How safe are electric scooters?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48106617
They are classified as Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs), so they are treated as motor vehicles.
That means they are subject to all the requirements a motor vehicle is subject to - MOT, tax, licensing and construction requirements - such as having visible rear red lights, number plates and signalling ability.
Electric scooters do not have these, so they are not legal for roads.
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The government concluded a consultation earlier this year on the future of mobility, in which several respondents said that the law on electric scooters should be changed, but there has been no movement so far.
Transport minister Michael Ellis said: "Micromobility products are appearing in countries across the globe and are an exciting innovation for which we know there is demand. However, safety must always be our top priority when considering their use on public highways in this country.
"We are examining whether they can be used safely on the road - and if so, how that should be regulated to ensure the public's safety. However, companies must understand that reviewing laws does not necessarily mean laws will change.
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So the subject is kicked into the long grass.
Has anyone tried to spec out what in detail is required to make a scooter road legal?
Mot should be interesting ?
How are the police going to grab a passing scooter rider- Tazer them?
I suspect they have higher priorities.
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Surely there's a template in the rules for electric bikes and/or disabled scooters?
Main thing would be speed limits, requirement for brakes etc.
We could of course work with neighbouring countries, those with whom we have close transport links etc and agree a common standard everyone can work to and devise a mark for scotters that comply
HAng on a minute.....
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>> Surely there's a template in the rules for electric bikes and/or disabled scooters?
>>
Segways ?
There will always be problems if people walking / scootering / cycling (electric or pedal powered) / driving cars etc are sharing the same space if there is not due consideration for other users of the road, path or pavement. Sometimes rules help sometimes they don't.
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They are unregulated here and it is an effin' nightmare.
They are simply too dangerous for the rider to use on busy roads. So they use them on the sidewalks But the damned things are silent and very fast. Endless near misses and often actual accidents.
Even without collisions there are accidents on them. About a month ago I saw a woman face-plant off one. Her face was quite the mess.
They are trying to enforce them being used only on roads and the rider must wear a hi-vis jacket and a helmet. I think the fine is about £100, so it's not cheap. But it simply doesn't seem to be working.
You can run from the police (Carabineros) here, but typically it is better not to. They can get a bit forceful when challenged.
However, even if they were legal - MOT, Tax, Licensing, lights, etc. etc. I still doubt they could be made safe. They accelerate very fast and weave in and out of traffic. It's kind of like the moped carnage of the mid 70s.
As an aside, I think in the UK there is a power or speed capability below which they are not classed as legislated vehicles. I had one in the UK and I'm sure that was the case, though it was 15 years ago so I might mis-remember and it might have changed.
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All electrified scooters are illegal here* other than on private land.
Pushbikes can have electric assistance up to 15.5mph but they can't have a twist and go throttle: you have to do some pedalling. These require no MOT/tax/insurance.
*There are electric scooters that are road legal but they mostly look like petrol versions with the appropriate construction and use compliances, and are licenced/taxed (free presumably)/and need insurance.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 16 Jul 19 at 18:00
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" ........... but they can't have a twist and go throttle"
They can if the leccy bike was born before 2016; my daughter has one (2012). My wife and I have 2018 bikes - they are pedal-assist only.
I love the look on teenage cyclists' faces when an old boy blasts past them coming up Mount Road.
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I don't think I've ever seen one, are they that popular?
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Xiaomi M365 is one of the better ones.
Seen a couple in Scotland, and tons in Barcelona where they appear to have integrated electrified bikes/scooters fairly well.
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>> Xiaomi M365 is one of the better ones.
>>
My son has one and he has given me a demo.
Frightenly silent and deadly IMO. I opted not to try it.
He privately imported one of their electric bikes ( at a vast saving) and commutes on it to his office in London.
Another nice bit of kit.
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Hugely so here. They are everywhere. One opens the app, it will show where the nearest scooter is, which is typically within 50m and then you walk up to them, scan the QR code and then away you go. When finished just abandon it wherever you are, scan it again and done.
About £3 per hour, I think. But people use them for 15 minute journeys all the time.
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Interesting, I'll have to keep my eye out for them and see if they catch on here.
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I didn't catch the name of the town, is it in the capital?
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Yes, in Santiago. Santiago is divided into areas similar to boroughs and this article was about Las Condes I think, or perhaps Providencia.
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Two ways;
1) If you have the app you can also recharge a scooter at night and receive credit for doing so. Particularly popular amongst those who do not pay their own electricity bill. I believe it is reasonably common for the night concierge (which all apartment buildings have) to wander out at night and grab a few to recharge in the building's reception area.
2) The company concerned goes out in pick-up trucks to gather in, recharge and redistribute the scooters.
All scooters can be individually monitored for location, charge level and usage level by anybody with the app.Obviously the companies concerned have the App's big brother and presumably additionally functionality..
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 16 Jul 19 at 19:24
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It's $500 pesos (60p) to unlock one and then $150 pesos (20p) per minute to use it.
So a typical 15 minute journey is $500 + (15*$150) = $2750, £3.20 ish.
Bear in mind that I live in the capital city so the distances involved are not long.
In my case I have a favourite bar which I spend far too much time in. However, to come home by metro would be $750 (90p) but it finishes at 11:30pm. By taxi about $4,000 (£4.75)and by scooter about $2,500 (£3) so it's quite a reasonable price.
Whether or not I am fit to be in charge of a scooter after a night in the pub is another matter.
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In my case I have a favourite bar which I spend far too much time
>> in. However, to come home by metro would be $750 (90p) but it finishes at
>> 11:30pm. By taxi about $4,000 (£4.75)and by scooter about $2,500 (£3) so it's quite a
>> reasonable price.
I think that makes the taxi look quite cheap, to my mind anyway. Especially if I'd had a few beers.
Could you leave your scooter outside your house, have you done that?
>> Whether or not I am fit to be in charge of a scooter after a
>> night in the pub is another matter.
>>
No laws on that yet?
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Scooters work for short journeys on sunny days allowing you to avoid both excessive traffic and the one way system.
I do sometimes use them to come home from the pub. As it happens they can be quite difficult to find after about 9pm as they are gathered up for recharging and redistributing. But if I happen to spot one on a warm night I sometimes use them.
But on a sunny Sunday with little traffic and fewer taxis around they're quite fun and easy.
You can leave them anywhere, including right outside your own door. I tend not to because they get in the way.
If they banned cars from the city, which they should do but probably won't, they'd be superb transport.
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Drink driving in cars is particularly dangerous for foreigners. Should you be in an accident you will be drink/drug tested. If positive it's straight to jail.
But without an accident there is no enforcement.
I don't know what the laws are insofar as scooters are concerned, I'd guess there aren't any.
They have no lights, no insurance, no licence plates but the only laws I know of are that you must wear a hi-vis jacket (nobody does) a helmet ( almost nobody does) and they *must* be used on the road which makes no sense. A law insisting that a non road legal vehicle must be used on the road.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 17 Jul 19 at 16:37
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France introduces new rules to 'restore tranquility'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50189279
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And don't get me started on the ones 'disabled' people use. Driving at 10mph along very very busy main roads causing total mayhem, and being a major danger to themselves as well as other road users.
They always have this smug look on their faces of 'I'm entitled to be here', but frankly 99% would be better walking off some of lard on their bodies, because when they stop they always beetle off to some cafe...
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I think I'd rather be annoyed by a disability scooter than forced to use one.
I do not believe that the level of abuse is significant.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 16 Jul 19 at 19:32
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>> I think I'd rather be annoyed by a disability scooter than forced to use one.
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>> I do not believe that the level of abuse is significant.
I'd go with that too.
OTOH if If my regular commute involved being held up by same scooter every day I might change my mind.
For a while ten years or so ago The Lad was in the Air Cadets at Daventry so on meeting nights I'd need to drive over there for a 21:00 pick up. I'd regularly pass the same old boy on his disabled scooter returning from what I guess was a pub in Weedon to his home further down the A45....
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 16 Jul 19 at 20:33
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Rhyl is the capital of disability scooters around here. When I used to deliver there, they were a nightmare as they appear from unexpected directions. When I worked at CAB I came across a couple of examples where they are used as conveyances as opposed to actual disability scooters and probably the title of "mobility scooters" is more accurate. Yes, people use them as a means to get about even if they don't have disabilities.
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It is increasingly the way that we believe other people should not be able to do anything they want if it gets in the way of us doing whatever we want irrespective of the impact we have on others.
The compromise that living in a community requires appears to be becoming a lost skill. The triumph of rights over responsibilities.
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>>Yes, people use them as a means to get about even if they don't have disabilities.
My understanding is that Wales more than rUK went down the "there's no jobs, but you know if you were disabled you wouldn't need to sign on every week" route after the pits were shut.
Hence the highest rates of adults claiming DLA in the known Universe.
Might have changed in the past 15 years of course...
Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 16 Jul 19 at 21:00
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What annoys me about mobility scooters around here is they drive them on the road because they're allowed to do 8MPH on road, but 4MPH on pavements.
Not that there's much space on the pavements due to all the bicycles. Seems to be the norm now.
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Or the cars half or fully parked on pavements, unnecessarily.
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My understanding is that Wales more than rUK went down the "there's no jobs, but you know if you were disabled you wouldn't need to sign on every week" route after the pits were shut.
Rhyl is well known for being the white flight destination of choice from Manchester. Not many mines there ! :-).
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I think they should be subject some some kind of rules such as max weight and speed and maybe should emit a sound. They should only be used dawn till dusk etc... I have seen them abroad where where there is generally more open space and wider pavements than the UK you pay so much to rent one and have to be registered. I think there is some interaction with a mobile app and you can dump them at various return points within the city zone when you have finished or the battery is flat. They don't seem THAT popular - more of a passing FAD. Someone in a truck goes around in the evening and picks them up.
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electric scooters - Bromptonaut
