E-scooter

My lads got the same taxi problem at the moment. £16 home twice a week when he’s on lates

 

Does she really want 6 points on her licence for no insurance? Does she have a provisional licence? Be very, very careful as these are the easiest way to rack up points......
Would she not consider a electric assisted pedal cycle?

 

Here it is, Segway Ninebot.
Been riding it around London for a year or so. Never had any bother from the law.
Costs nothing to run, as safe as you want it to be and the fastest way around town.

 

So what makes you think Scooters are any safer?

 

We have them here in Northampton to hire. Bloody nuisance they are. Who ever thought it's a good idea to have something doing 15 miles a hour silently on a pavement needs his head examining. Typical of our government to allow their cronies to hire them out legally but it's illegal for anyone else to use one. So much for everyone having the same rights.
How about just a scooter. No motor, no issue with the law. Still, they shouldn't be on the pavement either.

 

Yes, Northampton is one of the trial places for e scooters. Hire only, no privately owned e scooters are allowed.

 

We have these in Cheltenham on a trail. Last year self and now exGF rented these in Seville, worked well for us there where there was an extensive cycle path ring around the old city. Self and 16 year old daughter used the trail ones here for the first time on Friday, just for the fun of it. Yes it was a laugh and used on the roads where there weren't any cycle paths/lanes. Very unstable one handed making hand signals very tricky plus you can only collect and park in designated parking bays of which there are too few. I can see the sense in this as in Seville they were parked everywhere, more convenient for the user but I could understand why this would become a nuisance to everyone else. The ones here are far too expensive for regular use, seems cheap at £1 to start and then 15p/min (they omit to tell this is ex VAT) but those minutes soon rack up and a trip across town (a couple of miles at most) and back on another brace, as we wandered around the park and then had to hunt out these using the ap. Next location wasn't conveniently close to where we were by then, in Seville they were on every street corner. With two scooters the total bill was around £15 for about 4 miles. Not great value and on the return leg mine kept dropping into Eco mode (no acceleration and max 10mph of the 20mph) as soon as you took your thumb off the throttle which was potentially lethal in traffic. I think the trail will end in failure due to the fact that as they are an expensive gimmick and not the last mile solution that they profess to be.

As to private ownership, they are a good idea in principal but what do you do with them at your destination? They're too heavy to carry into your office and the risk of theft is probably quite high if chained up like a push bike. Also I do regrettably agree that they do need to be regulated and be subject to age/licensing as well as insurance otherwise they could become as pesky as mini-motos have been.

 

Thought they are illegal on pavements unless it was designated a cycle-permitted one

 

In Northampton they are used on pavements. I don't know if that's illegal but they are being used there. Then they just get left anywhere.

 

consider e-bike, lots of "ride to work" schemes which can give up to 40% ish of the purchase cost.

 

Did a quick google and, yes, it is illegal on pavements

 

I guess unless the pavement includes a cycle lane?

There was no significant use guidance on the Zwings (company running the Cheltenham trial) app that I could find...

 

if its designated a shared zone, most of Gloms has them, then it 'should' be ok, except that these things are deemed road vehicles and road vehicles are not allowed in cycle lanes!

 

my son and a few of his mates have them and use them in london to avoid public transport. his is not to heavy and folds down, he keeps it in his office in the day .he paid just under £300 it has built in lights and brake light

 

I’m with those who advise an eBike rather than eScooter, as they’re bloody lethal. I was nearly wiped out by one of these silent killers the other day in my village of all places when I stepped onto the pavement after walking around the front of my motorhome.

Not only does she risk conviction for no licence, no insurance and riding other than on the permitted carriageway (can’t recall if that’s the correct wording of the charge but YKWIM) if she has a drinky or two or a few puffs on someone’s Magic Marlboro before heading off she’ll also be risking drink or drug driving charges.

In my view eBikes are much safer because though they’re sometimes mixing it with traffic there are plenty of cycle lanes in most cities and if she decides to ride on the pavement instead, the list of charges she faces is much less extensive and much less serious.