Electric Scooters

[Amarillo]

We are not trialing cars with a view to introducing them to an already crowded road system though are we.

Remove 100 single occupancy cars and replace with 100 single occupancy e-scooters and Hey Presto! suddenly you have so much more road space.

 

[WelshGas]

Do electric cars have audible warnings?

Yes they do.

New rules coming into force today (1 July) dictate that all new fully electric vehicles must be fitted with an audible warning device to aid safety. ... The devices will be fitted to all new EVs with at least four wheels sold in the UK henceforth, and hybrid vehicles from July 2021 onwards.

 

[WelshGas]

Remove 100 single occupancy cars and replace with 100 single occupancy e-scooters and Hey Presto! suddenly you have so much more road space.

Or give each person a chicken. Think how many vehicles could be taken off the road for egg shopping.

 

[Lightning]

Yes they do.

New rules coming into force today (1 July) dictate that all new fully electric vehicles must be fitted with an audible warning device to aid safety. ... The devices will be fitted to all new EVs with at least four wheels sold in the UK henceforth, and hybrid vehicles from July 2021 onwards.

Good, it should be no problem adding a noise to an eScooter either, if it’s needed or useful. What about bicycles though?

 

[Louis II]

Remove 100 single occupancy cars and replace with 100 single occupancy e-scooters and Hey Presto! suddenly you have so much more road space.

i do wonder how many escooter and ebike journeys actually replace a car journey. Most people I know use them to replace a bus, walk or pedal bike.

 

[WelshGas]

Just let the scooter riders cull themselves. We need more Organ Donors.

 

[Amarillo]

Well mark my words once the scooter genie has been properly let out of the bottle there will be all sorts of issues cropping up. How do you suggest they are policed? You say that they should be confined to roads and cycleways. That may be the law but it won't be the practice. Further more motor vehicles are being restricted from using residential streets to make life safer for the those living there. Introducing a plague of often lawless scooter riders is hardly going to assist that aim.

Some often moan about cyclists on the pavement (and the police overlooking the offence) but it’s far more common for cars to be driven on the pavement, but this is considered perfectly acceptable by those same people. It’s only pushing pushchairs or the disabled unable to squeeze past those cars driven on the pavement *and left there* who are inconvenienced after all…

We need to get some of this into proportion.

 

[Lightning]

i do wonder how many escooter and ebike journeys actually replace a car journey. Most people I know use them to replace a bus, walk or pedal bike.

I’ve seen a lot of people using them for deliveroo deliveries. It’s mostly youngsters though, public transport in Bristol is dire and expensive, and it has big hills. These scooters have filled a gap.

 

[Amarillo]

Whichever one is on the pavement.

It is more common than most people think for cars to be driven on the pavement, and often left there.

While tragically one or two pedestrians are killed every five years by cyclists on the pavement, it is so common for a pedestrian to be killed on the pavement by a car driver that it hardly ever makes the news. There’s nothing to suggest that pedestrians will be any more at risk from pavement scooterists than pavement cyclists. It is pavement motorists who kill pedestrians.

 

[Amarillo]

Yes they do.

New rules coming into force today (1 July) dictate that all new fully electric vehicles must be fitted with an audible warning device to aid safety. ... The devices will be fitted to all new EVs with at least four wheels sold in the UK henceforth, and hybrid vehicles from July 2021 onwards.

Can I get the Nokia tune fitted to an electric car.

 

[Amarillo]

Good, it should be no problem adding a noise to an eScooter either, if it’s needed or useful. What about bicycles though?

Bikes must by law be fitted with a bell at the point of sale.

Christmas 2019 and Santa bought horns for my sons. They were soon fitted to the stoker bars on our tandem triplet. What a racket they can make. Santa has since regretted the presents.

 

[Amarillo]

i do wonder how many escooter and ebike journeys actually replace a car journey. Most people I know use them to replace a bus, walk or pedal bike.

I think there we have the crux of the objection to e scooters.

The road is the domain of those rich enough to have a car, and people are worried about *their* space being used by those who can’t afford a car.

Fewer than 50% of London households have no car.

 

[Amarillo]

It already goes further than ebike regulation, you already need a driving licence and insurance for an escooter. Fire bikes the only regulation is the top assisted speed limit, the power limit and the pedelec requirement.
The scooters are treated more like mopeds in law.
There is not enough enforcement, I have seen fairly young kids riding the hire ones tonight, I don’t know how as you have to photograph your licence to register.

The requirement for insurance and a licence could easily be revoked.

I really cannot see why e-scooters should not be treated the same way as e-bikes.

 

[andyinluton]

I really cannot see why e-scooters should not be treated the same way as e-bikes.

Nor do I. Keep them off the pavements & strict limits on power / speeds.

I think there’s really 2 different types of scooter causing different problems.

There’s generally the slow “legal” ones causing problems on the pavements & then what I would prefer to term electric motorbikes causing problems on the roads.

If th have motor bike levels of performance then motorbike licensing insurance etc should apply.

 

[Lightning]

The requirement for insurance and a licence could easily be revoked.

I really cannot see why e-scooters should not be treated the same way as e-bikes.

They don’t have pedals, so they cannot pedelec, which seems to be a fundamental differentiator between evilest and anything else at the moment. If bikes were invented today they would have to have number plates etc.

 

[Lightning]

They don’t have pedals, so they cannot pedelec, which seems to be a fundamental differentiator between evilest and anything else at the moment. If bikes were invented today they would have to have number plates etc.

Ebikes not evilest…

 

[andyinluton]

Some often moan about cyclists on the pavement (and the police overlooking the offence) but it’s far more common for cars to be driven on the pavement,

Rubbish
The difference is that the cyclists and scooter riders are using the pavement deliberately, cars being driven on the pavement where people are hurt is invariably the result of someone loosing control.

 

[Louis II]

I think there we have the crux of the objection to e scooters.

The road is the domain of those rich enough to have a car, and people are worried about *their* space being used by those who can’t afford a car.

Fewer than 50% of London households have no car.

Not really, i just questioned whether escooters are actually replacing car journeys as you suggested or in fact other types of journey.

 

[Amarillo]

They don’t have pedals, so they cannot pedelec, which seems to be a fundamental differentiator between evilest and anything else at the moment. If bikes were invented today they would have to have number plates etc.

I’m not sure about that.

Since 1893, Switzerland had a compulsory bike registration scheme, which included insurance, and compliance was very high. They abandoned the number plate in 1989 and the mandatory insurance in 2012. It was deemed pointless, costing more to administer than paid out in claims.

 

[Amarillo]

Not really, i just questioned whether escooters are actually replacing car journeys as you suggested or in fact other types of journey.

I expect it’s a bit of both.

 

[Amarillo]

Rubbish
The difference is that the cyclists and scooter riders are using the pavement deliberately, cars being driven on the pavement where people are hurt is invariably the result of someone loosing control.

I regularly see cars deliberately driven on the pavement - actually *far far* more regularly than cycles being ridden on the pavement.

How do you suppose these cars ended up on the pavement?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

 

[andyinluton]

I regularly see cars deliberately driven on the pavement - actually *far far* more regularly than cycles being ridden on the pavement.

How do you suppose these cars ended up on the pavement?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

They have been driven onto the pavement, they are not driving along it. Massive difference.

 

[Borris]

I think there we have the crux of the objection to e scooters.

The road is the domain of those rich enough to have a car, and people are worried about *their* space being used by those who can’t afford a car.

Come on Tom, do you really believe that nonsense?

You keep pointing out that the car is the real villain in what seems like all circumstances. That may or may not be true however they exist and they aren't the issue here. This post is about Escooters.

As far as I can assertain the Escooter is currently only on trial as a hire vehicle in various locations around the country. You can buy them but they can only legally be used on private land. So the assumption is that their being allowed on a permanent basis isn't a certainty.

The concern is not so much about Escooters as they are merely inanimate objects. No, the real objection to Escooters is the way in which they are likely to be used. They are becoming a frequent sight in our towns and very often they are not being riden in a safe and legal manner. Since their widespread use is not yet approved these concerns need addressing now before the final decisions are made. By constantly comparing their use to that of the villainous car driver isn't helpful or that relevant. The objection has little to do with road space and everything to do with the manner in which they will doubtless be ridden.

The question of enforcement applies to all road users including cars, cycles and Escooters. Just because one group of road users are often guilty of breaking the law in some way or other doesn't mean that it's ok to let another new group onto the roads to do the same. If we cannot enforce the law adequately then should we be introducing them at all? These issues need careful consideration now.

 

[Joker 1299]

This is an e-bike…

 

[66tim99]

Well mark my words once the scooter genie has been properly let out of the bottle there will be all sorts of issues cropping up. How do you suggest they are policed? You say that they should be confined to roads and cycleways. That may be the law but it won't be the practice. Further more motor vehicles are being restricted from using residential streets to make life safer for the those living there. Introducing a plague of often lawless scooter riders is hardly going to assist that aim.

Yes - The police already have been stripped of their resources to such a degree they rarely have time to investigate ‘petty’ crime like burglary. I’m glad to hear they are now seizing e-scooters but will they be resourced to continue? They seem to have given up on cyclists running red lights...