by riders on electric bikes.
People without a driving licence who want to ride a moped have to attend compulsory basic training (CBT), a one-day course costing between £110 and £200 that does not include a test element.
While instructors can refuse to issue a certificate to anyone who has not completed all parts of the training or they deem unsafe, the pass rate is typically high – 84 per cent according to the latest available statistics.
Vast numbers of moped drivers are being handed certificates after completing this training every year, with 188,125 issued in the financial year 2023 to 2024 and 104,900 in the financial year 2024-25 up to September.
Internet forums are full of people boasting about how easy they found the training, with one writing on Reddit: ‘I did mine in under two hours.
‘One hour riding around a car park and then 40 minutes on the road. Never ridden or even sat on a ped prior to that.’
Official figures reveal 248 serious injuries caused by crashes involving mopeds (categorised as having an engine under 50cc with a max speed of around 30mph) across Great Britain in 2023. Two of those led to fatalities.
A takeaway driver with an L-plate outside a restaurant on Grainger Street in Newcastle last week
Riders for Deliveroo and Just Eat rest between deliveries on Grainger Street
While these figures pale in comparison to serious incidents involving cars (27,211) or motorcycles with an engine over 50cc (5,582), the presence of so many riders who have never had their abilities tested is causing concern.
Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, told MailOnline: ‘It’s a crazy situation in which we have people working as professional riders, who simply do not have the proper qualifications and level of training required to work safely.
Brian McDowall, a spokesman for the Alliance of British Drivers, said moped riders should be required to pass a full driving test.
‘It’s better to have one standard for all drivers and riders to adhere to,’ he said.
‘They’ve only completed a basic training course which you can’t even fail and their competency and abilities to ride safely have never been tested.
‘They are also often working long hours and having to complete multiple trips in very short time frames, as they try to earn a decent wage, which makes it an extra stressful and high-pressure situation which they are simply not trained for.
‘They are working beyond their abilities, putting themselves, other road users and the wider public at risk and something must be done to address this problem.’
Advocates for tighter regulation of mopeds may also point to their use by criminals, most notoriously phone and luxury handbag thieves operating in London.
London black cab drivers are among those concerned about the number of untested moped drivers on the roads
Meanwhile, scams involving moped riders deliberately crashing into other vehicles for bogus insurance claims have soared four-fold.
As of August 2024, 4,000 people had been targeted by ‘crash for cash’ schemes in the past three years, analysis of fraudulent claims received by 21 insurers showed.
Direct Line’s intelligence manager Sarah Cashford blamed the ‘exponentially massive rise’ in this type of scam on new hourly pay-as-you-go insurance policies being ushered in for delivery drivers.
The policies make it easier for scammers posing as couriers to insure their mopeds without paying hefty yearly premiums.
A DVSA spokesperson said: ‘Road safety is our absolute priority and Compulsory Basic Training must be completed by all new riders to get the basic skills and knowledge to ride on the road.
‘Once they’ve completed training, learners are allowed to ride learner-legal motorcycles and scooters for up to 2 years while they practise for a full moped or motorcycle test.’
