E-scooters to be allowed on public roads

[captain nemo1701]

No it doesn't. Import tax is paid on the invoice value & shipping costs which may only be £200 for a scoooter that retails at £500. The additional tax is therefore only £240 (including VAT on the duty) so the price increase would only be 50% plus any additional profit margin the retailer may add on.

Then introduce a separate 'risky-on-pavements-tax for the bone idle zooming around on pavements on them. One way or the other we should make them expensive.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Then introduce a separate 'risky-on-pavements-tax for the bone idle zooming around on pavements on them. One way or the other we should make them expensive.

I know I have said this before but it comes down to enforcement

if I was riding on a pavement and someone tried to stop me then I probably would

but then, if I was doing such a thing then I would probably be tootling alon avoiding people and stopping to give way and generally not causing a problem

but you average yoof wearing black everything and a balaclava would just laugh and zoom off
how to you catch them then??
unless you enforce number plates and ID
but then how do you enforce that?

OK - it can be done - but it woud take a lot of manpower to set up a zone where you stop them and have people ready to cut off all escape routes

other wise you just get the situation we see a lot where a counsel employ a company to put uniformed people in a shopping area and stop cyclists riding through - so people like me get fined but "you average yoof" just rides off
then they publish some stats to show how they are tackling anti-social behaviour
I saw a report from one a while ago where the same group of lads on bikes was doing circuits around the shopping area 'trying to see who could get chased the most - while a few older people got fined

 

[classic33]

I know I have said this before but it comes down to enforcement

if I was riding on a pavement and someone tried to stop me then I probably would

but then, if I was doing such a thing then I would probably be tootling alon avoiding people and stopping to give way and generally not causing a problem

but you average yoof wearing black everything and a balaclava would just laugh and zoom off
how to you catch them then??
unless you enforce number plates and ID
but then how do you enforce that?

OK - it can be done - but it woud take a lot of manpower to set up a zone where you stop them and have people ready to cut off all escape routes

other wise you just get the situation we see a lot where a counsel employ a company to put uniformed people in a shopping area and stop cyclists riding through - so people like me get fined but "you average yoof" just rides off
then they publish some stats to show how they are tackling anti-social behaviour
I saw a report from one a while ago where the same group of lads on bikes was doing circuits around the shopping area 'trying to see who could get chased the most - while a few older people got fined

Introduce the enforcement when buying. Just like they do when you buy a telly, all details taken for the TV license people.

 

[Alex321]

Introduce the enforcement when buying. Just like they do when you buy a telly, all details taken for the TV license people.

That only works (to an extent) for TV licensing because you have to giive your address, and the licence is for that address.

If the TV licence was for the individual TV set, or for the person, and they were using it away from their address (as will be the norm with the scooters), then taking the details at time of purchase will make no difference unless the scooters are also required to display an easily readable registration plate.

 

[icowden]

Introduce the enforcement when buying. Just like they do when you buy a telly, all details taken for the TV license people.

Absolutely. After all, there are no students or otherwise watching TV via their laptop, tablet or phone who haven't bothered to pay for a TV license.

 

[Drago]

Just like they do when you buy a telly, all details taken for the TV license people.

I gave them @Accy cyclist name and address, and made sure I dropped a few "dear fellow" and "my good man" s into the conversation for realism.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Introduce the enforcement when buying. Just like they do when you buy a telly, all details taken for the TV license people.

If you buy a TV they already have your address (unless you are fresh into the country and go into the nearest Currys to buy a tele lol). TV Licencing is address based not personal, if it doesn't have one it already gets a letter once a month in the name of the last person to hold a licence there, and if they don't know who lives there then the letters still get sent but are addressed to 'The Occupier'.

Absolutely. After all, there are no students or otherwise watching TV via their laptop, tablet or phone who haven't bothered to pay for a TV license.

Students in halls don't need one, provided their home address has one.

This has nothing to do with electric scooters BTW but TV Licencing annoys me as completely unneeded these days

 

[wheresthetorch]

TV Licencing annoys me as completely unneeded these days

Though it funds the BBC . . .

 

[wiggydiggy]

Though it funds the BBC . . .

Yet I still need one to watch any live TV from anyone else.

 

[FishFright]

Though it funds the BBC . . .

The idea that the licence fee funds the BBC is very out of date. A vast amount of their output is funded commercially through tie ups with overseas companies and sold internationally at a decent profit.

I don't have the data to hand but the amount kept by the private collection company is staggering.

 

[captain nemo1701]

How about tweaking the law to say that if anyone on a private escooter hits a ped on the pavement, regardless of how it happened since they're illegal in public, and shouldn't have been there anyway, its automatically their fault?. If full liability is on the escooter rider who insists on flouting the rules (I blame people like Boris for encouraging it, he racked up ££££ in fines for parking on double yellows) it may put some off.

Unfortunately our culture has become 'get-away-with-it-as-much-as-you-can'.

And yes, we need better enforcement which means more police which means spending more money on them.

 

[Alex321]

How about tweaking the law to say that if anyone on a private escooter hits a ped on the pavement, regardless of how it happened since they're illegal in public, and shouldn't have been there anyway, its automatically their fault?. If full liability is on the escooter rider who insists on flouting the rules (I blame people like Boris for encouraging it, he racked up ££££ in fines for parking on double yellows).

Unfortunately our culture has become 'get-away-with-it-as-much-as-you-can'.

And yes, we need better enforcement which means more police which means spending more money on them.

That wouldn't be a "tweak" to the law, it would be a very major change, which it is unlikely any government is going to even think about considering.

 

[wheresthetorch]

I don't have the data to hand but the amount kept by the private collection company is staggering.

About 5% I believe.

 

[FishFright]

About 5% I believe.

It was much more than but the link to the source is dead.

ETA , it was faulty memory . 5% is a bout right.

 

[Drago]

Though it funds the BBC . . .

I don't pay it.

But equally I do not spend the money saved on e scooters.