Notes on the practices and appearances of e-scooter users in public space

While the legalisation of and policies around e-scooters remain the cause of much debate worldwide, this article sheds lights on e-scooter users’ current practices and their interactions with pedestrians in the city. Taking an ethnomethodological approach to public space and mobility, we use video recordings of e-scooter riders to show, firstly, how riders dismount and then move to acquire rights to continue moving, thereby ‘playing’ with traffic rules, in order to weave rapidly through congested urban environments. Secondly, we examine how e-scooter riders and pedestrians deal with the potentially unexpected appearance of e-scooters via displays of attention, adjustments of speed, and the relative rights and obligations established via category-relevant spaces. The findings offer insights into the integration of e-scooters as one of what may be many new forms of electric powered micro-mobility in urban space. •Examines e-scooters as a novel and disruptive presence in urban, public space.•Using video data, investigate riders’ practices and interactions with pedestrians.•Describes how e-scooters riders switch from vehicle to pedestrian categories.•Details how the surprise appearance of e-scooters to pedestrians is managed.•Details e-scooter riders’ use of gaze, speed and category-relevant spaces.