This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Some police action on electric scooters:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/met-s-safety-team-target-dangerous-electric-scooter-riders-on-the-roads-and-pavements-a4118041.html

The Met’s cycle safety team will stop and warn Londoners seen riding the increasingly popular battery-powered scooters

Interesting to hear about a 'warning', when their use can carry the following sanctions:

Using them on the road commits the offence of using a motor vehicle with no insurance, and risks a £300 fixed penalty notice and six points on a driving licence.

I wonder under which circumstances these can be applied? Perhaps the first wave is to merely warn people, with the police gradually moving to enforcing the above sanctions.

It does make you wonder whether people might not walk around the next corner and get back on, but I assume the police wouldn't have the power to impound scooters (no idea what powers they have there).

Another fun titbit:

Sgt Osborne said some riders had bought scooters in a tax-free cycle to work scheme.

Finally, East Midlands Police-style operations on close passing:

The police team has also been carrying out weekly “close pass” operations targeting motorists who get too near cyclists, threatening their safety.

“Hotspot” locations are chosen after being flagged by cyclists on Twitter or on the London Cycling Campaign “stay wider of the rider” website. The initiative is part of Transport for London’s Vision Zero campaign to eradicate road fatalities and reduce casualties by 2041. An undercover officer wearing a body-worn camera cycles a route and alerts colleagues to dangerous overtaking. Guilty motorists are pulled over and given the choice of a ticket for careless driving or an on-the-spot “educational” reminder of the Highway Code.