An open letter organised by national shared transport charity Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK) is calling for the new Labour government to ‘urgently’ legalise e-scooters, saying it is the only way to resolve the problems caused by “entirely unregulated” privately-owned e-scooters being ridden on public roads. The letter, to Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and her ministers, says e-scooters could be legalised through the creation of a new “low powered zero emission vehicle class” which could also cover other forms of transport.
Like it’s even stopping anyone at this point, see so many private ones out and about.
They are a nightmare on the roads (and pavement), government and councils desperately need to invest in some designated cycle/scooter paths.
And not these bullshit white lines that people park over and drive in constantly.
It stops a lot of people. Unfortunately, they are also the ones who would actually follow the rules. This just leaves the rule breakers and idiots, giving everyone else a bad name.
I would personally love a micro mobility option. An option between walking and driving my van somewhere would be extremely useful.
There’s a road near me where they spend loads of money “upgrading” the cycle infrastructure, literally all they did was to paint some white lines. Which as you say people park on.
It’s ridiculous.
There’s one road near me and I usually count over 5 vehicles parked in the cycle lane when I go past.
idk how that can happen, I genuinely think the parking officers just ignore it these days.
They’d rather walk around the car parks checking vehicles than deal with actually troublesome parking.
There’s one near me that’s only about 200 meters. Nothing joining for miles in either direction.
I suppose it puts a tick in a box somewhere.
Yeah I’m positive it’s just a box ticking next exercise.
But it’s just another example of the conservatives and their complete lack of any real interest in the carbon initiative, because that’s where this comes from. They were supposed to increase cycle infrastructure by a certain percent by a certain date, but since they were not going to do that they instead they decided to just paint some white lines on the ground and claim that they’d done it.
Then about 5 years ago they just decided to give up and not even pretend anymore, and left us with whatever mess they had got to.
There are some great examples of cycle lane design out there. And some atrocious examples of cycle lanes that have been built. But that’s a separate rant.
If we had a quality cycle lane network, we could have adapted that to support “more than walking, less that driving” lanes without much issue.
The earlier we invest in this new class of highway the cheaper and easier it will be.
I really hope in the next few years we see a revolution in short distance transport. Most journeys are less than 3 miles (if I remember correctly, could be 5) a perfect distance for e-bikes, e-scooters and normal acoustic bikes. Hopefully at least some places capitalise on it
Acoustic bikes? What kind of witchery is that? Do you sing to unlock them or do they play music while you ride?
Sadly this is a term that has caught on even though it makes no sense. I wish people had latched onto “non-electric” bike or “NE” bike instead, but here we are.
What are your rules about bicycles? In Sweden, we regulated them kinda like bicycles - as long as the motor has an effect under 250w, and is limited to driving at speeds of 20km/hr, you’re able to use them in the same places and manners as other bicycles.
Recently they started to require traffic insurance, and basically all insurance plans have zero deductibles as long as you’re wearing a helmet. I barely see anyone with helmets still, but yeah…
Or is the biggest nightmare that there’s not many designated bicycle paths, and so people are zooming around where pedestrians are walking?
25kmph and 250w, off the top of my head. You need to pedal for the motor to engage, and they count as a bicycle so no insurance needed. The twist & go bikes (no pedalling required) are basically motorbikes with pedals so they’re technically illegal but they’re still widespread. You’ll regularly see them in every city centre for food deliveries and you’ll see kids on them everywhere else.
The lack of bicycle paths is a big problem but I don’t think they’ll solve it entirely. The barrier of entry is just too low, any idiot can ride one and be oblivious to the danger as they weave in between people.