E-Scooter Rental to be made Legal in UK on Saturday

So e-scooters are all over Californian cities, apart from the odd occasion when a city bans them before allowing them back shortly later. In SF we had Lime, Scoot, Jump (just from the top of my head), and they were by and large a nightmare.

People riding them at speed on the pavements, dropping them on the floor wherever they fancied (despite the app forcing you to park them responsibly), weaving in an out of traffic, jumping red lights, hitting pedestrians as they're near silent.

They're fun to ride (we rode them round a park in San Diego for an hour or so) but they create a complete new set of obstacles within in a city environment.
 
You should be and anybody going on these rental scooters should wear a helmet and ideally something high vis around these busy cities.
Only if you consider wearing helmets & hi-vis necessary for walking about in cities as well.

The issue will be getting used to riding them. I recall we all had to do a cycling proficiency test for safety when we started cycling. In escooters case we will be simply jumping on them and shooting off into traffic from the off.
Cycle proficiency? How old are you?

To be able to hire the scooter people will require a driving licence.
 
Only if you consider wearing helmets & hi-vis necessary for walking about in cities as well.


To be able to hire the scooter people will require a driving licence.

oh that’s ok then. I’m sure when someone hurtles out of control into a line of pedestrians they can argue that it was fine when they were in a car. Think some form of training needs to be had in my opinion.
 
Funny how some people seem against them on safety grounds, yet they work all over Europe? Seems a bit backwards for us to not allow them in the first place. I hired some in Talinn, great way of getting around. Quicker than walking, more relaxing than a bike hire and MUCH more economically friendly than a car.
It should be added, Estonian electricity is about 90% fossil fuels, so e-scooters aren't as green as you think
 
They are popular in Moscow. You very rarely see them on the roads though, everyone rides them on the pavements. I haven't been inconvenienced by them so far but it seems odd when they are ridden by men in their sixties, I still see scooters as a child's toy.
 
Funny how some people seem against them on safety grounds, yet they work all over Europe? Seems a bit backwards for us to not allow them in the first place. I hired some in Talinn, great way of getting around. Quicker than walking, more relaxing than a bike hire and MUCH more economically friendly than a car.
It should be added, Estonian electricity is about 90% fossil fuels, so e-scooters aren't as green as you think

and quite rightly so ST. https://www.euronews.com/2019/06/17...t-are-european-countries-doing-to-keep-citize
 
Speed limits are a good idea. Even as someone who loves my cars, you can't really look at a single death from an electric scooter and compare it with the thousands of deaths caused by cars. If one single death as enough to cause concerns with e-scooters than all cars/buses/trains/bikes should be banned outright.
But that’s like saying 20% of all car accidents are caused by drink driving. So that means 80% are caused by sober drivers so leave the roads to the drunks. ( courtesy of Dave Allen circa 1992).
 
But that’s like saying 20% of all car accidents are caused by drink driving. So that means 80% are caused by sober drivers so leave the roads to the drunks. ( courtesy of Dave Allen circa 1992).
It's not, but crack on.

I just don't understand why people spend so much energy resisting new forms of transport instead of trying to embrace them
 
that would be a problem, some have decent suspension though and slightly wider wheels. I'd still take it slow if I had one.
 
Don’t get me wrong. I welcome their introduction but I worry about those few who will be a menace or won’t be able to cope properly on them. I cycle regularly. Love it. I think we should make wearing helmets compulsory personally but that’s another argument.

I have cycled into London for a short while to work and witnessed too many idiots going through red lights, racing other cyclists. weaving in and out of traffic, going on to pavements and going down one way streets the wrong way. More often than you’d think in fact. I stopped cycling to work. I also cycled in Germany for a while and the commuting by bike was a much better experience. Better cycleways helped and there was more courtesy and less rush.
 
that would be a problem, some have decent suspension though and slightly wider wheels. I'd still take it slow if I had one.
I'd be whizzing all over like a child haha. What is the battery life like on one? Is the battery removable?
 
I'd be whizzing all over like a child haha. What is the battery life like on one? Is the battery removable?
Haha, you could weave in and out of traffic like a loon!

It depends which one you get with range. I've seen ones with 40 mile range. Now that would be SOME journey on an e scooter. I think even the most basic ones get 10 miles, which should be enough. I bet they don't take much time to recharge. They look fun!
 
So e-scooters are all over Californian cities, apart from the odd occasion when a city bans them before allowing them back shortly later. In SF we had Lime, Scoot, Jump (just from the top of my head), and they were by and large a nightmare.

People riding them at speed on the pavements, dropping them on the floor wherever they fancied (despite the app forcing you to park them responsibly), weaving in an out of traffic, jumping red lights, hitting pedestrians as they're near silent.

They're fun to ride (we rode them round a park in San Diego for an hour or so) but they create a complete new set of obstacles within in a city environment.

This. Will be interesting to see how the trials go.
 
They have them where my place abroad is, the Rental ones were really popular but they Seem to have stopped, don’t know if they were banned or became too much of a liability to the rental companies (broken tourists). You only see the odd local on them now. They were an absolute nightmare wazzing around the walkways.

i cycle and motor cycle, but wouldn’t fancy my chances on the road on one of them.
 
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