The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has called for the legalisation of "electric scooter-surfboard gizmos"—that is, he wants self-balancing scooters to be legal on pavements in London.

Currently, self-balancing scooters—which, much to the chagrin of Marty McFly, are sometimes called "hoverboards"—cannot be ridden legally on UK pavements or roadways. They can be used on private ground, but only with explicit permission from the owner—so you shouldn't technically use a self-balancing scooter at the shopping mall, either. Self-balancing scooters fall afoul of the same legislation that prevents the infamous Segway from being allowed on UK roads and pavements: section 72 of the Highway Act 1835 in England and Wales, and the Roads (Scotland) Act of 1984.

Boris Johnson, however, in his weekly tirade against life in The Telegraph, said that he now wants to legalise the use of self-balancing scooters in London. "I have consulted Transport for London (Surface Transport) experts, and they think [the law is] hogwash. They are a new and potentially liberating form of personal mobility. We want to legalise them."

"If the oldsters can charge towards you on their terrifying chariots, the youngsters should be able to waft on their boards," Johnson continued. His column this week was mostly about how pensioners in the UK get "free TV licences and free bus passes and winter fuel allowances," while at the same time "the Nimbyism of the baby-boomers—their very great reluctance to have more homes built in their neighbourhoods, or spoiling their views of green spaces" is making it hard for millennials to get on the property ladder.

Anyway, back to the case in point: at the moment, if you ride a self-balancing scooter down the pavement, you could be liable for a fine of up to £500—the same fine that can be levied against you for riding a bicycle on the pavement.