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Electric Unicycle seized/confiscated by Police in Dublin, Ireland.


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1 hour ago, PogArt Artur said:

What I mean is - can EUC rider get away by showing that the wheel needs to be initially scooted to get to move..?

No, because it doesn't. Because once it is on it is powered and ready to drive.  However, I can imagine a version of firmware (the Irish firmware) that balances but refuses to accelerate until it senses the wheel is turning at a certain speed, through rolling not through leaning.  But just because I can imagine it, doesn't make it possible.

Edited by Smoother
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Guest PogArt Artur
1 hour ago, Smoother said:

No, because it doesn't. Because once it is on it is powered and ready to drive.  However, I can imagine a version of firmware (the Irish firmware) that balances but refuses to accelerate until it senses the wheel is turning at a certain speed, through rolling not through leaning.  But just because I can imagine it, doesn't make it possible.

Thank you  :)

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9 hours ago, Lutalo said:

At least they are only regulated in Dublin, as opposed to outright banned. 

Pay the cost. Be the boss. 

On the video he police says something like "you have 10 days to produce insurance or you will have to go to court" or something like that, not easy to understand, but he said that quoting the law, because just before he said "you can't get insurance for that." 

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21 minutes ago, Jean Dublin said:

On the video he police says something like "you have 10 days to produce insurance or you will have to go to court" or something like that, not easy to understand, but he said that quoting the law, because just before he said "you can't get insurance for that." 

I see, so in reality it is a crackdown, or ban. It seems that you should be able to get vehicular insurance if the statutes expressly classify it as a roadgoing vehicle.

It makes no sense to say that it is vehicle enough to seize, but not vehicle enough to insure.

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2 minutes ago, Lutalo said:

I see, so in reality it is a crackdown, or ban. It seems that you should be able to get vehicular insurance if the statutes expressly classify it as a roadgoing vehicle.

It makes no sense to say that it is vehicle enough to seize, but not vehicle enough to insure.

It's an illegal vehicle because it does not comply with the rules governing road going vehicles in the country in question.  Here's a weird twist in what is and isn't a legal vehicle.  In the US, at least when I lived there, quad bikes are for off road only, but here in England you can ride them legally on the street (road tax, insurance, license, annual safety inspection, etc) with no helmet even, and England is a 100% M/C helmet country. Hows that for a twist; England: EUC? BAAAAAD! Quad bike? no problem.  USA Quad bike? BAAAD! EUC? no problem

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On 4/2/2019 at 12:46 PM, Lutalo said:

It makes no sense to say that it is vehicle enough to seize, but not vehicle enough to insure.

Personally I find the UK laws on what defines 'mechanically propelled vehicles' very clear, even if I dont always agree with them.

As regards your quote above, look at it another way. You could build a perfectly good, top notch kit car (I did a Diablo replica myself) but if you dont get it SVA'd (Special Vehicle Approval) then you wont get a log book. Without a log book you wont get a registration plate. Without a plate you wont get vehicle insurance. All this despite the vehicle itself being perfectly roadworthy and possibly built to a higher standard than a factory car.

This is where we are with EUC's in the UK. It is without doubt a mechanically propelled vehicle that requires no pedalling to initiate movement (therefore cant use the electric bike derogation). It is possible that with perseverance, you could get an EUC through SVA but it would need a horn, indicators and a multitude of other things to comply. Even edges need to be of a certain radius. And of course you would need to attach a legal size numberplate somewhere.

There is no 'grey area' as to the legalities of an EUC in the UK, and it is one aspect of Ian at Speedyfeets approach (who I do respect highly) that irritates me somewhat. On multiple occasions he will refer to the use of EUC's as being in a 'grey area' when it clearly isnt and I wish he would stop pedalling this incorrect advice onto his customers. Or at least read up on law, given he is in the business of selling them. He is probably correct in that many UK police will turn a blind eye but that doesnt make his advice right.

I appreciate that he wants to sell as many wheels as possible, but given his general stance of being 'straight up and honest' I feel he is incredibly misleading with his views on the law regarding EUC's. A shame really because I quite like the guy.

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5 hours ago, Jean Dublin said:

Thursday night RTE Prime Time news showed a video/report on eRideables, explaining their current situation in Ireland. (Click "more related videos" and then e-scooters) 

https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2019/0405/1040885-prime-time-brexit-climate-action-dessie-ohare-e-scooters/

 

Today I'm on Irish news. 

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/electric-dreams-can-the-ecommuter-revolution-transform-urban-transport-in-ireland-37986732.html

Login details available at:

http://bugmenot.com/view/independent.ie 

 

IMG-20190406-WA0004.jpg

Maybe you could copy and paste the article contents here. I could only read the first paragraph and I'm not inclined to register for the whole article. Love that cover photo though :thumbup:

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1 minute ago, Smoother said:

Just copy and paste the first user password he provided, it's so easy, even I managed it.

Oh, I didn't click that 2nd link because I assumed it was just the Registration Page for the newspaper. Maybe a better description would be, "Click this link to get a predefined username and password so you can read the article" :)

Thanks.

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4 hours ago, Planemo said:

Personally I find the UK laws on what defines 'mechanically propelled vehicles' very clear, even if I dont always agree with them.

As regards your quote above, look at it another way. You could build a perfectly good, top notch kit car (I did a Diablo replica myself) but if you dont get it SVA'd (Special Vehicle Approval) then you wont get a log book. Without a log book you wont get a registration plate. Without a plate you wont get vehicle insurance. All this despite the vehicle itself being perfectly roadworthy and possibly built to a higher standard than a factory car.

This is where we are with EUC's in the UK. It is without doubt a mechanically propelled vehicle that requires no pedalling to initiate movement (therefore cant use the electric bike derogation). It is possible that with perseverance, you could get an EUC through SVA but it would need a horn, indicators and a multitude of other things to comply. Even edges need to be of a certain radius. And of course you would need to attach a legal size numberplate somewhere.

There is no 'grey area' as to the legalities of an EUC in the UK, and it is one aspect of Ian at Speedyfeets approach (who I do respect highly) that irritates me somewhat. On multiple occasions he will refer to the use of EUC's as being in a 'grey area' when it clearly isnt and I wish he would stop pedalling this incorrect advice onto his customers. Or at least read up on law, given he is in the business of selling them. He is probably correct in that many UK police will turn a blind eye but that doesnt make his advice right.

I appreciate that he wants to sell as many wheels as possible, but given his general stance of being 'straight up and honest' I feel he is incredibly misleading with his views on the law regarding EUC's. A shame really because I quite like the guy.

I can see the reasoning of the enforcers of the regulations. However from what I can tell, the approach enforcement is punitive, as opposed to supportive. 

EUCs are a new form of transportation. Why not accompany enforcement with guidelines on how to bring unicycles into compliance. Sure, there are rules on that as well.

Where are the assurances that once I get turn signals and other blah, blah, blah to bring my wheel into compliance with the statutes that I will be able to acquire license, registration, title, insurance, etc.? 

If you are enforcing restrictions, but not creating pathways to assure that compliance will lift said restrictions that is tantamount to banning EUCs, and other similarly operating PEVs on public roads. 

I wish you guys over in Europe the best with this issue, and hope it never rears its ugly head in DC. If it does, I would advocate for clear pathways to bring them into compliance. I would demand them define their actions related to the regulations clearly or remove the hypocrisy from the language around it. If you are banning them and trying to permanently remove them from the road then say that as you do it. 

Edited by Lutalo
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@Lutalo I think I get what you are saying, indeed it would be very nice for the government to give us a step by step idiots guide on how to make our EUCs legal but somehow I dont think that will happen nor would I expect them to do so tbh.

A bit like I wouldnt expect them to spoon feed me instructions on how to make a 16 wheeled skateboard with a jet engine road legal either.

The governments view is that if a person decides to take to the road on some contraption then it is down to the user to make sure it complies, not theirs.

What they do give us is a clear definition of a motor vehicle, and even clearer requirements (SVA) of what that vehicle needs to make it a compliant motor vehicle. Its not rocket science, and it seems that the only people who are unsure are those that cant be bothered/dont want to hear what the legislation says or what they need to comply with it. Bury head in sand springs to mind.

The government havent 'banned' anything, all they have done is make a list of requirements for vehicles that wish to use the road. I do not think this is harsh, its simply to make sure that people dont travel around in deathtraps.

Even the SVA is reasonable tbh, after all we have some very odd fully road legal vehicles in the uk. Couches and dodgem cars spring to mind but theres plenty of others.

Personally, and logically, I dont see how a 30mph EUC can be treated any differently to a 30mph moped.

Dont get me wrong, I wish it didnt, but I can understand the governments stance.

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12 minutes ago, Planemo said:

A bit like I wouldnt expect them to spoon feed me instructions on how to make a 16 wheeled skateboard with a jet engine road legal either.

The governments view is that if a person decides to take to the road on some contraption then it is down to the user to make sure it complies, not theirs.

Makes sense. Not the same thing that I am talking about. Some clever invention of a backyard budding engineer; A jet-engined "whutchamacawlit" is not a new form of transportation sweeping the streets and would not require such accommodation from regulators. That is an altogether different context; apples and oranges.

We are talking about a new form of transportation that many citizens do, or could use as a sensible commuter option.

Perhaps that is the trouble with regulators in Europe on this issue. They are having difficulty with proper context of this issue. 

Edited by Lutalo
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On 4/6/2019 at 5:23 PM, Marty Backe said:

Oh, I didn't click that 2nd link because I assumed it was just the Registration Page for the newspaper. Maybe a better description would be, "Click this link to get a predefined username and password so you can read the article" :)

Thanks.

You're right. 

Just trying to not break any copyright laws haha. 

Anyways, the newspapers included some more information besides what is on the article online, they also interviewed an electric scooter and OneWheel user who are part of the eRide.ie Community. 

To be honest quotes are not accurate, but they aren't bad and make a good story. 

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Edited by Jean Dublin
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On 4/2/2019 at 7:55 AM, Smoother said:

It's an illegal vehicle because it does not comply with the rules governing road going vehicles in the country in question.  Here's a weird twist in what is and isn't a legal vehicle.  In the US, at least when I lived there, quad bikes are for off road only, but here in England you can ride them legally on the street (road tax, insurance, license, annual safety inspection, etc) with no helmet even, and England is a 100% M/C helmet country. Hows that for a twist; England: EUC? BAAAAAD! Quad bike? no problem.  USA Quad bike? BAAAD! EUC? no problem

:confused1:. Eeeeennnglannnnd! Oh, Eeeeennnnglannnnd! Thou land of blasted confounding regulaaaaationnnns!

Edited by Lutalo
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  • 4 weeks later...

Pretty much the response I would expect from a British traffic officer.

So what are you going to do? Continue to ride an EUC or not...? I have a feeling the same officer would explode if he saw you on it again :o

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Arrrg, makes my blood boil. Much as regulations irritate, the absence of clear standing for PEVs needs to be fixed. At least you didn't get the tow truck treatment @Jean Dublin! Obviously that cop's just doing his job as a traffic warden but it feels so unnecessary!

Sorry to go off-topic, but what's this "GDPR, GDPR ... GDPR"? Some sort of Jedi mind trick? :efef927839:
Seems like a perversion of the intent of the GDPR directive if you ask me. Surely it doesn't forbid recording encounters with plod for your own protection?

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There's a lot of sharp people here but I think you guys miss something.  

That is an AI.  The Dublin engineers did an amazing job with the bald head, accent and belly to create such realism that fooled you.

AI is our future.

Be alert.  There are more AI out there.

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I'm still riding, and organising group riding events (even if less than before, people are scared...) 

I would be surprised if he didn't know yet about the video and about that I'm still riding. I crossed twice with a police motorbike yesterday, both saw me and looked at me, maybe it was him, I don't know. 

They probably have a WhatsApp group between work colleagues and shared the video, and maybe one said he saw me again riding, who knows. 

He may have even joined the eRide.ie WhatsApp Chat without me knowing, and that would be fine, it may convince him of getting an Electric Rideable himself, if he doesn't have one yet. 

@Planemo

Edited by Jean Dublin
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  • 3 years later...

Hey Guys and Jean, it's 2022. What's the road-legal situation with monowheels in Ireland and the EU now? Has nothing changed since 2019? Myself and my buddy are thinking of starting a unicycle YT series about wheeling around Galway and county.

26-40-78336-53020.png

26-44-58671-47625.png

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  • 1 year later...
On 4/1/2019 at 6:48 PM, Rehab1 said:

Here’s a post from Gyrowheel about the laws pertaining to electric scooters, unicycles and skateboards in Ireland. 

What is the legal status of electric/battery powered scooters, unicycles and skateboards in Ireland?

Electric vehicles or any other Mechanically Propelled Vehicles (MPV) do not need to be taxed or insured in Ireland as long as they don’t go over 45 mph. All our products travel below 45 mph. However, if any  electric vehicles go over 45 mph, then those would need to get tax and insurance like a regular car or motorbike.

[Snip]

Place a sticker on the EUC claiming the top speed is 45 MPH.  

Eire (Republic of Ireland) is a mish-Mosh of English Common Law, British Laws, and EU Laws, along with National Irish Laws.  They still use Imperial Miles per Hour like the UK.

 

 

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