E-bike and E-scooter - ongoing issues and discussion (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

This sounds overly strict to me.
As far as I know the rider of a cycle (including an electrically assisted type) is not liable to breathalyzer testing nor to loss of their car driving licence if found riding whilst drunk.

It's a motor vehicle, so is subject to the same Road Traffic Act.

(This removes possibly the only reason why I would ever ride one)

And yet electrically assisted cycles do not seem to be regarded as motor vehicles.

[rogerw]

Electrically assisted cycles require you to do some of the work by peddling. Electrically powered cycles are classed as motor vehicles as no human power input is used. There is a very significant difference. Escooters are solely powered by electricity and are thus motor vehicles in law.

[TonyK]

And yet electrically assisted cycles do not seem to be regarded as motor vehicles.

They aren't, because they're not.

I was in Bristol yesterday and today, and saw quite a lot of the scooters, including a fair few being used. I don't think I ever saw one of the previous yellow bikes being ridden, which suggests that the e-scooters have more potential, and are probably here to stay. All were being ridden responsibly, although mostly without helmet, with the exception of one being used by a young man who seems determined to save the country the price of a pension.

[Bmblbzzz]

The yellow bikes (Yo bikes was their brand name) were pretty popular when first introduced. Unlike the hire scooters, they were also used further afield; it wasn't unusual to see people riding them to Bath, for instance. This won't happen with the e-scooters because (at the moment at least) they are geofenced. However, people did love throwing the yellow bikes in the docks. It's actually a puzzle to me why this doesn't happen with the scooters too.

[broadgage]

Presumably they know whom hired each scooter and therefore whom threw it into the dock rather than returning it.

[TaplowGreen]

What is it with Bristolians and throwing things in docks?

Statues, bicycles.............now scooters?

Perhaps the fish should be issued with hard hats? 

[froome]

What is it with Bristolians and throwing things in docks?

Statues, bicycles.............now scooters?

Perhaps the fish should be issued with hard hats? 

Fish? In Bristol's docks? I think you are being a tad optimistic. Don't be fooled by the anglers lined up by the outfall, they're really just gnomes. 

Talking of throwing scooters around, soon after they were introduced here in Bath, I saw one man who was walking down a road where some were parked, and as he was passing he picked one up, raised it above his head, and then sent it crashing down onto the others. Must admit I couldn't believe it, as it was the middle of the day and plenty of people around. He then calmly continued walking past as if that was a perfectly reasonable action.

[TaplowGreen]

What is it with Bristolians and throwing things in docks?

Statues, bicycles.............now scooters?

Perhaps the fish should be issued with hard hats? 

Fish? In Bristol's docks? I think you are being a tad optimistic. Don't be fooled by the anglers lined up by the outfall, they're really just gnomes. 

Talking of throwing scooters around, soon after they were introduced here in Bath, I saw one man who was walking down a road where some were parked, and as he was passing he picked one up, raised it above his head, and then sent it crashing down onto the others. Must admit I couldn't believe it, as it was the middle of the day and plenty of people around. He then calmly continued walking past as if that was a perfectly reasonable action.

............possibly the first recorded example of scooter rage?

[TonyK]

Presumably they know whom hired each scooter and therefore whom threw it into the dock rather than returning it.

They aren't physically locked to anything after use. Who last hired it and who Colstoned it could very easily be two (or more) different people.

[Bmblbzzz]

Presumably they know whom hired each scooter and therefore whom threw it into the dock rather than returning it.

They aren't physically locked to anything after use. Who last hired it and who Colstoned it could very easily be two (or more) different people.

In addition, an app was also needed to hire the Yo bikes. They knew exactly who had last hired it, but not who threw it in the harbour. As TonyK says, it's a known hazard not just in Bristol that when things of this sort are not docked, they get docked.

[johnneyw]

I've not been lurking round the docks recently enough to verify this but could it be that the E-scooter docking nodes are deliberately located a sufficient distance away from deep water in order to avoid being easily thrown in?

[Marlburian]

E-scooter robbery in Bracknell

And apparently in a busy location.

(The value of some bicycles must make them a temptation to "highway robbers" who can identify an up-market model.)

[broadgage]

The risk of theft is in my view a major factor that discourages cycling and use of E-cycles.
When living in London I observed many probably stolen cycles being sold in the vicinity of the Brick lane Sunday market.
Sometimes the original owner of the cycle turned up and demanded it back. Their success depended on how many friends they had with them, and on what level of violence was used.
I never saw a policeman in the vicinity.

[Bmblbzzz]

These things tend to go in waves. "Highway robbery" of bikes, and not necessarily high-end ones, does happen from time to time – in fact a friend of mine was a victim of it a few years ago (but recovered his bike through social media) – but it's certainly not a permanent worry. You might remember "carjacking" being a thing back in the 1990s.

[Marlburian]

Now a theft in Reading