this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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Government should “urgently” legalise e-scooters says shared transport charity - says serious safety incidents are rare (ebiketips.road.cc)
submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

But why won't anyone think of the cars!

It will just be like cycle lanes and bus lanes. They take up all the space that could be used by cars! There isn't enough space for cars! All these poor taxi drivers will be dead in the gutter and ambulances won't be able to move if we legalise e scooters. Poor old ladies that can't walk wont be able to use their car.

What this government needs to do is ban cycling, buses, taxis, pavements, wheelchairs, and invest in roads! We should turn all our railway lines to roads let's face it no one uses trains. This country was built on cars!

Fucking idiots can't do anything right.

Also ban speed cameras. I can't get anywhere as fast as I used to and it's dangerous to have to slam on my breaks every time I see a speed camera.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Just ask the communities who banned e-scooter for safety reasons why they did it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

This seems like a good first step.
Move them out of the "technically illegal, but lots of people use them anyway" area, and into the "legal to use, but you have to register and carry some form of insurance".

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Are you going to apply the same rules to pedal assist bikes? Or are you planning to single out e-scooters only, like tfl did for some reason?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Honestly, I might even extend it to push bikes.

And make it so inexpensive to get the insurance that there is no excuse.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I wish the cycling proficiency test was a legal requirement to ride a bicycle.

There are so many people who drive dangerously and use bad cyclists as an excuse. You know the ones who decide that traffic lights don't apply to them, and the ones that ride on the pavement at 20 mph and knock over little old ladies.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

I get the feeling that in the past, the effort required to cycle self-selected people a bit.
Now with cheap assisted bikes, it's easier than ever to become a 100KG object travelling at 20mph.
So maybe it should have more requirements, in a "greater good" kinda way.

Kinda like when drones took off (heh). The rules for how to use model aircraft needed refining, because the barrier to flying a 2KG object near an airport became much lower.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It's something that's irking me.

I've been a bicyclist, car driver, drive for a living and also have a VSett that goes a steady 35mph max which means I can lane check but, because I can't fugging insure the thing means I'm always looking over my shoulder if I need to dump some ~~keen~~ eager copper.

I'm starting to think of selling it so I can get a ~~eBike~~ Surron instead and blend in with the local wildlife around here.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If you give people a reasonable, legal way to do things, people will generally do them.
And the odd twat doing 30mph on the pavement is much more obvious, rather than blending in with people who would otherwise be following the laws.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

I think one thing that's missing from the equation is testing and licensing to ride/drive them.

I know it's an English forum here but you need to have a set of cojones to "drive" an escoot/EUC on our roads and I only use it to travel the short distance to work.

I've gone down arterial roads suited up with live Bradford traffic, and it's not for the faint of heart lemmi tell ya :/

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (5 children)

Like it’s even stopping anyone at this point, see so many private ones out and about.

They are a nightmare on the roads (and pavement), government and councils desperately need to invest in some designated cycle/scooter paths.

And not these bullshit white lines that people park over and drive in constantly.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And not these bullshit white lines that people park over and drive in constantly.

There's a road near me where they spend loads of money "upgrading" the cycle infrastructure, literally all they did was to paint some white lines. Which as you say people park on.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It’s ridiculous.

There’s one road near me and I usually count over 5 vehicles parked in the cycle lane when I go past.

idk how that can happen, I genuinely think the parking officers just ignore it these days.

They’d rather walk around the car parks checking vehicles than deal with actually troublesome parking.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

There's one near me that's only about 200 meters. Nothing joining for miles in either direction.

I suppose it puts a tick in a box somewhere.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yeah I'm positive it's just a box ticking next exercise.

But it's just another example of the conservatives and their complete lack of any real interest in the carbon initiative, because that's where this comes from. They were supposed to increase cycle infrastructure by a certain percent by a certain date, but since they were not going to do that they instead they decided to just paint some white lines on the ground and claim that they'd done it.

Then about 5 years ago they just decided to give up and not even pretend anymore, and left us with whatever mess they had got to.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

What are your rules about bicycles? In Sweden, we regulated them kinda like bicycles - as long as the motor has an effect under 250w, and is limited to driving at speeds of 20km/hr, you're able to use them in the same places and manners as other bicycles.

Recently they started to require traffic insurance, and basically all insurance plans have zero deductibles as long as you're wearing a helmet. I barely see anyone with helmets still, but yeah...

Or is the biggest nightmare that there's not many designated bicycle paths, and so people are zooming around where pedestrians are walking?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

25kmph and 250w, off the top of my head. You need to pedal for the motor to engage, and they count as a bicycle so no insurance needed. The twist & go bikes (no pedalling required) are basically motorbikes with pedals so they're technically illegal but they're still widespread. You'll regularly see them in every city centre for food deliveries and you'll see kids on them everywhere else.

The lack of bicycle paths is a big problem but I don't think they'll solve it entirely. The barrier of entry is just too low, any idiot can ride one and be oblivious to the danger as they weave in between people.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

It stops a lot of people. Unfortunately, they are also the ones who would actually follow the rules. This just leaves the rule breakers and idiots, giving everyone else a bad name.

I would personally love a micro mobility option. An option between walking and driving my van somewhere would be extremely useful.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

There are some great examples of cycle lane design out there. And some atrocious examples of cycle lanes that have been built. But that's a separate rant.

If we had a quality cycle lane network, we could have adapted that to support "more than walking, less that driving" lanes without much issue.

The earlier we invest in this new class of highway the cheaper and easier it will be.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I really hope in the next few years we see a revolution in short distance transport. Most journeys are less than 3 miles (if I remember correctly, could be 5) a perfect distance for e-bikes, e-scooters and normal acoustic bikes. Hopefully at least some places capitalise on it

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Acoustic bikes? What kind of witchery is that? Do you sing to unlock them or do they play music while you ride?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

Sadly this is a term that has caught on even though it makes no sense. I wish people had latched onto "non-electric" bike or "NE" bike instead, but here we are.