E Scooters > on the road

[DCLane]

They're increasing locally here as well; a local 12-13 year-old rides one on the road - badly - weaving all over. Mind you he was riding a motor scooter on the road yesterday, with a passenger. Next time I'll get a photo.

In town/city centres they're more common on roads and pavements. The police don't seem to be bothering with them, which is why it's seen as OK to ride one.

 

[Tenkaykev]

There's an official trial of them down here in Poole, it's run by the same people who have been running the local Beryl Bike system for the past couple of years.
I saw a group of adults outside an industrial unit, they had one and were taking it in turns to try it out and get used to the handling.

 

[Accy cyclist]

No way am i 'giving way' for one if it's being ridden on the pavement!!

 

[Drago]

No way am i 'giving way' for one if it's being ridden on the pavement!!

Should I dust off the obit?

 

[CanucksTraveller]

This is a still of one of the local Street hawk re-enactors near me, (he also happens to be a low level drug dealer). He drives on the public road at speeds higher than the traffic, he's doing well, well in excess of 30mph in the clip these stills were taken from.
I've sent footage of him to the local police over the first few months of this year and gave them his routes and times (he's predictable) but heard nothing further back, and I still see him most days.
Police seem unsure of what to do with them, or maybe they're not bothered, it's one of the two. Surprising really since (a) he's a fatality waiting to happen, and (b) all the low end drug dealers are on these now. They're untraceable, fast, and no police car can follow them. You'd think the police would want to crack down.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

If they try to enforce the law then, as usual, they will be able to stop a few reasonable people who are riding in a reasonable manner.
The nutters that ride on the pavement at speed will just whizz off and there won't be much they can do.

 

[KnittyNorah]

These things are simply terrifying for the visually impaired. Silent, and fast.

People in wheelchairs, the blind and partially-sighted, those who use mobility aids of any type, as well as those who use shopping trolleys and prams/baby buggies, already face enough problems negotiating around the inconsiderately-parked cars, overgrown shrubs and general impedimentia already on the (cracked, broken, poorly-surfaced) pavements which abound all over this land without wilfully permitting, even encouraging, further obstacles to their use.

I will happily concede that there are some paths of some types in some areas which are wide, well-surfaced, well-maintained and which are eminently suitable for such use. However, these are the exception rather than the rule, and surely legislation cannot be extended from permissive use of such paths for electric scooters into a de-facto permission for their use on all footways.

Until well-nigh miraculous surgery last year (during lockdown, and all over through the summer) I had been severely visually-impaired for several years, using a white cane for mobility for the past two. Cyclists on pavements were scary enough, but at least most of them seemed both willing and able to give me a decently- wide berth when they saw the white cane (or maybe it was me veering from side to side across the pavement which scared them … canes are not the easiest thing to use for 'navigation'). Several times I have found myself unable to progress along the pavement or get into a shop or office building due to inconsiderately 'parked' bikes lying on the ground in my way and had to stand there like a blob waiting for assistance from some passing stranger. Fortunately most people are pleasant and helpful in this sort of situation, but it is still horrible to feel so very 'trapped'. The addition of e-scooters to this jumble of junk in the street will only make matters worse.

Now I have my eyesight back, I can't wait to start cycling again - but if I'm to have e-scooters buzzing up my tail I want flails on my wheels, like a tank, or scythes, like Boudicca's imaginary chariot!

 

[Stephenite]

Does anyone on the forum (other than me) have an e-scooter?

 

[stephec]

No way am i 'giving way' for one if it's being ridden on the pavement!!

This.

I was out running last week when a lad of probably 18 or so came flying round a corner on a scooter so I kept the same course but braced myself, then at the last minute he swerved out of the way and went off the curb like Evel Knievel. 😄

 

[vickster]

Prefer them to stay on the roads...it’t only likely they who will come a cropper when they ride like tw@Ts which mostly they do round here rather than a pedestrian.
Theres a loony dude round her with one of those electric single wheel things, he’s very fast, and quite skilled on it, just as well as he too uses it like a nobber on pavements as well as weaving in and out of traffic
https://www.electricrider.co.uk/products/segway-ninebot-one-s2-2021?

 

[vickster]

Are retailers actually making it known that they are only allowed on private land ? i doubt it in which case are they breaking the law selling them.
See loads of them around here generally ridden by youths who have no sense in the 1st place and parents dont seem to give a feck

Clearly not, this is a specialist company and claims they are legal on the road like bikes
https://www.electricrider.co.uk/collections/electric-scooters

Are e-scooters legal in the UK?
Yes, electric kick scooters are legal in the UK, you just need to ensure you stick to the road and observe the same rules as cyclists are required to observe. When on an e-scooter you are essentially a vehicle and not a pedestrian. That means it would be illegal to cross at a zebra crossing with your newly bought electric scooter, just as it would be illegal to a Tesla Cybertruck across one.

 

[Badger_Boom]

York is lousy with them since one of the hire companies started up.

I had my first run in a couple of days ago when a guy scooting up the pavement screeched to a halt behind me and the pup while I was dealing with a turd. I was too preoccupied to offer any Highway Code advice as he grudgingly dismounted and trudged round us.

 

[flake99please]

Plenty of young kids (10-13 years old) riding these without any consideration for others on the roads/pavements near me. There have been a couple of near misses already, so it will be just a matter of time before a serious/fatal accident occurs with someone riding one.

 

[Red17]

See quite a few on the pavement on my daily walk into Croydon, probably about equal numbers with the pavement cyclists, although they are generally travelling a fair bit quicker.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Does anyone on the forum (other than me) have an e-scooter?

Maybe they do but don't want to confess to it!
If they're in the UK and using it, they're doing so illegally unless they're using it on their own, private, land or property, or have permission from the landowner to do so. I would imagine that e-scooters might also find favour on business premises which have very large warehouses or open-air storage facilities and the like, and that of course would also be legal.
Otherwise, to be legal it's hired ones only in certain specific areas.
I for one have the forlorn hope that if they become 'legal' - either de facto or de jure - it will be road use ONLY and some way (what way?) will be found to effectively protect the legal and proper users of foot and cycleways, along with PROWs such as bridleways and footpaths, from these things.