Electric scooters.

[ebikeerwidnes]

On the subject of laughing at cyclists (or - people on bikes anyway) falling of
Then I have never laughed at one

yet

But last summer a group of teenagers were coming towards me on a canal cycle path - tarmac probably 1.5m wide
The one in the front decided it was a great opportunity to do a wheelie and carried in on as he passed me - I was stopped on the grass but still not much room so he lost it and his front wheel crashed onto the grass on the canal side

I was kinda praying he would end up in the canal
gievn the way his mates were laughing at him - they probably were as well!

 

[cyberknight]

in a simialr vein i nearly wiped out a yoof last night in my car who decided to descend on his bike a poorly lit hill literally on my side of the road , head to foot in black , no lights ( you know the drill ) .fark knows how i managed to swerve and miss the numpty

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

TO putthe other side - I saw a few teenagers (young ones) to day going from Tesco an along the way I was going
They were on a bike and 2 escooters
They were riding on the pavements but as no-one else was on the pavements - and the bits where I saw them the pavements were huge - that was not a problem
and they were riding perfectly sensibly

now when they get a few years older they may drop down to the standard uniform of all black - but at the moment they were being sensible

and I see more and more adults riding them - often looking like they are going to work or similar - and most ride perfectly sensibly
not always obeying the HighWay code to the letter - even if the device was actually allowed - but better than a lot of cyclist I have seen


Just saying there are good ones out there
(but they are not normally carrying a pizza delivery bag!!!)

 

[captain nemo1701]

These ignorant selfish numpties are, and will further, damage everything for the majority who bother no-one and nothing, whether or not they are riding to the absolute letter of the law.

There's a young bloke near me who I often see riding one of those gyroscopic wheels. HOWEVER he keeps a close eye out back and front (has a helmet-mounted mirror) and gets off the darned thing the moment he sees someone approaching, and picks it up. He recognises me, and a few of the regular dog walkers, and doesn't get off immediately but slows right down until - usually - he has to step off it anyway. He is no problem to anyone (except to himself; I am sure that one day he will slither or skid into the canal!) and is more than willing to show interested people how the thing works, where he stands, how he controls it etc.

If all users of these illegal - but clearly fun - things were like him, there would be no issues or complaints from any normal person. As it is, though, there are idiots - on wheels and on fast feet - who speed along the local tracks and paths taking less than no care around dogs, children, walkers, wheelchairs, cyclists, etc etc. They are the ones who will get barrier gates and preventative patrols installed, and reduce both access and enjoyment of legitimate users, yet who will themselves be affected not one whit by barriers (which they will break down or climb through/over) or patrols (which they will merely flee).

We have one here in Bristol too. Funnily, in the 90's Bristol had one bloke who rode the forerunner of escooters...petrol go-ped. Awful noisy thing, left a trail of pungent smoke behind him. I found myself once commuting home in a group of others and we got 'caught behind' a bloke on an e-wheel. I don't think it matters how much fun they look or if they wear all the mirrors on the planet, they aren't really street legal. This guy was turning left, right, up & down pavements....not once did he indicate his intent nor did he perform shoulder-checks. Just kept his hands in his pockets, obviously saying 'Look at me, I'm dead cool on this wheel'. E-wheels...another form of transport for those who have problems putting one foot in front of the other

 

[KnittyNorah]

an e-wheel. I don't think it matters how much fun they look or if they wear all the mirrors on the planet, they aren't really street legal.

They're as street legal as anything else which is illegal on the roads, but there are far fewer people capable of riding them than there are people riding non-trial e-scooters, unregistered e-mopeds and motorbikes etc etc. The bloke in my area will get stopped soon, I am sure, and I am sad about it because, to be frank, he is a shining example of careful and considerate riding/balancing or whatever it is one does on one of those things.
If everyone rode as carefully and considerately as he does, there would be no issues at all. Unfortunately there will always be the idiots like the bloke in your area, riding on/off the road, causing danger and encouraging mayhem among all the other users. I hope your bloke does get stopped soon - and at the same time I hope the bloke in my area doesn't!

 

[captain nemo1701]

They're as street legal as anything else which is illegal on the roads, but there are far fewer people capable of riding them than there are people riding non-trial e-scooters, unregistered e-mopeds and motorbikes etc etc. The bloke in my area will get stopped soon, I am sure, and I am sad about it because, to be frank, he is a shining example of careful and considerate riding/balancing or whatever it is one does on one of those things.
If everyone rode as carefully and considerately as he does, there would be no issues at all. Unfortunately there will always be the idiots like the bloke in your area, riding on/off the road, causing danger and encouraging mayhem among all the other users. I hope your bloke does get stopped soon - and at the same time I hope the bloke in my area doesn't!

Neither should be on pavements on those things. Its just another example of bone idleness culture where addicts crave fast easy cheap transport at minimal possible effort since walking is too hard for the poor little things (so is pedalling). Every time I see an escooter on the pavement I think 'Too idle to walk, too scared of the road'.

 

[Drago]

I kind of agree. While it may be good for congestion and local pollution its bad for perpetuating laziness and an aversion to exercise.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I kind of agree. While it may be good for congestion and local pollution its bad for perpetuating laziness and an aversion to exercise.

I agree - if you are in walking range then it is better to walk

but if I need something from Tesco it is about a 20 minute walk
I can cycle it in a few minutes - I could also escooter it in a few minutes - so I am far more likely to use a 'device' than I am to walk
If I 'need' to quickly whizz out to Tesco to get what SWMBO desires for dinner then I am more likely to use a bike (OK ebike) or escooter than I am to walk

So - short distance - yup walking if better
medium distance - bike, ebike or escooter
longer distance - car

chucking it down is going to be car anyway - but whatever - unless someone comes up with an escooter like thing with a shelter on it - like they have for mobility scooters!


so - finally - allowing some properly regulated escooters (and similar) can reduce fossil fuel usage and associated problems, including localised pollution, for short to medium distance.
with some people - lets face it - some people will just drive their enormous 4x4 diesel tank if they have to go more than 2 yards out of teh driveway - but you sometimes have to take the low hanging fruit (sorry!) and work on the rest later

 

[Drago]

I'm not sure the low hanging fruit are what we think they are. From what I see of e scooterists up my end, legal riders of trial scooters or illegal users, the bulk would have walked before these devices came along. Those eschewing cars to use them appear to be a minority.

So it's perpetuating laziness and an aversion to exercise while simultaneously adding more motor vehicles to the crowded urban environment.

 

[captain nemo1701]

I kind of agree. While it may be good for congestion and local pollution its bad for perpetuating laziness and an aversion to exercise.

It undermines many local authorities who have an 'active transport ' policy to encourage walking & cycling. But the 'micro mobility is the future' mob come along with jumped up toys and 'hey kids, don't do the hard stuff like walking or cycling, jump on an escooter instead, saving yourself any effort as long as you don't mind looking like a mannequin nailed to a plank'

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I'm not sure the low hanging fruit are what we think they are. From what I see of e scooterists up my end, legal riders of trial scooters or illegal users, the bulk would have walked before these devices came along. Those eschewing cars to use them appear to be a minority.

So it's perpetuating laziness and an aversion to exercise while simultaneously adding more motor vehicles to the crowded urban environment.

I agree to an extent - and those people are just being lazy or cool or whatever in most cases

However if the things are made legal - like ebikes - then hopefully more normal people (to a definition of normal that may be rather difficult) will start using them
while they are illegal then this is disincentive to 'normal people' using them

although I may be being rather optimistic here and a more cynical attitude may be closer to what will happen!

 

[Dogtrousers]

I saw/read some conclusions on an electric scooters hire in Bath (I think. maybe Bristol? One of those westerly B places). The conclusion was that scooter journeys predominantly replaced walking journeys. I suppose that's not much of a surprise.

I'm still a bit on the fence with these things. A handy means of transport or a bilthering menace? (shakes fist, writes letter to local newspaper). A bit like dockless bikes. Similar lack of conclusion on my part.

I see people tootling around on them - on the pavement, on the road, in parks. I don't see any huge danger in them. But I do see the potential for danger if people substituted zooming for tootling.

 

[captain nemo1701]

I saw/read some conclusions on an electric scooters hire in Bath (I think. maybe Bristol? One of those westerly B places). The conclusion was that scooter journeys predominantly replaced walking journeys. I suppose that's not much of a surprise.

I'm still a bit on the fence with these things. A handy means of transport or a bilthering menace? (shakes fist, writes letter to local newspaper). A bit like dockless bikes. Similar lack of conclusion on my part.

I see people tootling around on them - on the pavement, on the road, in parks. I don't see any huge danger in them. But I do see the potential for danger if people substituted zooming for tootling.

Allow me to try and get you off the fence:

1. Voi's rules require you to be 18+ to hire them. Yeah...does that include two kids I saw riding one in traffic?

2. Voi says the shouldn't be ridden on pavements. Pavement riding is illegal in the UK. Voi take action against pavement riding by issuing warnings and bans. Excuse me at mo'.. ...they are all over pavements!. They swoop all over. Why anyone needs to do 20mph on a pavement is beyond me.

3. They are practically silent, you cannot hear them coming. A bloke shouted at me recently when emerging from a bus stop for peds only as an escooter rider was coming along behind me. They should not have been there as its a totally separate traffic island for buses.

4. They are frequently ridden the wrong way along one way streets. This includes the wrong way in painted cycle lanes ie. they think they're bi-directional!...Nooo!

5. They are used to hop onto the pavement to get around red lights, seen this quite often.

6. Supposed to be only one rider, often see two. Seems to happen frequently late at night when people emerge from pubs....

7. The current policy when hire is completed appears to be just dump them where you like. I've seen them all over pavements, cyclepaths, even left in a road at the entrance to a bridge tunnel I use frequently (reported that one). The policy is generally 'just fly-tip 'em' and a bloke with a big cargo-type bike will come along and pick them up..........eventually.

 

[Nibor]

Electric scooters are great
View: https://fb.watch/jpBYAEUU1D/

 

[Drago]

What an absolute weenis!