E-scooters to be allowed on public roads

[captain nemo1701]

don't know if this is applicable to all e-scooter hire schemes, but, thought that riders were supposed to be over 18, and, possess a driving licence ( a provisional is acceptable), with category Q ?

Yes, that's generally the 'plan' but I've seen kids out on them so the parents are obviously hiring them for their kids to play on.

Yesterday at a large supermarket in Bristol, saw a guy on a private escooter brazenly ride it into the shop as we were leaving, hope security pounced on him. Now that would be fantastically lazy - riding an escooter around a shop.

 

[Drago]

Now that would be fantastically lazy - riding an escooter around a shop.

And that's what these scooters do, at least in the UK. They perpetuate lazy tramsport behaviour.

 

[numbnuts]

In my small village we have about six scooter riders that's all, and they all ride on the road or the cycle paths, never seen them in the shops either.

 

[captain nemo1701]

In my small village we have about six scooter riders that's all, and they all ride on the road or the cycle paths, never seen them in the shops either.

I once saw someone with one in my local Tesco, they were using it like a trolley. They're just an L - shape so I guess difficult to lock unless you have a 'Kensington' arrangement like laptops ie. some hole designed to take a cable/chain lock.

 

[Electric_Andy]

There's no excuse for taking a scooter into a shop IMHO. If I were on any form of motorised or non-motorised transport and I was unable to lock it up, I simply wouldn't go in. It seems that (mostly under 40's) people have this air of entitlement and think they can do what they want as long as they are not inconvenienced

 

[captain nemo1701]

There's no excuse for taking a scooter into a shop IMHO. If I were on any form of motorised or non-motorised transport and I was unable to lock it up, I simply wouldn't go in. It seems that (mostly under 40's) people have this air of entitlement and think they can do what they want as long as they are not inconvenienced

One 'correspondent' on our local rag's website - Bristol has now switched to Tier green escooters - got a tad upset & said that older folk who didn't like them should go back to the 1970's. Well, back then we didn't have these basted things all over pavements.

 

[Drago]

Driving Mini D to school the other say (she would normally get the bus but had a medical appointment in MK that day) I was blatting along the national speed limit country roads when I saw one coming the other way.

It was in a stream of traffic probably doing 45 or 50MPH, so fairly close to the speed limit, and right up the arriss of the car in front.

Thse illegal ones are buttock clenchingly dangerous, and the majority of legal trial ones I see are being ridden unlawfully (two up, on the footway, obvious schoolkids in uniform, etc), thus proving that the great British public cant be trusted.

that being the case, why does the government let the situation persist? Stop the trials, ban the sale of illegal scooters, actually do what the majority of the electorate want them to for a change. It doesn't seem difficult to me.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I don't know if they're waiting for more deaths to occur before they take action. Or if they just don't think it's a big enough problem yet.

Data from gov.UK (I could only find 2020/21):

3 deaths, 253 serious injury. Of which 37 caused to pedestrian (by scooterist) and 14 to cyclists.

Metropolitan: 496 (53.3% of total). Suggests that a city with arguably more transport options does not deter people from crashing on scooters.

On the other hand, approx 1500 deaths in/from cars, and 26,000 serious injuries. Do they think e-scooters are just not a big enough problem to address at the moment?

 

[Drago]

Since the trial began there have been two legal trial scooter related deaths in Northampton alone.

Now, I am well aware it can be an odd place but it seems unlikely that 2/3s of the nation's scooter related deaths (and that's just legal scooters) occur there, so one must question the accuracy or the official numbers, all the more so as I was once one of those that used to help collect the data so know how flawed it can be. The real numbers will undoubtedly be far, far more grim.

 

[icowden]

I don't know if they're waiting for more deaths to occur before they take action. Or if they just don't think it's a big enough problem yet.

Neither. If it isn't going to win votes, it isn't important. Until a Tory grandee finds a way to make money out of the licensing / regulation / protective wear, they won't be interested.

 

[Alex321]

I don't know if they're waiting for more deaths to occur before they take action. Or if they just don't think it's a big enough problem yet.

"They" (whoever that means) probably aren't even considering whether there might be a problem yet, never mind aware of how big or otherwise the problem is.

 

[Drago]

And to cap it all off its has today been revealed that a Voi escooter was used by a 15 year old local lad to ride to town where he committed a murder, and then used the device to make good his escape. Charming.

 

[Squirrel Chaser]

And to cap it all off its has today been revealed that a Voi escooter was used by a 15 year old local lad to ride to town where he committed a murder, and then used the device to make good his escape. Charming.

Maybe busses could be set up on the computer to run any scooter riders over...
( just thinking out loud) 😂

 

[icowden]

And to cap it all off its has today been revealed that a Voi escooter was used by a 15 year old local lad to ride to town where he committed a murder, and then used the device to make good his escape. Charming.

If only he hadn't had the scooter it would never have happened...

Is tat what you are suggesting?

 

[newfhouse]

And to cap it all off its has today been revealed that a Voi escooter was used by a 15 year old local lad to ride to town where he committed a murder, and then used the device to make good his escape. Charming.

Was he wearing shoes?