Electric scooters « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

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Electric scooters

(184 posts)

Started 5 years ago by neddie
Latest reply from neddie

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e scooters electric speed pavement safety hire

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neddie
Member

Not legal on any public areas in the UK.

Not without their problems in Paris:

Tragic first fatality:
https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-divers-justice/paris-un-accident-mortel-de-trottinette-mardi-soir-dans-le-quartier-de-la-goutte-d-or-1560238319

(in French - collision between a van and a scooterist who allegedly failed to give way to the right)

And 85kph on the motorway:

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The hire scooters are speed limited to 25kph (same as a e-bike), but I'd have thought that 12kph limit would be more appropriate (i.e ~human running speed).

Also: mobile-phone-use to film while driving!

Discuss...

Posted 5 years ago #
steveo
Member

<£200 in (li/a)ldi this week! Tempting for days I just can't face the bike.

I've been over taken by one on the WOL path once (it was a monster headwind) the rider then pulled up to a car on Baird Drive folded the scooter and drove off. I passed them a while later in traffic...

Posted 5 years ago #
neddie
Member

the rider then pulled up to a car on Baird Drive folded the scooter and drove off.

So, being used to assist unofficial park & ride ?

Posted 5 years ago #
Murun Buchstansangur
Member

Passed by one while walking on Roseburn path on Saturday. 6yo daughter delighted and wanted one.

I presume they are rear wheel braking only?

Posted 5 years ago #
steveo
Member

So, being used to assist unofficial park & ride ?

pretty much, but then given the numbers doing so for the tram as well its hardly unique.

Posted 5 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

I don't fancy getting one of them stopped from 50mph in a hurry. Face meet tarmac.

Posted 5 years ago #
crowriver
Member

I've seen a couple of these being scooted around town (adult pilots). Can't say I'm overly keen on them being scooted on footways and footpaths, in much the same way as I'm not in favour of folk riding bikes fast on footways and footpaths* - though at least bikes usually have decent brakes.

* - Shared use excepted most, but not all the time.

Posted 5 years ago #
ARobComp
Member

My colleagues in London were rather shocked that they were not legal for use in the UK. The website they're all buying them from gives some ambiguous direction to this if you start clicking around mostly espousing that they SHOULD be legal and that the government will no doubt figure that out soon.

My main concern with them is IF you get in an accident then there really is no recourse for you as you're riding an illegal vehicle. This was the major factor that led to me getting rid of my electric skateboard. That and the fact it weighed 45kg (about 40kg of that battery) and was capable of 25KMPH offroad for about an hour... That thing was a deathtrap.

Posted 5 years ago #
Edinburgh Cycle Training
Member

Was in Paris a couple of weeks ago.

They were everywhere, literally. You could not walk a minute without seeing several.

Their big nuisance though wasn't so much being buzzed, but tripping over them. They get abandoned right where the last user ended their ride. No regards whatsoever to "parking" them sensibly or neatly.

My eldest hired one for an hour and thought it was fantastic. It was easy and cheap for her to do so.

I on the other hand couldn't find a working hire bike in any part of the city! Most racks were empty. Those that weren't had damaged bikes only!

All very frustrating as the hire company are still "holding" a 600 Euro deposit for potentially hiring two bikes.

Posted 5 years ago #
ejstubbs
Member

France seems to be less restrictive about what the DfT call "powered transporters". A few years ago the missus and I did a guided tour of central Paris on Segways - using the footway all the time. They didn't seem to go particularly fast, though that could have been because they had limiters fitted (ISTR that there was a keyhole somewhere which, given the correct key, could have been used to raise the top speed a bit).

25kph is four minute mile pace - not appropriate for mingling with pedestrians on the footway IMO. Personally I'd prefer powered vehicles used on the footway to be restricted to about 10kph/6mph, roughly a brisk walking pace. 15kph is just short of 10mph which is more than twice the usual meandering along on the pavement pace (reference this thread). Then add to the mix old and differently-abled people, and mobile phone zombies. Being able to glide past people at roughly twice their walking speed* on a largely silent conveyance doesn't sound particularly great to me.

If people want to go faster, they can get a bike!

* Think about what it's like on your bike being passed by a car at 60mph on an open road. Not that people really should, but they can...

Posted 5 years ago #
ARobComp
Member

I can sort of get the scooters for occasional round town short trips. I really struggle with them as a commuting tool compared to a bike. Bike is faster, goes further, gets you a bit of exercise, feels safer (is safer?). So what is it about these things that makes people so keen to use them. They won't use bikes because they're dangerous... How does a fast tiny deck and set of handles appear safe!

Posted 5 years ago #
LaidBack
Member

I think the e-scooter thing is all about transport as entertainment.
Extreme version is e-skate boarding which is maybe 'cooler' but needs more skill.
People will use for a season and then discard / move on. We get some of that with recumbents but they are way too expensive not to use. More considered purchase whereas the scooter impulse buy?
Last night I watched two cyclist on Just Eat bikes on pavement up to Bristo place. Painted bike lane not doing it for them. Moving speed maybe 7mph so not a problem.
An e-bike at above 15.5 mph is not really a good idea on shared paths so think EU have that one right.

Posted 5 years ago #
toomanybikes
Member

Surely limiting the scooters to brisk walking pace makes them totally pointless..

The question of safety is definitely up there (how many segregated cycle lanes there are they can use changes the math here), but it depends what they're competing with.

Would a scooter journey be taken by car if they were speed limited, or vice versa if they were legal to begin with? What's the wider benefit of that?

If they're only competing with bikes, then keep them illegal, but I doubt they are.

Posted 5 years ago #
Edinburgh Cycle Training
Member

The scooters BIG advantage is there is no user effort. With eBikes, you must still pedal. With eScooters, they just go when you push the accelerator. All the ones I saw seemed to have brakes similar to bikes.

The scooters' boards were reasonably big, easilly accomodating two riders. It was very common to see a couple sharing a single scooter.

I guess its the self propulsion (as opposed to eAssist) that make them illegal here. If we made them legal, we might see a lobby for self propelled eBikes?

Posted 5 years ago #
condor2378
Member

"self propelled eBikes" - so motorbikes then?

I regularly am passed by a guy on North Bridge / Leith Street / Annandale Street who has modified his "normal" looking bike into some sort of ebike which is easily capable of 30mph plus (as I realised when I was doing 25mph down Leith Street and he overtook and pulled away from me without turning a pedal.)

I think this is dangerous as anyone crossing a road and looking at him not pedalling to decide if they can make it wouldn't expect him to be making this speed on the flat without moving his legs. He also just wears a bike helmet, not a full face motorbike job, again to disguise his modifications.

I don't like it.

Posted 5 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

If bicycles had number plates we could grass them up.

Posted 5 years ago #
Edinburgh Cycle Training
Member

""self propelled eBikes" - so motorbikes then?"

Closer to Mo-Ped I'd have thought.

I was meaning a eBike akin to those we currently have, not ones with greater power or speed, just a modification so pedaling is not a requirement.

Apologies for not making that crystal clear.

Posted 5 years ago #
morepathsplease
Member

Have recently visited Vienna where e-scooters seem very popular. Lots of suited people using them to get around and it looked effortless, especially given the high temperatures (low 30s). Some were going very fast but I did not encounter any issues with them although it was a brief visit and mainly in central Vienna where infrastructure gives plenty of space on the main routes.

Posted 5 years ago #
morepathsplease
Member

May be going to Budapest soon and, looking at these monsterroller e-scooters, I might be ditching the bike when I get home.

Posted 5 years ago #
Klaxon
Member

They're amazing to ride, so long as the surface is good, and will revolutionise short distance (sub 2km) commutes to work or to public transport in dead spots. Think home to train or bus in *any* Scottish new town.

Posted 5 years ago #
wingpig
Member

Saw one going east towards Haymarket Yards, the the same one again going up the bottom of Lochend Road half an hour later. Font know if the driver had scootled all the way, taken a bus or tram or taxi or had popped for some shopping too.

Posted 5 years ago #
ejstubbs
Member

@Klaxon: A sub 2km commute is called a walk, for anyone capable of riding an electric scooter. An electric scooter isn't really what I'd call "active travel". I'm all for getting people out of cars, but for 2km you don't even need wheels.

Posted 5 years ago #
Klaxon
Member

An extra half an hour a day at home could make a huge difference to the family life of someone living in Glenrothes or Livi and commuting to Edinburgh without a car

Posted 5 years ago #
chdot
Admin

“

Researchers at North Carolina State University found that traveling by scooter produces more greenhouse gas emissions per mile than traveling by bus, bicycle, moped or on foot.

“

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/02/electric-scooter-eco-friendly-greenhouse-gases

Posted 5 years ago #
amir
Member

In large because of the hire system? Different if privately owned?

Posted 5 years ago #
chdot
Admin

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/09/bruges-cobbles-trip-up-electric-scooter-plans

Posted 5 years ago #
Trixie
Member

It's not electric but I saw a kid on what I understand to be a 'Space Scooter' earlier. It's propelled by seesawing your feet and it seems you can also use it like a normal push-scooter. I have to say it looked great fun. If I'm honest, I'd love a go.

https://youtu.be/c2ui6xH-7bY

Posted 5 years ago #
chdot
Admin

“

The Department for Transport is expected to publish its framework for e-scooters next week, which will give details of how the system of rented scooters will work. Privately owned scooters will still be banned.

The framework was originally due to be published tomorrow but has been delayed while issues around who will be eligible to ride the scooters is resolved.

The UK is years behind many other European countries in an initiative that is credited with cutting the number of car journeys. In Finland, 41% of respondents to a survey said they had replaced taxi rides or private cars with e-scooters and almost one in five Finns said they had used them for business trips.

However, other European cities have suffered from allowing too many scooter rental companies to compete with as many as 10 being given licences, leading to banks of scooters strewn across pavements blocking pedestrians. Many cities in the US have experienced “scooter rage” with residents throwing the machines into rivers because there are so many of them weaving along pavements.

“

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/20/rented-e-scooters-ride-to-the-rescue-of-english-commuters-as-covid-lockdown-eases

Posted 4 years ago #
dessert rat
Member

can really see one of these figuring in our near-term future. Think possibly ideal for Mrs on school-run, then back up to town.

Posted 4 years ago #
gembo
Member

Why not get an electric bike? Much more versatile. Your eOH can cycle with you up Talla Wall the right way?

Posted 4 years ago #

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