E-scooters

I've used the hire ones in Europe before and really liked them, the biggest issue seemed to be some of the hire schemes allowed dockless hire/drop off so lots were just strewn all over the place which i can appreciate can be annoying if they are dumped in your way but a great altenative to poor public transport otherwise

Seemingly delimited rider fined:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/man-loses-licence-caught-drink-driving-e-scooter-lewisham-b936902.html

Quite a few narrowboaters are using them to pop to the shops.... seems a legit idea, as you can take it in tesco wherever with you...

Awaiting the release of a gravel scooter

@amey this is why not Lewisham ;)

I tucked in behind a scooter all the way down from Elephant and Castle to Brixton. Highly recommended.

Not sure if this has been posted here.
Written by Roger Geffen form Cycling Uk almost a year ago
https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/striking-balance-e-scooters

He makes some good points. General support with a few thoughtful provisions

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/electric-scooter-rental-trial

renter scooter trials starting today in 5 london boroughs.

three different operators so three different apps to register with.

flat fee for rental and then charged by the minute, although it looks like some of the firms will only charge while the scooters are moving to try and discourage RLJing

be interesting to see if enforcement gets stepped up on private scooters and pavement usage now that these trials have gone live.

be interesting to see if enforcement gets stepped up on private
scooters and pavement usage now that these trials have gone live.

Spoiler: it won't. We've had these sort of trials running in Portsmouth for a couple of months now. It's made absolutely fuck all difference.

yeah, it's not going to magically increase police budgets etc.
didn't know if the local councils would be using parking enforcement officers to issue fines? are they even legally able to do this?

what's your impression of the portsmouth trial scheme? have you had a go on one?

Nah, I haven't tried them, doesn't really appeal to me personally.
They're not a bad idea in theory, and if it means that infrastructure that can also be used by bikes is generally improved, then I'm all for it.
Unfortunately it hasn't made a blind bit of difference to scooters on pavements, nor the unlicensed 'illegal' scooters - but they certainly seem to be getting used plenty, and I'd say I probably see more people using the licensed scooters than personal ones, which I guess seems like a step in the right direction.

i suppose at least the licensed ones are speed limited - the london ones to 12.5mph i think.
at least you're not going to get some knob whizzing silently past at 20+

Mates kid brought a cheapie one in for a quick cable repair, limited to 10kph, how dangerous could it possibly be!!!?????* 10KPH is ridiculous slow, but the kid is under 10, so parents turned it down to its minimum.

*Twice nearly smashed into parked cars when turning . Turns out if you hold the throttle down for more than 20 seconds it just stays wide open like some kind of 'cruise control', so a quick u turn in the road turned into a shit shit shit moment as it tried to power on. Not sure if defective or its some kind of customization , but caught me out for sure.

Going down a storm here in Kew, saw a guy ontop testing the suspension and a selfie being taken next to them

They've installed a new docking station thing here on the traffic calming island thing right outside our shop - which is a foot high with no dropped bits anywhere. Already watched a few people struggle to drag the heavy scooters up to park them - I'm waiting for the inevitable cocky twats trying to ride straight off the side, I'm hoping for plenty of entertainment.

https://mindthezag.com/places/london-trials-what-weve-learned-so-far/

Yeah saw a whole bunch of them in Chiswick yesterday. Out of the blue, there were 5 dotted around.
They seem quite well made.

This sounds ominous. Head injuries reported in this way often result in a fatality. Let's hope not.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/escooter-crash-west-drayton-rider-head-injury-b940509.html

Police booking e-scooters entering Hyde Park at Speakers corner this morning.

Some evidence of mixed mode shift to e-scooters
https://cities-today.com/trade-off-survey-shows-scooters-replace-both-car-and-walking-journeys/

It will be interesting as more evidence comes in from the current London trials, TfL is really keen to find out the degree car trips are replaced by e-scooter trips.

As Jeremy Vine keeps pointing out, e scooter riders who hurt nobody are getting punished more severely than drivers who killed cyclists.

I do feel that sometimes this is a case of a 3mph mind operating in a 20mph world when a new user gets on one of these.

I’ve definitely picked up a couple of people off the floor who were riding something overpowered - and they were just on electric bikes with proper brakes.

Police remove 500 e-scooters from London roads

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-57609088.amp

maybe they are stepping up enforcement on illegal scooter use after all?

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/escooter-crash-twickenham-man-in-hospital-b946053.html

Agreed, seriously dangerous especially for bikes, motorbikes, and pedestrians. I also see a lot of last-minute idiots on these things.