Private E Scooters to be Legalised

guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61250302

"Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has promised to “crack down” on illegal e-scooter sales in England."

Why does the cynic in me think this is just another 'lets be popular' measure.

Certainly here in Wales I see little evidence that there is currently any form of 'crack down' on the use of eScooters on the roads, and it should really be quite easy, since they clearly are illegal.

If eScooters are made legal, no doubt with certain type restrictions or useage rules, is it not likely that there will little incentive for the Police to then suddenly start pulling eScooter users over and check to ensure their steed meets legislative requirements ?

Sounds to me it will become a free for all, with politicians hiding behind what they claim is appropriate regulation, but with no real intent to enforce such regulations, a bit like the situation with Covid rules and restrictions perhaps.
I see many of these every day. There are now too many illegal escooters for such low numbers of Police to seize, I expect they'll talk tough saying they'll send in the army. Again. I doubt that modifications to make them legal, will be possible on many of these escooters.
 
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guerney

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I can't wait to see the legislation... maybe I could weld a pull motor to my Homcom trailer and call it a legal escooter.


+

 

AndyBike

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Nov 8, 2020
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How is that safe @AndyBike?
Have you seen a kid on a standard non motorized scooter. They go a hell of a lot faster than that guy on his Escooter. They bomb around, caution to the wind.
They're not inherently unsafe, as neither is cycling an unsafe mode of transport. accident do happen yes and nobody is denying that. But simply riding on one isnt.
l said it LOOKED like he did it on purpose.
I disagree, he should have looked obviously, but he's coming out from the rear passenger seats, so he has no mirrors to look out. For him to have acted deliberately, you'd have seen the door open, his head pop out, swivel backwards, then swing it open fully. He opened the door, then pushed it wide.
But that aside, you'd really need to be sick in the head to carry out such an action, and more than likely first would have been seen looking, and from the dash cam footage, even using a magnified screen to watch closer, I saw no such action.

Saying it looked,is the same as being convinced in your own mind it was a deliberate act. Itr was bad timing and thats realy the end of it. Dont demonize people so readily is all im saying. There was really no need to act such.
 

Nealh

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The UK or at least England only has a token police force that isn't fit for anything except for amassing silly patrol numbers to turn up at an incident in force, or everyone being taken from wherever they hide to police G something jolly for world leaders. The politicians have no option but to buckle at the knees because any law in this country is barely enforceable, for the most part one has to be really unlucky to be stopped.
 
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lightning

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Mar 26, 2022
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All I can say is once legalised, A&E will see a big increase in injuries. Most usage I see is appalling and the main issue is the speed and dicing with traffic. At speed the manoeuvrability of them is too quick and sudden, riding these with arm, knee & head protection must be mandatory esp with the small wheels that are going to be unpredictable for control with nature of current road surfaces.
Pretty much spot on l think. l predict mayhem will ensue.
 

guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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Pretty much spot on l think. l predict mayhem will ensue.
It's too late, the genie is out of a bottle which never had a stopper. They'll impound a few for publicity/scare tactics but so long as people can buy them, they'll use them, largely untroubled by too few cops. They all seem to be sold with such different specs - speed limits, power (up to 1000W, 30mph+). I can't see that many can be made to conform to any sensible set of new escooter laws which don't require licensing, number plates and insurance.
 
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Nealh

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They will have to have to have some requirements set down in law for them, just as pedelecs have. One would think they will follow suit speed wise legally but totally unenforceable as will the motor power will be.

Another dogs dinner of just giving in, all goes back to no real effective policing.
 

Andy-Mat

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Oct 26, 2018
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Electric scooters are deathtraps. It doesn't take much for them to topple over. This idiot fell over on the other side of the road, for no reason I could see. I checked to see if he was ok, he said he was. He shouted "It's a show mate!" after he fell over and was picking himself up.

Great post and video Batman. Also very true.
I myself consider 26" wheels to be the smallest that I will ride on an e- or normal bike, for safety reasons with uneven roads.
larger is even better, plus reasonably thick tyres and full suspension.
regards
Andy
PS. Loved the voice Batman!!
 

lightning

Esteemed Pedelecer
Mar 26, 2022
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l don't know, my folding ebike has 16" wheels and is perfectly stable/safe.

l am used to riding my mountain bike that has 27 1/2" wheels so l wasn't expecting the folding bike to be as good as it is.

I've done over 30mph downhill and it still feels stable.
The steering is more direct than my regular bike, but you soon get used to it.
 
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soundwave

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May 23, 2015
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it is when you you go over 30mph with small wheels you get speed wobbles and sod riding one of those things.
 

lightning

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Mar 26, 2022
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Well yes, l tried one in Decathlon and fell off at the end of the aisle while trying to turn.

But these are seriously small wheels, about 6" in diameter.

l guess there's none of the gyroscopic stability that you get with larger wheels.
 

soundwave

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i had one of them things blast past me on the road i could not even keep up with it going 35mph it left me for dust lol but seen it had a rock shox sticker on the left hand side.

next time i saw it was in the local paper :p


them things must be 3-4k
 

lightning

Esteemed Pedelecer
Mar 26, 2022
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Heavens that looks impressive but hardly the type of "e-scooter" that the govt plans to legalise
 

RetiredAndRolling

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Mar 30, 2019
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Plenty of comments here suggesting that electric scooters are not safe. Meanwhile I’m just back from a few days in Seville in Spain. What a revelation. Cars, pedestrians, e-bikes, bikes, scooters, dual rider scooters, electric Lambretta-style scooters, Segways and horse-drawn carriages all going about their ways in harmony. I’ve said it before - its all about culture and mutual respect, not to mention a good network of bike lanes. I’d really like to see Seville-style adoption of electric transport in the U.K. A bit more sunshine to get people in the right mood would also help.
 

lightning

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Mar 26, 2022
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lt's the same in the Netherlands where my brother lives, ebikes, e-scooters, ordinary bikes all being used sensibly and few issues.

But they have a very good cycling infrastructure with cycle lanes in many places separating the bikes, scooters etc from cars and pedestrians
 

soundwave

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:p
 
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guerney

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They will have to have to have some requirements set down in law for them, just as pedelecs have. One would think they will follow suit speed wise legally but totally unenforceable as will the motor power will be.

Another dogs dinner of just giving in, all goes back to no real effective policing.
A 1000W scooter could tow much heavier trailers, than my 250W bbs01b converted bike can. In the unlikely event that the government make all escooters legal "In use" at under 15.5mph, irrespective of motor power (or some limit substantially higher than 250W - there are so many high powered models about, they must be a sizeable proportion of those in use, and too many for cops to seize) I might buy one, and try to adapt a trailer to attach. A 1000W escooter trailer tower would have to have fat tyres, deep treads, several gears, a hitching point or structure welded or bolted on, and probably at least three wheels?
 
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I893469365902345609348566

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 20, 2021
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Great post and video Batman. Also very true.
I myself consider 26" wheels to be the smallest that I will ride on an e- or normal bike, for safety reasons with uneven roads.
larger is even better, plus reasonably thick tyres and full suspension.
regards
Andy
PS. Loved the voice Batman!!
Recorded using a Sennheiser MKE-400 condenser mic and no processing, but it doesn't pick up low voice frequencies well enough. I use that voice when answering calls, it gets rid of telemarketers fairly quickly when I say things like "I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE" and "I WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU" lol. They're telemarketers, and can't prosecute me for making "Death threats" from wherever they are. There's a gravelly bit deep in everyone's voicebox, which when the lower throat is opened and the muscles higher up are tightened, produce that tone.

I've retired from fighting crime in Gotham, and can't sustain that voice for more than a minute these days. It's fun to use while wearing a black covid mask and shopping "I'M BATMAN. TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT ME", and other activities... ;)
 
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