E scooters

Wayners

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2023
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Gloucester
I still find it bizzare that you can hire an e scooter and use on public road, but not buy one for same purpose.
Police confiscating them in the news...
I know you need insurance ect, so why not open it up for everyone to buy and ride.
Are there any other transportation vehicles that you can hire but not buy and use yourself?

Pedalo maybe? Ha
 

StuartsProjects

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 9, 2021
1,704
952
I still find it bizzare that you can hire an e scooter and use on public road, but not buy one for same purpose.
Have you checked if the eScooters you can buy, in Halfords for example, are the same type and specification as the ones you can hire in some places ?
 
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Wayners

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2023
326
73
54
Gloucester
Because kids use E-scooter with no protection or insurance? Hiring eliminates that problem?

I've seen kids on hired E-scooters. Guess they use false details or older family members details
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,866
30,414
I still find it bizzare that you can hire an e scooter and use on public road, but not buy one for same purpose.
Actually the article you linked to doesn't give the real reason, here is that real reason, shabby political manoeuvring:

With "America First" Trump out of the way and Biden in place, Boris Johnson was hoping to get a trade deal with the USA. For some years the US e-scooter hire firms had been trying to get them into Britain, since they were already in the continent.

So Johnson thought he might curry favour with Biden by allowing them in on a trial. Biden though didn't play ball and turned out to be as bad as Trump with "America First", so it was a wasted attempt by Johnson and we were stuck with the trial.

The reason the trial can't be extended to private owners is that our law prevents any type of powered vehicle unless it has both a specific type approval and a specific usage permission law, but these dont have those in place. This trial is only permitted by a temporary time limited ministerial order, no use when someone buys a vehicle to keep long term.

At the end of the trial if the government makes up it's mind to keep them, the necessary laws will be passed. Otherwise they will just tell the Americans to pack them up and go home.
.
 
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