Electric Scooters could soon be legal...

Lethal` · 28 Jan 2020 at 15:02

I couldn't find any thread on this so far.

https://www.techradar.com/news/electric-scooters-are-a-step-closer-to-becoming-road-legal-in-the-uk

Personally, I don't see an issue if they're legalised well. It seems to work in other countries and with any luck it would ease the congestion in many urban areas.

Lethal` · 28 Jan 2020 at 15:38

[TW]Fox said:
They are a complete nuisance in other cities

In what way? I think the hire schemes do clutter the pavements and when "parked" which leads to problems for the disabled, blind, pushchairs etc. I'm on the fence about pavement riding but I think I'd lean towards no.

akaFonzie said:
Also, what kind of idiot wouldn't use a helmet with it? I'd presume the similar cyclists who think they are either too skilled, or too cool to wear a helmet, or perhaps they have unsmashable brains? As soon as I actually grew up I never rode a cycle without a helmet, there's too many idiots on the road to not do so... including me.

Have you been to the Netherlands? I don't see many cyclists wearing helmets there.

Lethal` · 28 Jan 2020 at 17:21

CaptainRAVE said:
Good luck with the pot holes.

This was one of my first thoughts too

Some of them are full on craters that you lose a car wheel down let alone a 10 inch wheel...

Lethal` · 28 Jan 2020 at 23:10

Lopéz said:
If you have been to the Netherlands, then you will know it's one of the most cyclist-friendly countries in the world. You cannot even begin to compare the NL road structure with ours, so the discussion of what cyclists there do or don't do is really of no concern.

Fair points. Has it been proven that typical cycling helmets are effective in high speed impacts vs motor vehicles?

Nasher said:
Also the ones I see jumping red lights at the end of my road every single morning

Been a few near misses but I haven't seen anyone get hit yet. Will upload dashcam footage if I do lol

Upload the dashcam footage from today? (or if that has been overwritten tomorrow's footage should do fine).

Lethal` · 29 Jan 2020 at 13:34

Nasher said:
Nothing wrong with that. As in a car, you arent supposed to be "racing" on the road. You also cant expect to be flying across junctions seamlessly.

While I wouldn't fly across the junction even with right of way at least when you're on the major road and not the cycle pavement you have right of way. You don't have to considerably slow, maybe even stop, and then accelerate again every 200m.

Lethal` · 29 Jan 2020 at 15:35

I've also seen the odd one of these around London: https://www.niu.com/en/. I think you just need a CBT (and presumably insurance, VED?)

Might support > 100kg.

Lethal` · 29 Jan 2020 at 17:20

Gaijin said:
Having cycled the road in question for a year, I would be on the main road, and even cycling at an "assertive" pace, with the visibility you generally have you wouldn't need to slow for these junctions particularly, just be vigilant for cars coming out that might not have seen you and adjust your speed/position accordingly.

No-one uses that cycle lane at all as it's completely and utterly impractical.

Completely agree. I wouldn't use it either. This kind of infrastructure is ridiculously common. Box ticking exercise for providing cycle infrastructure by local councils.

Lethal` · 10 May 2020 at 22:22

Bug One said:
From what it sounds like, there is going to be a lot more investment in cycle lanes - so hopefully we'll end up more scooter friendly routes. Hopefully, this gets some people out of their cars.

I'd kinda rather they didn't unless there is a mandated good standard that is adhered to. There are many really dangerous cycle lanes.

I almost got doored the other day while in a cycle lane on a TFL red route. They have put car parking on the pavement right next to it. I always ride to the right of this lane because of the risk but I had not expected this car as it hadn't just parked up or moved. I swerved out into the road lucky that nothing else was next to me. The problem is if I ride in the road at less than 25mph I'll get abuse from drivers for not using the cycle lane... and often it's a headwind.

Lethal` · 30 Jun 2020 at 16:03

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53219331

Rental scooters to be allowed in near future. Somehow Middlesbrough of all places is the pilot town.

So how many e-scooter owners are just going to paint their scooters green and pretend it's a rental?

Lethal` · 30 Jun 2020 at 17:12

Terminal_Boy said:
What percentage is expected to be stolen or sold to a CEX in the first 24 hours?

More likely that 90% of them will be in the local canals and rivers.

Lethal` · 1 Jul 2020 at 16:41

silvagti said:
Given the number of folk I see riding bicycles along the pavement in the city centre I can't see it being long before a pedestrian or rider is seriously injured or killed.

I think they're a great form (green, efficient, low cost) of transport but there are way too many idiots out there to blanket allow them without restrictions like licensing, testing before being allowed to ride them and police actually bothering to enforce the law preventing their use on the pavement.

With that logic why don't we ban cars? They (or rather their drivers) seriously injure and kill people. Many of them drive on the pavement too. Example: https://twitter.com/BBCTomEdwards/status/1277974899768700935

Motor vehicles cause a lot more damage when they are involved in collisions so there's more reason to license and test to drive them.

Lethal` · 11 Oct 2020 at 11:57

adam cool dude said:
What is the major pro with an e-scooter if they cannot use the pavement? A moped does exactly the same thing and costs peanuts to run.

Can't take your moped into your destination and in many places it'll get nicked if left alone.