Escooters to be legalised in the UK.

[Nic]

26 minutes ago, Huxley said:

Change will happen, there's too many out there who are already riding, and will quite happily flout the laws in order to force the government's hand.

It's just a matter of time.

Once they become legal, just watch them take off. I don't have and euc, but you bet I will once this is all sorted out.

What are you riding?

[Huxley]

1 hour ago, Nic said:

What are you riding?

Currently nothing, but once the law sorts itself out probably a ks16x or an msx.

[Nic]

4 minutes ago, Huxley said:

Currently nothing, but once the law sorts itself out probably a ks16x or an msx.

I was thinking you might already be riding an electric scooter. That is quite a jump going straight for a high-end, high power wheel.

[Huxley]

14 minutes ago, Nic said:

I was thinking you might already be riding an electric scooter. That is quite a jump going straight for a high-end, high power wheel.

What can I say, I've never liked doing things by halves.

I'm even contemplating on getting a Veteran sherman, I want my first to be THE wheel I intend to stick with.

[mike_bike_kite]

8 minutes ago, Huxley said:

I want my first to be THE wheel I intend to stick with.

Good luck with that.

[rinzler]

So are you guys still riding around? I've taken my Tesla out a few times around London. I went past the Police once.... Sheepishly.... Fortunately they didn't say anything. 

I want to start using it on longer commutes around London and in the suburbs and on the pavement (probably 6-8mph in those cases which is jogging speed).

The press coverage is.making me feel nervous again about doing so.  The first time I used my EUC was when there was a clampdown. I got a verbal warning so back in the box it went.

I have been riding an escooter (on the pavement) for many years (when people used to always be curious in a positive way and ask about speed, range and cost).

These days I see loads of people flying around on their escooters on the road. This is where the negative perception has come from in my opinion. It also makes me look bad for being on the pavement. 

I'm now feeling nervous again about taking my wheel out. How can you enjoy it if you're always worried about getting stopped/fined/points on your licence. 

The whole insurance, road tax thing is also annoying. I just want to jump on ride to my nearby destination and not worry about it. If I have to pay to use it then I'll just get rid and stick with a bicycle.

[mike_bike_kite]

You'd do far better riding it on the road than on the pavement. I find that if you're riding with due care and attention that the police won't bother at all (can't guarantee that though). Obviously you'll need to ride faster on the roads and that also means having appropriate protection - I just have a bicycle helmet and wrist guards but that's probably the minimum. It also depends on what type of traffic you have to deal with.

[Planemo]

I have a feeling that police attention will start ramping up once the rentals start flowing. How long this attention will last is debatable given their limited resources but I wouldnt be surprised if they have a 1 or 2 week 'sting' just as they did last year when many riders were stopped/fined/proscecuted. Avoid at all costs is still my policy despite the fact that several riders have had good encounters. It just takes that one bad egg (who will usually be a traffic cop).

[rinzler]

1 hour ago, mike_bike_kite said:

You'd do far better riding it on the road than on the pavement. I find that if you're riding with due care and attention that the police won't bother at all (can't guarantee that though). Obviously you'll need to ride faster on the roads and that also means having appropriate protection - I just have a bicycle helmet and wrist guards but that's probably the minimum. It also depends on what type of traffic you have to deal with.

I do ride on some back roads. I live quite centrally so my couple of jaunts have been along the river Tate Modern, South Bank side. Very wide footway and the cycle lanes going across London. I don't think it would be safe to use roads around London other than side roads. 

This is actually how I got into kick scooters/escooters/EUCs - because I wanted a safer transport option than being on a bicycle on the roads (avoiding the underground was also joint 1st!).

I definitely pad up. Bike helmet, Knee pads, one lead arm wrist guard...my tests showing it's harder for me to grab the wheel within my wrist guard because of the skid plate.

I definitely take @Planemos approach to avoidance. I turned back on myself a few weeks ago just to avoid a stationary cop car.

2016 - the golden age of hassle free PEV use... I wish for those simpler times.

As side note, how fast do you generally go? I feel comfortable at 20mph and don't anticipate going beyond 26mph since I'm all about not getting personal with the pavement!

[mike_bike_kite]

1 minute ago, rinzler said:

As side note, how fast do you generally go?

I have my top speed set at just over 20mph and I tend to cruise just below this. I think as long as I'm riding at bicycle pace then I'm fine on the roads. Saying that, I don't ride on main roads at all as I just don't feel all that safe but I do feel fine on the smaller roads and I plan my routes accordingly.

[eve]

25km/h too high? Thats a normal bicycle speed. You can atleast hear the motor of the EUC while you only hear the tyre on bicycle.

[Nic]

Seems things are off to a bad start...

 

UK’s first e-scooter trial scaled back amid widespread misuse

Quote

UK’s first e-scooter trial scaled back amid widespread misuse – including underage riders zipping through shopping centres

Hire vehicle scheme billed as having potential to tackle climate change and coronavirus is ‘as useful as chocolate fire guard,’ says local MP.

When the UK’s first ever e-scooter pilot scheme was launched in Middlesbrough last month, bosses told The Independent they hoped there would be 10,000 of the vehicles on UK roads by next summer.

That figure, it seems, may have been optimistic.

A second pilot launch in neighbouring northeast town Hartlepool has had to be abandoned amid widespread misuse of the first 50 hire vehicles in Middlesbrough.

Mounting complaints include two teenagers taking them for a spin down the 70mph A19 and underage users zipping through the northeast town’s three shopping malls.

A spokesperson the Dundas Shopping Centre, one of the malls, said there had been “near-misses” involving elderly customers.

A staff member at a second, the Cleveland Centre, told the website Teesside Live: “We have got specific signs up but the scooters come in and fly around all over – it’s crazy.”

Legislation permitting the vehicles – which can reach speeds of 12mph – was rushed through parliament by government ministers last month in an apparent bid to get more people off buses in an age of climate change and coronavirus.

Middlesbrough was chosen for the country’s first trial after Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of the Tees Valley, pushed to have the scheme piloted on his patch.

The aim was to start with 50 vehicles in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool before building up to as many as 1,000 across the entire area, which includes Redcar, Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington.

But after plans for Hartlepool’s launch were quietly dropped, the town’s MP Mike Hill labelled the vehicles as “useful as a chocolate fireguard”.

Speaking to The Independent, he said: “Using scooters to get people off buses as a way of beating either climate change or coronavirus is farcical. It is fiddling while Rome burns. Whatever the question, e-scooters in Hartlepool are not the answer.”

Ginger, the company behind the scheme, said it was still planning to introduce the vehicles into the town at some point in the future but could not give a date.

It refused to say why the initial 15 July launch date had been cancelled.

In a statement, Paul Hodgins, the company’s chief executive and a former Conservative council leader, said: “We’ve naturally evaluated the project since its very successful launch and made further modifications we believe will improve rider and community experience ahead of our planned roll-out to other areas.”

 

[null]

They should ban shoes, criminals use them for their misdeeds 🙄