E Scooters soon to be allowed on UK roads?

[emicen]

heebeegeetee said:

Yes, that's a good point. This guy's scooter was a Pure, seemed a big thing to me.

Also - I was in Spain earlier this year, I see escooters are sold in stores, so I guess they're legal there. However we did also see police stopping scooter riders too. I don't know what the law is in Spain or Europe.

One other thing we frequently notice though is the numbers of police we see when in Europe, in direct contrast to UK.

I'm not sure people's legal or reasonable activities should be curtailed just because the Conservative govt have decided to greatly reduce/remove police from our streets.

I was in Palma a few weekends back. There was a quite noticeable demarkation.

What I assume to be legal ones, ridden at sensible speed, usually with helmet and a highvis
Sam Browne style belt.

Then the other ones, ridden like a bat out of hell, no helmet, no high vis, no concept of slowing down when passing people or dogs etc on the seafront.

[Gareth79]

lancslad58 said:

heebeegeetee said:

Again, from the evidence of my peepers, particularly in my part of the UK, food delivery riders aside there are almost no young people riding bicycles in or around Birmingham, so I'm going to surprised if the numbers of young cyclists have reduced further - we-re certainly in the science of low numbers here.

Given that escooters can obviously travel further distances in shorter time, I'd be surprised to see they're replacing walking journeys completely - I'm sure there's a figure of the average urban walk, I doubt it's that long.

However I can imagine that escooters may well be replacing walking in conjunction with public transport. It is important imo that escooters are not categorised as active travel, 'cos they're not really.

Coincidentally I was on a train with an escooter user last night, the conversation was mostly about the fact he's not allowed on the train with it, and the fun and games he has with dodging drivers or inspectors who are supposed to keep him off. It's to do with Lith batteries apparently, yet the two ebikes that me and my mate had with us are allowed.

Anyway just as he was leaving he said the scooters saving him £500 a month, but we didn't get chance to find out how.

Probably car prking charges at the station, too far/slow too walk there

Yup, e-scooters would make train travel viable for a much greater number of people. If you live (say) 2 miles from a station it's either a long walk, expensive car parking, or you cycle and risk it being stolen/stripped, getting sweaty etc. Scooter is 1/5th of the time, you can take it with you to use at the other end too.

[bigothunter]

Gareth79 said:

Yup, e-scooters would make train travel viable for a much greater number of people. If you live (say) 2 miles from a station it's either a long walk, expensive car parking, or you cycle and risk it being stolen/stripped, getting sweaty etc. Scooter is 1/5th of the time, you can take it with you to use at the other end too.

Is there enough room in crowded commuter trains for lots of scooters?

[RizzoTheRat]

Presumably they take up a bit less space than a folding bicycle.

[lancslad58]

bigothunter said:

Gareth79 said:

Yup, e-scooters would make train travel viable for a much greater number of people. If you live (say) 2 miles from a station it's either a long walk, expensive car parking, or you cycle and risk it being stolen/stripped, getting sweaty etc. Scooter is 1/5th of the time, you can take it with you to use at the other end too.

Is there enough room in crowded commuter trains for lots of scooters?

Yes thay fold up.No worse than carrying a golf umberella

[andburg]

guess that depends on the scooter, the little xiaomi things sure but the "legal" ones no

[808 Estate]

emicen said:

I was in Palma a few weekends back. There was a quite noticeable demarkation.

What I assume to be legal ones, ridden at sensible speed, usually with helmet and a highvis
Sam Browne style belt.

Then the other ones, ridden like a bat out of hell, no helmet, no high vis, no concept of slowing down when passing people or dogs etc on the seafront.

I was in Barcelona recently and noticed the same thing. Scooters being ridden sensibly by people with appropriate safety gear and obeying traffic signals and crossing lights. The exceptionally wide pavements there obviously help and a lot of the cycle paths are part of the pavement and not part of the road system.

[Graveworm]

808 Estate said:

emicen said:

I was in Palma a few weekends back. There was a quite noticeable demarkation.

What I assume to be legal ones, ridden at sensible speed, usually with helmet and a highvis
Sam Browne style belt.

Then the other ones, ridden like a bat out of hell, no helmet, no high vis, no concept of slowing down when passing people or dogs etc on the seafront.

I was in Barcelona recently and noticed the same thing. Scooters being ridden sensibly by people with appropriate safety gear and obeying traffic signals and crossing lights. The exceptionally wide pavements there obviously help and a lot of the cycle paths are part of the pavement and not part of the road system.

https://www.elnacional.cat/en/news/99-of-e-scooters-in-barcelona-exceed-the-speed-limit-in-pavement-bike-lanes_1104933_102.html

https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/1...

Helmets, hi viz (at night) lights, insurance and certificate of ownership are all mandatory in Barcelona...

Edited by Graveworm on Friday 19th April 14:14

[Shnozz]

As I said previously, the U.K. representative is those willing to flaunt the laws in that it’s illegal to use them. It’s therefore unsurprising that the same people ride them like dicks. If you had a true cross section of society using them then you’d have a truer reflection of responsible riding versus tt riding.

[Graveworm]

Shnozz said:

As I said previously, the U.K. representative is those willing to flaunt the laws in that it’s illegal to use them. It’s therefore unsurprising that the same people ride them like dicks. If you had a true cross section of society using them then you’d have a truer reflection of responsible riding versus tt riding.

The evidence comes from the rest of the world where they are legal to use, it was available before the UK pilots and was referenced by the committee that proposed them,; that's why they have had pilot schemes, in the hope that the UK would show something different. There are potential benefits, vested interests and anecdotal opinions but the empirical and objective evidence is that those potential benefits are not realised and there are real downsides. They are understandably reluctant to commit resources and parliamentary time based on hope over experience/evidence.

[lancslad58]

Technically a stand up moped but it's a start to getting them accepted as a viable means fo short sourneys.

https://ebiketips.road.cc/content/news/you-can-leg...

https://swiftyscooters.com/pages/swiftygo


The new electric Swifty GO GT500 is available to pre-order now in the UK for summer delivery at RRP £3499. The price includes the UK vehicle registration. Customers will need a CBT or motorcycle licence, insurance and a motorcycle helmet to ride the Swifty GO GT500 legally on UK roads.

[The Gauge]

lancslad58 said:

Technically a stand up moped but it's a start to getting them accepted as a viable means fo short sourneys.

https://ebiketips.road.cc/content/news/you-can-leg...

https://swiftyscooters.com/pages/swiftygo


The new electric Swifty GO GT500 is available to pre-order now in the UK for summer delivery at RRP £3499. The price includes the UK vehicle registration. Customers will need a CBT or motorcycle licence, insurance and a motorcycle helmet to ride the Swifty GO GT500 legally on UK roads.

That's probably great for riding on the roads, but for e-scooters to succeed I do think they need to be more compact so you can get them in the boot of your car, and on public transport if they ever allowed that. There are plenty of occasions when a compact e-scooter would have saved the day for me. I can also see insurance on these being a problem, once enough of them are stolen or involved in RTC's they could become the next Range Rovers of the insurance world.

Edited by The Gauge on Wednesday 8th May 08:44

[thetapeworm]

Changes to the rules in Ireland from Monday:

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0515/1449415-...

RTE said:

Will there be restrictions on who can use them?

Nobody under 16 years of age will be allowed to use an e-scooter in a public place.

Will all e-scooters be legal?

There will be restrictions on what type of scooter can be used.

The maximum design speed allowed will be 20km per hour and the maximum power output permitted will be 0.4Kwh.

The maximum weight will be 25kg and e-scooters more than two metres long or 1.5 metres high will not be allowed.

E-scooters will have to be fitted with front and rear lights and two independent braking systems so that if one fails the other will still work.

They will not be required to have indicators but if they do, they must be amber.

It will be illegal to have a seat on an e-Scooter and for more than one person to travel on an e-Scooter.

Will e-scooters be subject to the rules of the road?

The Road Safety Authority has said e-scooter users will have the same rights and obligations as cyclists.

This means they will have to respect traffic signals and signs and other road users will have to respect their safety.

As with cyclists, drivers are asked to stay at least a metre away when overtaking where the speed limit is 50km per hour or lower and at least 1.5 metres away in places where the speed limit is higher.

[Donbot]

12.4mph Not allowed to have a seat

[andburg]

remarkably simple common sense approach

12.4mph might not be a lot but I bet its around top average speed of a commuter on a brompton

[James6112]

RizzoTheRat said:

Presumably they take up a bit less space than a folding bicycle.

Never had a problem with the Brompton

[Shnozz]

andburg said:

remarkably simple common sense approach

12.4mph might not be a lot but I bet its around top average speed of a commuter on a brompton

Indeed. Whilst many on here will be foaming at this approach, it strikes me as simple and sensible. Restrict the speed and make them subject to the same rules as bicycles. Job jobbed.

[eldar]

Shnozz said:

andburg said:

remarkably simple common sense approach

12.4mph might not be a lot but I bet its around top average speed of a commuter on a brompton

Indeed. Whilst many on here will be foaming at this approach, it strikes me as simple and sensible. Restrict the speed and make them subject to the same rules as bicycles. Job jobbed.

Too sensible for the UK luddite lobby, i fear.

[thetapeworm]

Donbot said:

12.4mph Not allowed to have a seat

There was a somewhat obese young lad flying around the pedestrianised part of the town centre on one with a seat yesterday, he looked ridiculous.

I don't know how things work over in Ireland but given the police here seem to turn a blind eye to scooters and modified ebikes anyway I don't suppose any amount of sensible policies will protect us from those that want to operate outside of the rules.

It might encourage those willing to tow the line to give them a go though... but will more visible legal ones mean more illegal ones appear as they become "normalised"?

Edited by thetapeworm on Thursday 16th May 12:33

[Donbot]

thetapeworm said:

Donbot said:

12.4mph Not allowed to have a seat

There was a somewhat obese young lad flying around the pedestrianised part of the town centre on one with a seat yesterday, he looked ridiculous.
It might encourage those willing to tow the line to give them a go though... but will more visible legal ones mean more illegal ones appear?

But why ban having a seat though? I would have thought it would make them safer.

Obesity and reckless riding is a separate issue.