E Scooters soon to be allowed on UK roads?
Discussion
So they arrived in the town up the road, as part of the trials. Went and had a quick look at them, two are currently running, Spin and Lime. The Spin offering looks a bit light duty in comparison, they're also more expensive and have a smaller area to leave them in. I already had the Lime app from the eBikes and I'm a fat s
t so unlocked a green one and whizzed off up the road.
First thing I noticed, it took a few attempts to find a natural position for my feet, the board isn't wide enough for my feet side by side and I wanted to be able to use the footbrake on the back wheel. The front brake operated by the handlebar lever wasn't great, you needed to use both to stop in a hurry.
Anyway, to get moving you need to kick off THEN use the throttle, off I wobbled over the (luckily) large 'pad' outside the station. I quickly noticed you feel every bump but once I bent the knees a bit it wasn't too bad. I done about 4 miles on it and while it doesn't set the world on fire it soon gets up to speed. Maxed out at 15 mph which doesn't seem that quick until you fall off
No damage to me or the scooter luckily. It pulled me up the fairly steep hills ok considering I am likely the heaviest person it'll carry although a few times I decided to kick my way up the steepest part of some of them.
Along the route there was plenty of rough bits, tree roots under the tarmac, wooden bridges that weren't very level and a couple of dropped kerbs that had quite big drops to them. The latter I was preparing to jump off on but I leant back and the tiny front shocks done a very good job of keeping me upright.
Overall I had a good time, unfortunately they are too expensive to be viable for regular use if you travel any reasonable distance but for short or occasional trips they're alright. I would seriously be interested in one if/when they become legal for private use though, round a town/city with good cycle links they will be very useful. Safety wise it took a few minutes to get comfortable and feel fairly stable on it but once I'd got going it was decent enough. Like anything though it's down to how they're used too!
If anyone knows or can work out what model the Lime ones are that'd be interesting to know!
t so unlocked a green one and whizzed off up the road. First thing I noticed, it took a few attempts to find a natural position for my feet, the board isn't wide enough for my feet side by side and I wanted to be able to use the footbrake on the back wheel. The front brake operated by the handlebar lever wasn't great, you needed to use both to stop in a hurry.
Anyway, to get moving you need to kick off THEN use the throttle, off I wobbled over the (luckily) large 'pad' outside the station. I quickly noticed you feel every bump but once I bent the knees a bit it wasn't too bad. I done about 4 miles on it and while it doesn't set the world on fire it soon gets up to speed. Maxed out at 15 mph which doesn't seem that quick until you fall off
No damage to me or the scooter luckily. It pulled me up the fairly steep hills ok considering I am likely the heaviest person it'll carry although a few times I decided to kick my way up the steepest part of some of them. Along the route there was plenty of rough bits, tree roots under the tarmac, wooden bridges that weren't very level and a couple of dropped kerbs that had quite big drops to them. The latter I was preparing to jump off on but I leant back and the tiny front shocks done a very good job of keeping me upright.
Overall I had a good time, unfortunately they are too expensive to be viable for regular use if you travel any reasonable distance but for short or occasional trips they're alright. I would seriously be interested in one if/when they become legal for private use though, round a town/city with good cycle links they will be very useful. Safety wise it took a few minutes to get comfortable and feel fairly stable on it but once I'd got going it was decent enough. Like anything though it's down to how they're used too!
If anyone knows or can work out what model the Lime ones are that'd be interesting to know!
Edited by Pizzaeatingking on Friday 4th September 22:49
Edited by Pizzaeatingking on Friday 4th September 22:50
Edited by Pizzaeatingking on Friday 4th September 22:52
techguyone said:
how much are they to rent? is it done on time? distance?
Sorry, should have put that in the post! It’s £1 unlock fee then 20p per minute. So my 20 odd min ride was £6 something. You can get unlimited unlocks for a month for £8 and they do unlimited Limes for 24hrs for £15.
The spin is 25p per minute I think.
Certainly not cheap.
When I was on holiday these where whizzing everywhere, usually on pavements and often coming round blind corners at speed. It made you feel like you had to be vigilant on the pavement (and your kids) because if any of you made any erratic movements you could get one ploughing into someone’s back. Are they meant to be used on the road in the UK or are they expected to be used on pavements?
Jag_NE said:
When I was on holiday these where whizzing everywhere, usually on pavements and often coming round blind corners at speed. It made you feel like you had to be vigilant on the pavement (and your kids) because if any of you made any erratic movements you could get one ploughing into someone’s back. Are they meant to be used on the road in the UK or are they expected to be used on pavements?
In the UK they are only allowed on the roads and must follow the same rules as bicycles. They must not be used on the pavements or in any pedestrianised areas.But as pointed out above, only rental scooters are legal at the moment.
It is not legal to own and use your own e-scooter.
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