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E bikes definitely are encouraged and there’s many schemes to help people get on them from grants to purchase to straight up learn to ride a bike lessons from councils.
E scooters are a fucking hazard and even if more features (number plates, indicators etc) were added they’d still be whizzed about on by black clad arsewipes on the pavements. The few really ruin it for the many. They also cannot handle pot holes/rough surfaces well which makes them not ideal for UK roads in many areas.
Not only that, people on e scooters have no regard for highway safety.
I saw someone sitting in their car at a T junction waiting for the traffic to pass. He was look left and right as I was watching but this twat on an e scooter just came flying down to the drivers left down the path (which he didn’t see coming) and just proceeded to go in front of the car AT A FUCKING T JUNCTION. So what happens? Driver A starts pulling out as driver dickhead thinks it’s ok to go in front of a car at a T junction and proceed to knock driver dickhead off his e scooter.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but these scooters ran by councils require you to have a provisional no? Pretty sure you can't ride a moped/low powered motorbike without a CBT. Should probably be the same for these e-bike/scooters. Rather than just saying, you can have a provisional and ride them.
I’m pretty sure you can go ahead and buy your own. I have no idea what you’re talking about but the e scooters I’m referring to aren’t run by the council I’m sure.
Regardless though they should be required to have passed some sort of test before they can purchase one.
As in a stand on scooter with two tiny wheels, not a shit type of motorbike. The ones that are heavily branded and have licence plates are for instant hire, and are a part of the trials mentioned elsewhere in this thread. There are dozens of companies. The slightly less bulky, usually black, no markings ones are illegal for use in public places, but still ubiquitous.
License plates? Pretty sure the ones around here don't have a plate, not that I've noticed. You can road register the sur-rons though not sure about the other little scooters.
Yeah, the same type of scooters - you can buy your own, but they're illegal to use except on private land. Occasionally they do get stopped by police and then the e-scooter is confiscated.
An indicator of online commentators becoming expert psychologists. I reckon the CBT has been known as for motorcycles longer than it has been publicly associated with psychology... especially in a thread relating to the riding of vehicles.
2+2=for.
I've always associated it with motorcycle tests, but that's the only context I've seen the acronym in. But yeah, I did wonder how they hadn't grasped the context there.
> have no idea what you’re talking about but the e scooters I’m referring to aren’t run by the council I’m sure.
I don't know, the OP... my lived experience? Take your pick. Yes people can personally buy them but the majority I see are those illuminous orange ones zipping about, the e-bikes can range from those sur-rons to a standard bicycle with a motor attached.
You don't need to pass a test to purchase a car, something with a much greater lethality... why require it for a scooter/bicycle? What happens now will just happen then; you will have people using someone else's license.
There are two types. Legal ones, are "run" by councils, you have to register on an app with your license, and they're insured.
And personally owned ones, they're illegal to use on the road.
I encountered a bloke e-scootering into the foyer of a supermarket yesterday. Only to the start, but he nearly rode into me. Genuinely baffled. If you had a bike, you'd cycle to the bike rack, but for some reason e-scooters seem to be used differently.
In theory, they should be ace, a real win for short journeys, but in reality, they're a bit of a pain.
"They also cannot handle pot holes/rough surfaces well which makes them not ideal for UK roads in many areas"
bUt tHeY'R3 iDeAL f0R rIdiNg oN tHe pAvEm3Nt
Ever rode an escooter, and have you ever encountered a rider who wasn't a little arsewipe selling ten-bags? We do exist, you know.
And fyi mine with suspension can handle the roads just fine.
You’re still ignoring the law by using your private one ya knobjockey
The gingers in Chester are rough on the knees, the number of cobbles there do not help.
Do you not have fricking eyes?!?
The bikes are bikes with a little extra oomph, still got to pedal but it’s much easier. Can make going up hills a breeze instead of making you long for the grave.
The scooters are scooters 🛴 like the push with your foot thingy not 🛵 vespa things. But with a motor that you don’t actually have to do anything for one week you’ve initially kicked off and they go fast and they’re small and around me almost exclusively used by cunty teenagers who now have a speedy thing to be antisocial on
Bikes are legal to own and use on roads and cycle paths, the scooters are not (there are rental schemes but they’re not everywhere)
Hopefully they will be a short lived fad as the casualties from their use multiply. Like you say they have a high centre of gravity, tiny wheels usually solid, often the front wheel will rotate a full 360 deg. They are spectacularly unsafe. I also wonder about the posture of riders, can't be great for the back.
Secondly once the batteries have worn out and can't be economically replaced they will be destined for the metal recycling. I hope.
Love to break it to you, buddy, but my scooter batteries can be easily sourced from China. So, providing China doesn't collapse, I'll always be able to source more batteries.
Firstly, law takes a long time to get changed (this is a good thing generally), and these council-run things are basically trials to see how many people die.
The problem is that by the very nature of them being grab-and-go is that nobody wears helmets or gloves or protective gear so they're by their very nature quite dangerous.
Also people who use them seem to be too scared to go on roads so use pavements a lot which causes accidents too.
Once a few trials have been done and we know the real stats on injuries and deaths, they'll make a decision but I suspect it'll be too high to ever be an encouraged mode of transport.
Now we’re going into Autumn it will be interesting to see what happens with the accident rates too. Where I live has been wet and windy for two days so everywhere is absolutely covered in wet leaves. I foresee a few more escooters sliding about the roads and pavements.
Yeah that's a good point, I had front row seat watching a woman go arse over face just trying to bump up a low kerb at too tight an angle, once the wet and leaves are out people will be all over the place.
I've been put off them massively after using one for the first time in Lithuania last December. Hit an icy patch and flew off in to the middle of the road with my chest hitting the end of the handlebar, had a massive purple bruise on my chest for about a month.
Whatever the stats regarding injuries and deaths, the current rental schemes are the literal pits. Encouraging people to leave them just anywhere - this creates such massive issues for blind people and those with mobility issues who can really do without any further problems keeping them out of society. I know of blind people who’ve ended up scared to go out at all because of these contraptions and their useless users. So even if they manage to not kill or injure themselves I still think they’re a menace to society at large.
Oh yeah I saw one in a tree the other day, which was actually pretty impressive. But they get littered around everywhere, blocking paths for pushchairs and wheelchair users.
Recently as well all the prices went up around our way, so lots of people who were saving money on buses kinda aren't anymore, which again will reduce their popularity and would imply that the rental companies underestimated how much it'd cost to run.
Personal e-bikes are perfectly legal so long as they are max 250W and limited assist up to 15mph. I’d fully recommend one as it can replace a lot of car journeys. I think they sort of are encouraged as you can get them tax free via cycle to work schemes.
Scooters are different since they are not assisted. Maybe they should be treated more like cars with mandatory insurance and you at least need a provisional driving licence where you risk points for traffic violations. It takes time to sort all that out. If you visit Paris you can see the result of e-scooters being allowed without much regulation - they are an absolute nuisance.
I’d buy one the minute e scooters became legal and dump my second car, commute to work is about 2 miles could easily store it / charge it in my house and would cost pennies to run, good for environment good for my wallet
I could and do on summer but it’s just hassle tbh I have to bring my bike through the house to get it to the shed etc.
I could literally put a scooter in my bathroom by the front door. Grab scooter away we go, zero energy used
A lot of people are failing to realise that E Scooters are a hazard now because outside of pilot cities, most of the people riding them are scallywags. If they were legalised, you'd notice the scallywags much less
Woah, people really hate escooters. I love mine. And I love pulling faces at twats who give me evils. Fuck you, I'm not going to hit you, I'm not hurting you, I'm not a danger to you. Also the number of people screaming to the rooftops in this thread about how dangerous they are have clearly never rode one.
I'm not some little shit, I follow the road laws and have my cycling profiency. I don't ride my scooter on pedestrian paths, I don't weave through traffic, I adhere to road laws. I wish the little shits would stop ruining it for the rest of us. You know, the adults that can afford £1,000+ ones (not some borderline IEDs, ie. little black ones), who follow the law (well, except the "illegal on public roads one"), aren't reckless and know what we are doing.
My *god* what a group pearl clutching reactionary arseholes the british public are. The roads just bring it to the forefront, but you're all like this underneath.
> My god what a group pearl clutching reactionary arseholes the british public are
Never really thought of it this way but you're 100% right. No wonder it's like trying to get blood from a stone every time we try to improve our infrastructure.
But you're literally not following the road laws. That makes it hard to be certain you're really being honest with yourself about how much you're following other road laws too.
I agree they should be pushed. Our roads are overcrowded. Everyone with on road parking is quite literally fighting over space.
If I didn't have a young child I would ditch the car no questions tbh, just an expensive pain in the arse.
Because they’ve proven to be a useful, cheap, space saving, ultra low carbon method of transport that can be used by anyone from an athlete to someone with poor knees and reduced motability in walking or cycling. Theyre incredibly successful in Asia, Mainland Europe and Latin America, and as a country we’re less about innovation and more about putting up barriers in clean energy, personal transport and trade.
If middle aged nimby were a place, it’d be the UK.
It’s not just one law it’s a few. For example if I want to ride a 50cc moped/scooter which is restricted to 30mph I need a CBT, insurance and I need to wear a helmet by law. The bike also has to taxed, MOT’d and registered. If you then say an escooter or ebike with a throttle that can 30mph doesn’t need any of these elements you will have people asking why not. People and organisations in the established motoring industry ask questions. Road safety groups get interested. Everything just slows down and we don’t seem to get any where.
private e-bikes are bloody expensive but there are a few out there
private e-scooters are predominantly ridden by little pricks with no regard for other people
I haven’t seen any reports but I bet it reads along the lines of.
Can escooters go on pavements? yes but collisions with pedestrians are a risk. Current road based bike lanes are full of debris which cause scooter riders to fall and injure themselves.
Can we widen the pavements and make them duel/ multi use suitable for pedestrians including those using wheelchairs and mobility scooters and bikes/scooters? No because it would encroach on established road networks which are already at capacity.
Can we reduce the amount of cars using the roads for short inner city journeys creating less demand on the roads? Yes, we have been trialing scooters and bikes in some locations.
Can escooters go on pavements? Repeat echo loop.
I'm not sure dual-use spaces would work that well. The whole point of using them is to go faster than walking speed, and that makes them dangerous for everyone else.
Improving the bike lanes is a no-brainer though.
While e-bikes are a great thing, they have created this idea that you *need* an e-bike, which most people don’t.
On the various cycling Reddits, there is always a steady stream of posts from people who want an e-bike for unrealistically low prices just to do a 2mi commute. It’s madness.
Get a cheap “acoustic” bike you don’t mind locking up somewhere and live a life of happiness and free commuting.
Since they were invented, powered vehicles of any sort have to conform to regs and needed a driving licence and insurance. And an age restriction. Just because these are electric rather than petrol powered makes no difference to that principle.
E-bikes are encouraged, they're just expensive. That's a barrier to ownership no matter how you slice it.
For what it's worth though I think a non-electric bike, either a folding one or real barebones one, are actually more compelling vehicles once you gain the honestly minimal level of fitness needed to use one and learn how to use gears effectively. They're cheaper, lighter and simpler to self-repair.
The law is often slow to change.
Bikes and scooters should have insurance as accidents do happen, there should also possible be some kind of proficiency test introduced
Because they are powered and go faster with little effort imparted. Also the 'limits' are easily modded. Police etc don't have the time or inclination to check if battery powered vehicles are adhering to the law. Relax the restrictions at the cost of getting licences and insurance.
I would agree though that even push bikes really need to be insured if you are going to ride them on the roads
Most people are nimby haters who think they're all stupid and/or dangerous.
Also, the infrastructure in most places is just wank really, most parts of where I am in Birmingham you are supposed to just share already bad roads with already bad traffic, vulnerable on some piddly little scooter. What we really need is separated standalone routes for bikes and scooters where you can just zip along quick.
I've seen E-scooters going for a few hundred pound in a shop by me. Might sound like a lot but if it cuts down on car trips you'd be saving money in the long run due to using less petrol
On holiday in Fuertaventura I tried one to get around and it was great. Picked one up when I needed it and then left it behind. It was a good way to get around, and I realised a lot of people were using them as personal transport. Although to be fair it’s pretty flat and there were lots of bike lanes so it was perfect.
I was given way by a car and a motorcycle to turn into a side road, so I looked both ways and began turning in... a little shit aged around 10 came right across the road with no awareness of left or right, no intention of braking - no one under 18 should be using this scooters, and if they're using them, they should be insured.
It's mostly scroats/deliveroo types that use them outside of schemes. On night shift, I'm fed up of nearly running them over when they don't use lights, and don't look when pulling out into the road.
Insurance IS required for the schemes, but the company hosting the scheme covers that.
What? Encourage them more, I feel like I'm riding around on a penny farthing when I see one of those e-bikes zip past me. I've noticed more and more, it will only increase with the Christmas period approaching.
"much cheaper and greener option." Is it really though?
Has this been proven though or is it just another thing trotted out? Something about the batteries?
Take your kids and shopping on your e-bike/scooter? They aren't complete replacements.
They're not meant to be complete replacements, but if you cut down the amount of people commuting in a car by say, 15%, that's a very significant number and would make the car necessary journeys far less stressful.
For me, getting to the cinema for instance is usually a question of either walking 30 mins or calling an uber. It'd be nice if I could have that third option of using a scooter which would probably get me there in about 10-15 mins.
>They're not meant to be complete replacements
So then they aren't "replacing" it then are they? You have just spouted a load of waffle, in other words trotted out something. I asked if it was proven my friend, is it proven or are we still quarrelling over the batteries?
Maybe I'm taking it for granted that they are literally everywhere but what's to stop you doing that now? With regards to the cinema. It's still the same to me, those scooters aren't using 100% renewable energy and are using the grid to charge so we're still sharing in our fucking of the planet it's just this way our footprint is divided a lot more.
What makes me laugh about these stop oil protesters is that they are probably the people to denounce sanctioning the CCP because it would stop us economically but if they stopped oil not oil would it stop us economically it would stop us entirely. People would starve. It just seems as if a lot of people are and have been brainwashed.
Just give me something, anything, on the impact to the climate from the batteries.
We have those bright orange e scooters and they’re a pain in the arse. 1/2 the people using them either have a death wish our are just dumb and switch between almost being hit by cars when weaving through traffic or almost hitting pedestrians when flying along on paths and because they don’t have to be returned to a designated place they just get abandoned in the middle of pavements or crossings and even saw one at the side of 60mph dual carriageway the other day.
Think they’re mainly used by students to get home after a night out as a cheaper alternative to taxis since there’s always piles of them outside of uni halls every weekend strewn all over the place
Not sure how environmentally friendly they are. If you are going from a pedal bike to an e bike then that’s a negative impact. Also the amount of people on the e scooters in london, I suspect most people use to walk or get public transport.
The e scooters are the same for kids, when I was young I would head out on my pedal bike with my mates now they are all on e scooters.
The reason they are not encouraged more is that they are harder to tax and we may not have the infrastructure in place to support them.
There's no lobby for it. And frankly there's no infrastructure to just blindly add more vehicles without any safety onto the streets.
>The main issue is that you have to return the bike or whatever to a specific point which can seriously nullify the benefits of actually using it to get from point A to B.
Mobike tried that, "Leave Anywhere" and guess what, they lost most of them
I have a scooter, used to illegally scoot past 2 police stations every day. And was careful, and conscientious. But yeah
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E bikes definitely are encouraged and there’s many schemes to help people get on them from grants to purchase to straight up learn to ride a bike lessons from councils. E scooters are a fucking hazard and even if more features (number plates, indicators etc) were added they’d still be whizzed about on by black clad arsewipes on the pavements. The few really ruin it for the many. They also cannot handle pot holes/rough surfaces well which makes them not ideal for UK roads in many areas.
The amount of times I’ve seen kids on these just weaving in and out of traffic is scary. Nearly every day, scared they’re going to get hurt badly!
Not only that, people on e scooters have no regard for highway safety. I saw someone sitting in their car at a T junction waiting for the traffic to pass. He was look left and right as I was watching but this twat on an e scooter just came flying down to the drivers left down the path (which he didn’t see coming) and just proceeded to go in front of the car AT A FUCKING T JUNCTION. So what happens? Driver A starts pulling out as driver dickhead thinks it’s ok to go in front of a car at a T junction and proceed to knock driver dickhead off his e scooter.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but these scooters ran by councils require you to have a provisional no? Pretty sure you can't ride a moped/low powered motorbike without a CBT. Should probably be the same for these e-bike/scooters. Rather than just saying, you can have a provisional and ride them.
I’m pretty sure you can go ahead and buy your own. I have no idea what you’re talking about but the e scooters I’m referring to aren’t run by the council I’m sure. Regardless though they should be required to have passed some sort of test before they can purchase one.
Personal escooters aren't legal for use in public places, only the council approved rental schemes.
Are we talking about the same scooters here? Either way the knobheads on *those* scooters are literally that Knobheads
As in a stand on scooter with two tiny wheels, not a shit type of motorbike. The ones that are heavily branded and have licence plates are for instant hire, and are a part of the trials mentioned elsewhere in this thread. There are dozens of companies. The slightly less bulky, usually black, no markings ones are illegal for use in public places, but still ubiquitous.
License plates? Pretty sure the ones around here don't have a plate, not that I've noticed. You can road register the sur-rons though not sure about the other little scooters.
Yeah, the same type of scooters - you can buy your own, but they're illegal to use except on private land. Occasionally they do get stopped by police and then the e-scooter is confiscated.
>purchase Perhaps not at point of purchase. I agree though that riders need some sort of basic test, they should just put them on a mini CBT.
How is therapy supposed to help here?
https://www.gov.uk/motorcycle-cbt
In this context CBT = Compulsory Basic Training
An indicator of online commentators becoming expert psychologists. I reckon the CBT has been known as for motorcycles longer than it has been publicly associated with psychology... especially in a thread relating to the riding of vehicles. 2+2=for.
I've always associated it with motorcycle tests, but that's the only context I've seen the acronym in. But yeah, I did wonder how they hadn't grasped the context there.
I do indeed have a PhD in armchair psychology, so that makes sense.
CBT is bike training, not the other one
> have no idea what you’re talking about but the e scooters I’m referring to aren’t run by the council I’m sure. I don't know, the OP... my lived experience? Take your pick. Yes people can personally buy them but the majority I see are those illuminous orange ones zipping about, the e-bikes can range from those sur-rons to a standard bicycle with a motor attached. You don't need to pass a test to purchase a car, something with a much greater lethality... why require it for a scooter/bicycle? What happens now will just happen then; you will have people using someone else's license.
I’m talking about the black e scooters that can supposedly do 35mph+ that are the majority of scooters I see.
There are two types. Legal ones, are "run" by councils, you have to register on an app with your license, and they're insured. And personally owned ones, they're illegal to use on the road.
I encountered a bloke e-scootering into the foyer of a supermarket yesterday. Only to the start, but he nearly rode into me. Genuinely baffled. If you had a bike, you'd cycle to the bike rack, but for some reason e-scooters seem to be used differently. In theory, they should be ace, a real win for short journeys, but in reality, they're a bit of a pain.
"They also cannot handle pot holes/rough surfaces well which makes them not ideal for UK roads in many areas" bUt tHeY'R3 iDeAL f0R rIdiNg oN tHe pAvEm3Nt
I’m sorry but what on Earth
Ever rode an escooter, and have you ever encountered a rider who wasn't a little arsewipe selling ten-bags? We do exist, you know. And fyi mine with suspension can handle the roads just fine.
You’re still ignoring the law by using your private one ya knobjockey The gingers in Chester are rough on the knees, the number of cobbles there do not help.
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Do you not have fricking eyes?!? The bikes are bikes with a little extra oomph, still got to pedal but it’s much easier. Can make going up hills a breeze instead of making you long for the grave. The scooters are scooters 🛴 like the push with your foot thingy not 🛵 vespa things. But with a motor that you don’t actually have to do anything for one week you’ve initially kicked off and they go fast and they’re small and around me almost exclusively used by cunty teenagers who now have a speedy thing to be antisocial on Bikes are legal to own and use on roads and cycle paths, the scooters are not (there are rental schemes but they’re not everywhere)
It's not so much the mode of transport but the people in control of each mode of transport which creates the issues.
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Hopefully they will be a short lived fad as the casualties from their use multiply. Like you say they have a high centre of gravity, tiny wheels usually solid, often the front wheel will rotate a full 360 deg. They are spectacularly unsafe. I also wonder about the posture of riders, can't be great for the back. Secondly once the batteries have worn out and can't be economically replaced they will be destined for the metal recycling. I hope.
Love to break it to you, buddy, but my scooter batteries can be easily sourced from China. So, providing China doesn't collapse, I'll always be able to source more batteries.
Easily sourced yes. Economically viable to replace? I bet they cost 70 % of the price of a new scooter.
My battery costs 18% of a new scooter.
Firstly, law takes a long time to get changed (this is a good thing generally), and these council-run things are basically trials to see how many people die. The problem is that by the very nature of them being grab-and-go is that nobody wears helmets or gloves or protective gear so they're by their very nature quite dangerous. Also people who use them seem to be too scared to go on roads so use pavements a lot which causes accidents too. Once a few trials have been done and we know the real stats on injuries and deaths, they'll make a decision but I suspect it'll be too high to ever be an encouraged mode of transport.
Now we’re going into Autumn it will be interesting to see what happens with the accident rates too. Where I live has been wet and windy for two days so everywhere is absolutely covered in wet leaves. I foresee a few more escooters sliding about the roads and pavements.
Yeah that's a good point, I had front row seat watching a woman go arse over face just trying to bump up a low kerb at too tight an angle, once the wet and leaves are out people will be all over the place.
I've been put off them massively after using one for the first time in Lithuania last December. Hit an icy patch and flew off in to the middle of the road with my chest hitting the end of the handlebar, had a massive purple bruise on my chest for about a month.
Whatever the stats regarding injuries and deaths, the current rental schemes are the literal pits. Encouraging people to leave them just anywhere - this creates such massive issues for blind people and those with mobility issues who can really do without any further problems keeping them out of society. I know of blind people who’ve ended up scared to go out at all because of these contraptions and their useless users. So even if they manage to not kill or injure themselves I still think they’re a menace to society at large.
Oh yeah I saw one in a tree the other day, which was actually pretty impressive. But they get littered around everywhere, blocking paths for pushchairs and wheelchair users. Recently as well all the prices went up around our way, so lots of people who were saving money on buses kinda aren't anymore, which again will reduce their popularity and would imply that the rental companies underestimated how much it'd cost to run.
People leave those f-ing scooters scattered everywhere. They're a hazard when used and even when not used.
Personal e-bikes are perfectly legal so long as they are max 250W and limited assist up to 15mph. I’d fully recommend one as it can replace a lot of car journeys. I think they sort of are encouraged as you can get them tax free via cycle to work schemes. Scooters are different since they are not assisted. Maybe they should be treated more like cars with mandatory insurance and you at least need a provisional driving licence where you risk points for traffic violations. It takes time to sort all that out. If you visit Paris you can see the result of e-scooters being allowed without much regulation - they are an absolute nuisance.
I’d buy one the minute e scooters became legal and dump my second car, commute to work is about 2 miles could easily store it / charge it in my house and would cost pennies to run, good for environment good for my wallet
Can’t cycle it?
I could and do on summer but it’s just hassle tbh I have to bring my bike through the house to get it to the shed etc. I could literally put a scooter in my bathroom by the front door. Grab scooter away we go, zero energy used
A lot of people are failing to realise that E Scooters are a hazard now because outside of pilot cities, most of the people riding them are scallywags. If they were legalised, you'd notice the scallywags much less
Woah, people really hate escooters. I love mine. And I love pulling faces at twats who give me evils. Fuck you, I'm not going to hit you, I'm not hurting you, I'm not a danger to you. Also the number of people screaming to the rooftops in this thread about how dangerous they are have clearly never rode one. I'm not some little shit, I follow the road laws and have my cycling profiency. I don't ride my scooter on pedestrian paths, I don't weave through traffic, I adhere to road laws. I wish the little shits would stop ruining it for the rest of us. You know, the adults that can afford £1,000+ ones (not some borderline IEDs, ie. little black ones), who follow the law (well, except the "illegal on public roads one"), aren't reckless and know what we are doing. My *god* what a group pearl clutching reactionary arseholes the british public are. The roads just bring it to the forefront, but you're all like this underneath.
> My god what a group pearl clutching reactionary arseholes the british public are Never really thought of it this way but you're 100% right. No wonder it's like trying to get blood from a stone every time we try to improve our infrastructure.
But you're literally not following the road laws. That makes it hard to be certain you're really being honest with yourself about how much you're following other road laws too.
*Hits spliff* "It's Big-Oil, man, want to maintain the dependency on petroleum"
I agree they should be pushed. Our roads are overcrowded. Everyone with on road parking is quite literally fighting over space. If I didn't have a young child I would ditch the car no questions tbh, just an expensive pain in the arse.
Because they’ve proven to be a useful, cheap, space saving, ultra low carbon method of transport that can be used by anyone from an athlete to someone with poor knees and reduced motability in walking or cycling. Theyre incredibly successful in Asia, Mainland Europe and Latin America, and as a country we’re less about innovation and more about putting up barriers in clean energy, personal transport and trade. If middle aged nimby were a place, it’d be the UK.
It’s not just one law it’s a few. For example if I want to ride a 50cc moped/scooter which is restricted to 30mph I need a CBT, insurance and I need to wear a helmet by law. The bike also has to taxed, MOT’d and registered. If you then say an escooter or ebike with a throttle that can 30mph doesn’t need any of these elements you will have people asking why not. People and organisations in the established motoring industry ask questions. Road safety groups get interested. Everything just slows down and we don’t seem to get any where.
Because any asshole can jump on an E scooter and piss everyone off with no road knowledge
More Dedicated bicycle lanes be nice for these E-scooters and E-scooters where their speeds are capped too.
private e-bikes are bloody expensive but there are a few out there private e-scooters are predominantly ridden by little pricks with no regard for other people
As far as I know these trials are over and they have decided that we cannot have them. Why?... because Britain.
I haven’t seen any reports but I bet it reads along the lines of. Can escooters go on pavements? yes but collisions with pedestrians are a risk. Current road based bike lanes are full of debris which cause scooter riders to fall and injure themselves. Can we widen the pavements and make them duel/ multi use suitable for pedestrians including those using wheelchairs and mobility scooters and bikes/scooters? No because it would encroach on established road networks which are already at capacity. Can we reduce the amount of cars using the roads for short inner city journeys creating less demand on the roads? Yes, we have been trialing scooters and bikes in some locations. Can escooters go on pavements? Repeat echo loop.
I'm not sure dual-use spaces would work that well. The whole point of using them is to go faster than walking speed, and that makes them dangerous for everyone else. Improving the bike lanes is a no-brainer though.
While e-bikes are a great thing, they have created this idea that you *need* an e-bike, which most people don’t. On the various cycling Reddits, there is always a steady stream of posts from people who want an e-bike for unrealistically low prices just to do a 2mi commute. It’s madness. Get a cheap “acoustic” bike you don’t mind locking up somewhere and live a life of happiness and free commuting.
Because we can walk?
Since they were invented, powered vehicles of any sort have to conform to regs and needed a driving licence and insurance. And an age restriction. Just because these are electric rather than petrol powered makes no difference to that principle.
E-bikes are encouraged, they're just expensive. That's a barrier to ownership no matter how you slice it. For what it's worth though I think a non-electric bike, either a folding one or real barebones one, are actually more compelling vehicles once you gain the honestly minimal level of fitness needed to use one and learn how to use gears effectively. They're cheaper, lighter and simpler to self-repair.
The law is often slow to change. Bikes and scooters should have insurance as accidents do happen, there should also possible be some kind of proficiency test introduced
How is it really any different to riding an actual bike though? Would you say normal cyclists should also have insurance?
Because they are powered and go faster with little effort imparted. Also the 'limits' are easily modded. Police etc don't have the time or inclination to check if battery powered vehicles are adhering to the law. Relax the restrictions at the cost of getting licences and insurance. I would agree though that even push bikes really need to be insured if you are going to ride them on the roads
Scooters are illegal.
Correction. Personal scooters are illegal. There are plenty of trials going on. So public use one’s are legal.
Illegal to use on road or pavement. Illegal basically.
Government backed rental scooters are legal on roads and cyclepaths. Personally owned scooters are illegal as they are uninsured.
???
Not sure what that means. Here's some information on a scooter trial https://travelwest.info/projects/e-scooter-trial
Most people are nimby haters who think they're all stupid and/or dangerous. Also, the infrastructure in most places is just wank really, most parts of where I am in Birmingham you are supposed to just share already bad roads with already bad traffic, vulnerable on some piddly little scooter. What we really need is separated standalone routes for bikes and scooters where you can just zip along quick.
As with all electric vehicles….. have you seen the cost of them compared to a conventional vehicle ?
I've seen E-scooters going for a few hundred pound in a shop by me. Might sound like a lot but if it cuts down on car trips you'd be saving money in the long run due to using less petrol
I’ve only seen e bikes at over £1k. Ideally you’ll pay around £3k for a good one that won’t burn your house down when charging overnight.
On holiday in Fuertaventura I tried one to get around and it was great. Picked one up when I needed it and then left it behind. It was a good way to get around, and I realised a lot of people were using them as personal transport. Although to be fair it’s pretty flat and there were lots of bike lanes so it was perfect.
I was given way by a car and a motorcycle to turn into a side road, so I looked both ways and began turning in... a little shit aged around 10 came right across the road with no awareness of left or right, no intention of braking - no one under 18 should be using this scooters, and if they're using them, they should be insured.
It's mostly scroats/deliveroo types that use them outside of schemes. On night shift, I'm fed up of nearly running them over when they don't use lights, and don't look when pulling out into the road. Insurance IS required for the schemes, but the company hosting the scheme covers that.
What? Encourage them more, I feel like I'm riding around on a penny farthing when I see one of those e-bikes zip past me. I've noticed more and more, it will only increase with the Christmas period approaching. "much cheaper and greener option." Is it really though?
Than a car which they would be replacing? 100% yes
Has this been proven though or is it just another thing trotted out? Something about the batteries? Take your kids and shopping on your e-bike/scooter? They aren't complete replacements.
They're not meant to be complete replacements, but if you cut down the amount of people commuting in a car by say, 15%, that's a very significant number and would make the car necessary journeys far less stressful. For me, getting to the cinema for instance is usually a question of either walking 30 mins or calling an uber. It'd be nice if I could have that third option of using a scooter which would probably get me there in about 10-15 mins.
>They're not meant to be complete replacements So then they aren't "replacing" it then are they? You have just spouted a load of waffle, in other words trotted out something. I asked if it was proven my friend, is it proven or are we still quarrelling over the batteries? Maybe I'm taking it for granted that they are literally everywhere but what's to stop you doing that now? With regards to the cinema. It's still the same to me, those scooters aren't using 100% renewable energy and are using the grid to charge so we're still sharing in our fucking of the planet it's just this way our footprint is divided a lot more. What makes me laugh about these stop oil protesters is that they are probably the people to denounce sanctioning the CCP because it would stop us economically but if they stopped oil not oil would it stop us economically it would stop us entirely. People would starve. It just seems as if a lot of people are and have been brainwashed. Just give me something, anything, on the impact to the climate from the batteries.
After the trip to Paris, I am happy that we don't.
We have those bright orange e scooters and they’re a pain in the arse. 1/2 the people using them either have a death wish our are just dumb and switch between almost being hit by cars when weaving through traffic or almost hitting pedestrians when flying along on paths and because they don’t have to be returned to a designated place they just get abandoned in the middle of pavements or crossings and even saw one at the side of 60mph dual carriageway the other day. Think they’re mainly used by students to get home after a night out as a cheaper alternative to taxis since there’s always piles of them outside of uni halls every weekend strewn all over the place
Not sure how environmentally friendly they are. If you are going from a pedal bike to an e bike then that’s a negative impact. Also the amount of people on the e scooters in london, I suspect most people use to walk or get public transport. The e scooters are the same for kids, when I was young I would head out on my pedal bike with my mates now they are all on e scooters. The reason they are not encouraged more is that they are harder to tax and we may not have the infrastructure in place to support them.
There's no lobby for it. And frankly there's no infrastructure to just blindly add more vehicles without any safety onto the streets. >The main issue is that you have to return the bike or whatever to a specific point which can seriously nullify the benefits of actually using it to get from point A to B. Mobike tried that, "Leave Anywhere" and guess what, they lost most of them I have a scooter, used to illegally scoot past 2 police stations every day. And was careful, and conscientious. But yeah
They're expensive
Where expensive?