Safety when charging
Somerset Council recognises the benefits of electric vehicles, especially for air quality and public health, and we know more residents are choosing to use them. However, public safety is important. If you are running a cable from your home to your vehicle, it is your responsibility to make sure it does not create a danger or nuisance for other people.
If you do charge your car at home, please be aware of the following:
- Charging your vehicle on the street by trailing a cable across the pavement is not permitted.
- Cables across the path, or hanging overhead are a hazard. It is an offence under The Highways Act to place wires or other apparatus across a path as they can put other people at risk.
- If someone were to trip and injure themselves, you could be held responsible.
- At present, our advice is that people should not trail cables across public highways in any way. This includes the use of a cable protector, cable ramp or any adaptive infrastructure, as these could create a trip hazard.
- We keep our advice under review and will update it if government guidance or policy changes. Our advice on trailing cables will be revised as new policies and procedures are introduced.
We know that not everyone has off‑street parking, you can also find charging locations on the Zap Map website.