electric scooter/skateboard laws

[flecc]

Personal transport vehicle enters the French road code today, 26th of October.

Helmet, high-vis vest, lights on 24/24, 25 kph top speed... Haven't read it all because I don't have one. Fine of 1500€ for not complying and 3000€ if you get caught a second time.

Yes, this has been publicised here to. It's quite a fierce crackdown on powered scooters by the French.
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[Craiggor 2]

Does that mean the French can take their pedels off their pedelecs and fit a throttle ??

 

[flecc]

Does that mean the French can take their pedels off their pedelecs and fit a throttle ??

No, the EU pedelec law still applies to them. The French have always seemed to have an odd mix of laws and concessions for differing kinds of vehicles.
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[Craiggor 2]

No, the EU pedelec law still applies to them. The French have always seemed to have an odd mix of laws and concessions for differing kinds of vehicles.
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So you are saying something like this will not be allowed on French roads ?

 

[Craiggor 2]

BBC reckon speed won't be capped at 25kph until next July.

 

[flecc]

So you are saying something like this will not be allowed on French roads ?

It may well be, given the strange mix of vehicle laws in France, but not as a pedelec since they have the same pedelec law as us and the rest of the EU. Maybe some form of moped?

For example of their differences, until recently 14 year olds could drive low powered 30 mph cars without any qualification, and even now they only have to have a safety certificate. These slower cars are the car equivalents of mopeds.

Member AnotherKiwi who lives there currently would be best placed to answer your question.
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[anotherkiwi]

So you are saying something like this will not be allowed on French roads ?

Yes there is a clause in there for those and for segways and other balance boards. 25 kph top speed for all.

 

[Sanjuro]

I know people will find this hard to believe but I saw a policeman riding an escooter into the police station yesterday.

 

[flecc]

The Devon and Cornwall police have large tyred Segways for use on the beaches, but at carnival time they take them onto the local roads, despite them being completely illegal then.

When it comes to the crunch coppers are just like us really.
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[EddiePJ]

These scooters are a real issue where I live in and around Brighton. There are so many on roads, pavements and cycle paths. Many doing well over 15mph and seemingly ridden by hipsters and eejits. They cut up pedestrians , motorists and most cyclists especially on the shared use or too thin cycle paths

Police don't care at all

And in this forum we worry about increasing the speed of our totally legal 250w systems by a few mph via the LCD (where available )

Funny that you should mention the above. I parked between the marina and the pier last Saturday, and was less than amused by the amount of scooters using the pavement. I have nothing really against them, just the fact they are so silent, so can't be heard coming past from behind.

 

[Nealh]

Not only scooters Eddie , how about an articulated e-skateboard towing a trailer complete with canoe.

 

[sjpt]

Not only scooters Eddie , how about an articulated e-skateboard towing a trailer complete with canoe.

at 30 m.p.h.?

 

[Tao Poku]

Electric ones are not illegal to sell, only to use in a public place.
It is up to the user to abide by local traffic laws/usage.
If they were limited to 4mph/ 6kmh then they would be legal I believe but then sellers wouldn't sell many.

Hello

According to the below blog, you are allowed to ride an electric scooter but with strict rules and lots of limitations. The good part is now you will be able to ride an electric scooter in the UK legally, but the sad part is you can’t ride a private electric scooter. That means that you will not be able to ride an electric scooter owned by yourself in any public places, and if you find it, you need to pay a significant amount of fine. Yes, up to £350. So the only way you can ride an electric scooter legally in the UK is by renting. According to the UK government, the reason behind doing this is to understand the impact of using electric scooters. For example, the safety of people and understanding the potential benefit of using E-scooters. So it is legal to drive e-Scooters in the UK but with the limitations said above. https://thescooterguide.com/are-electric-scooters-legal-rules-that-everyone-need-to-know/

 

[flecc]

Hello

According to the below blog, you are allowed to ride an electric scooter but with strict rules and lots of limitations. The good part is now you will be able to ride an electric scooter in the UK legally, but the sad part is you can’t ride a private electric scooter. That means that you will not be able to ride an electric scooter owned by yourself in any public places, and if you find it, you need to pay a significant amount of fine. Yes, up to £350. So the only way you can ride an electric scooter legally in the UK is by renting. According to the UK government, the reason behind doing this is to understand the impact of using electric scooters. For example, the safety of people and understanding the potential benefit of using E-scooters. So it is legal to drive e-Scooters in the UK but with the limitations said above. https://thescooterguide.com/are-electric-scooters-legal-rules-that-everyone-need-to-know/

This is only a trial with a view to possibly making them legal in future. It's already been said that if they are made legal the law will be stricter than the above, in particular following the slower Continental speed limit and not the trial's 15 mph.
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[Craiggor 2]

Does any one know how you get permision to operate as a scooter hire company or which official you have to bribe.

 

[Woosh]

ask your town councillors?

 

[Deleted member 33385]

If a device going at 15 mpg stops quickly (or tries to) but the rider has no handlebars then the rider is just going to shoot forward - which is a problem.

As I've always said, what's needed is personalised maglev enabled pavements. These new electrified scooters and skateboards are dangerously hard to control at any speed beyond the current legal limit. I see kids whizzing around at night on roads without lights, zipping about in between heavy vehicles who's drivers aren't aware of them at all... the kids are quite short. There is also the prospect of death by fashion, through shoelaces intentionally left loose and getting tangled with the wheels, and the hazards of the slack jeans trend, which necessitates pulling them up while in motion at speed while playing candycrush on their phones, concurrently texting and constantly being lied to by the faceache antisocial network and the BBC. Let's face it, kids these days are doomed.

 

[Edward Elizabeth]

The French are a strange lot. €1500 fine and a pistol whipping for riding an illegal e scooter, yet convicted drink drivers can still totter about in voitures sans permis (small low powered cars) without a licence at all. It's inconsistent.

 

[Deleted member 33385]

The French are a strange lot. €1500 fine and a pistol whipping for riding an illegal e scooter, yet convicted drink drivers can still totter about in voitures sans permis (small low powered cars) without a licence at all. It's inconsistent.

What's the difference between a lion and a pussycat? A little pussy never hurt anybody. The French cannot be killed by small cars? They're very light and economical, if I was still allowed to drive (my damned eyes!), I'd probably get one. I wonder how many get lifted into transits and stolen?

 

[flecc]

The French are a strange lot. €1500 fine and a pistol whipping for riding an illegal e scooter, yet convicted drink drivers can still totter about in voitures sans permis (small low powered cars) without a licence at all. It's inconsistent.

Are you sure that is still the case? It used to be but to drive one now needs a safety permit. I'd have expected convicted drink drivers would be excluded.
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