classic33
Leg End Member
I know of one such e-bike near me.
Fully licenced and insured and MOT'd and the rider has sat a test. He moved from a motorbike(ICE to EV) partially because he liked the novelty and it was quieter.
BBC Breakfast item today on illegally modded ebikes
- Thread starter captain nemo1701
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Fully licenced and insured and MOT'd and the rider has sat a test. He moved from a motorbike(ICE to EV) partially because he liked the novelty and it was quieter.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
I don't know anything about motorbikes, but I'd imagine that e-motorbikes can be quite sprightly performance-wise. I'd imagine that they'd appeal to the same group of reckless young men who were forever crashing their bikes and ending up in A&E (and worse) who I knew when I was a youth.
wiggydiggy
Legendary Member
15 years ago I had a neighbour that had one, used it commute about 3 miles each way to Leeds city centre and back. A relative of mine had their mobility scooter taxed and insured for road use, they had a UK driving licence.
My point is both were very cheap to run and were a great alternative to a car for them both, I definately think road legal electric transport e.g. Electric Motorbikes of the type we are complaining about has its place. Its now down to the government (
) to try and manage that.OK, so went to court and after waiting around an hour in witness room the prosecution solicitor comes in and says he changed plea to guilty so I wasn't required to give evidence. Apparently he did this on Friday so why they couldn't have told me to save trip is another matter! The whole process there though was really half arsed, not what I was expecting.
Anyway, the driver already had 9 points on licence and the court gave him another 6 totalling 15 and a fine/surcharge total of £943.
However, he pleaded exceptional hardship as needs car for driving wife/kids to appointments, school etc and so court accepted that so didnt ban him. An obvious repeat offender but no ban. Pretty lenient I thought.
After I was told not needed as witness I went into public gallery to watch. Driver was middle aged, quietly spoken and seemed a decent guy but fairly obvious not a great driver.
- Location
- Inside my skull
Clearly not based on this exceptional hardship bollocks. He should have taken responsibility for his repeatedly bad driving.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
They're getting electric motorbikes around the Isle Of Man TT course at an average of over 100mph once the target of every 500cc single rider.
First guy to do it was Michael Rutter, son of the legendary Tony Rutter, and won the £10,000 prize for the first rider to do so. The lap record held by him now sits at 121.909 mph.
I can only go on the few minutes watching him in court. It could have all been an act to get magistrates to take pity on him. He did submit pages of info about how he needed car etc, obviously I didn't get to see this.
Anyway, any blame for him not receiving a ban should be directed at court. I think pretty unlikely any driver is going to voluntarily say they deserve one but seeing as he already had 9 points I was pretty surprised he wasn't banned.
wiggydiggy
Legendary Member
He's one of over 10,000 with 12 points or more, the highest is 229 points.
Welsh driver with over 200 penalty points still holds a valid driving licence
- Location
- Inside my skull
He should reign in his bad driving if it’s so important. Exceptional hardship ought to be removed as an excuse. The bloke has been caught 4 times which points to persistently breaking motoring laws.
Apparently the exceptional hardship argument can only be used once every 3 years so how some drivers are able to accumulate 50, 100, 200 points shows there's something wrong with the system!
God knows what their insurance premiums are though, must be astronomical.
Still, on the plus side I was able to claim for £10.75 for food and travel for today so it was all worthwhile 😂
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Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Yeah, a decent guy when not trying to kill people.
The hardship bollards annoys me, putting road safety and justice second to his convenience, but we could be here all day bumping our gums on that one.
Well-done for sticking to your guns. I guessed they were trying to game the system.
N0bodyOfTheGoat
Senior Member
- Location
- Hampshire, UK
If a motor vehicle is essential for you/family, then surely you should ensure you don't drive carelessly and get enough points to lose your license.
Rather than continuously drive badly, get points, then plead that you need your license and judge gives you a slap on the wrist without taking away your driving privilege.
That's a disgusting outcome IMO.
Take away their license and make family use taxis, public transport, walk or even cycle.
Rather than continuously drive badly, get points, then plead that you need your license and judge gives you a slap on the wrist without taking away your driving privilege.
That's a disgusting outcome IMO.
Take away their license and make family use taxis, public transport, walk or even cycle.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Absolutely. The time to think about hardship is before offending and endangering lives, not after you've been caught.
Its wrong that a road criminal can receive a lesser punishment that someone who offended in an identical manner but who may happen to have no responsibilities.
dicko
Guru
- Location
- Derbyshire
Our visit to Vancouver earlier this year revealed a city with well controlled cycle/e-bike and e scooter structure. There were clear marked ‘green’ lanes parallel to the city main highways and crossings controlled by traffic lights. There were no pavement cyclists and the ebike riders did respect each other the pedestrians and the motor vehicles. As Vancouver city was laid out on the ‘grid’ system things were easier for all this of course this won’t work here as our city’s are just a crazy mess of roads. The e-bikes and scooters were not speed limited they could certainly shift. However there is a big following of sport cyclist all turned out in very flashy cycle wear,
Well all I can say is I did my bit as did the police but ultimately it's down to the courts to decide on final outcome. This was is the grand context of a lot of court cases a trivial issue (not for me at time as I was severely p*ssed off with a car at speed just missing me) but overall when you consider what "proper" crimes are committed and sometimes justice never seems to be served.
That though is the situation. In this case it was 3 magistrates who decided outcome.
For what it's worth I'd at least hope the driver next time he passes a cyclist or another vunerable road user takes more care. Ultimately that is the reason I record my rides, to hopefully change driver behaviour.
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