Electric Vehicles - Really?

[mikmas]

Health and safety has gone mad in this country and this is a perceived safety issue and the old minds of decision makers who can't really wise up to it.

Disagree entirely - while you have nutters like Alliston on two wheels in public places, pedestrians need all the protection they can get:

"Alliston was riding a fixed gear bike with no front brakes when he hit the 44-year-old mother-of-two as she crossed a road in east London in February 2016."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45154708

We need more up to date laws - and stricter enforcement ... and that applies even more to electric scooters and bikes as their use increases and the 'modder' crowd start to to boost their potential (already happening)

[User211]

Disagree entirely - while you have nutters like Alliston on two wheels in public places, pedestrians need all the protection they can get:

"Alliston was riding a fixed gear bike with no front brakes when he hit the 44-year-old mother-of-two as she crossed a road in east London in February 2016."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45154708

We need more up to date laws - and stricter enforcement ... and that applies even more to electric scooters and bikes as their use increases and the 'modder' crowd start to to boost their potential (already happening)

Any form of transport will always be open to abuse and will carry safety risks.

The modder community have modified cars to extreme levels. Insanely fast cars are road legal.

What's the difference here? Idiots will always exist.

Hell, I can't even dive of a diving board at the local swimming pool. I greatly resent that fact.

[mikmas]

Any form of transport will always be open to abuse and will carry safety risks.

The modder community have modified cars to extreme levels. Insanely fast cars are road legal.

What's the difference here? Idiots will always exist.

The level of legal restrictions applied to pedal cycles and electrical vehicles is staggeringly minimal compared to that of larger road vehicles (cars, vans, trucks, etc) and what little there is is barely enforced, if at all, by comparison.
Pavement use by such vehicles is not even remotely policed despite the clear dangers and the accidents that occur on a regular basis ... including fatalities such as the one linked to.
What modders do to cars is irrelevant and doesn't excuse latitude in other cases.

[User211]

The level of legal restrictions applied to pedal cycles and electrical vehicles is staggeringly minimal compared to that of larger road vehicles (cars, vans, trucks, etc) and what little there is is barely enforced, if at all, by comparison.

Pavement use by such vehicles is not even remotely policed...

First paragraph - no way. That's what the thread is about. You can't legally ride an electric scooter or most other electric vehicles on roads or pavements or cycle lanes (as far as I know for this last case) apart from one brand of scooter.

2nd para is true.

[Len Co]

Disagree entirely - while you have nutters like Alliston on two wheels in public places, pedestrians need all the protection they can get:

"Alliston was riding a fixed gear bike with no front brakes when he hit the 44-year-old mother-of-two as she crossed a road in east London in February 2016."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45154708

We need more up to date laws - and stricter enforcement ... and that applies even more to electric scooters and bikes as their use increases and the 'modder' crowd start to to boost their potential (already happening)

His bike was illegal (as you probably know) so the law covers that particular point, how it could be effectively enforced with the current lack of coppers on the beat is beyond me - same goes for any laws related to bikes. Citizens arrests may be the only answer!

[mikmas]

First paragraph - no way. That's what the thread is about. You can't legally ride an electric scooter or most other electric vehicles on roads or pavements or cycle lanes (as far as I know for this last case) apart from one brand of scooter.

Err - that really just confirms what I said in the first paragraph

"The level of legal restrictions applied to pedal cycles and electrical vehicles is staggeringly minimal compared to that of larger road vehicles (cars, vans, trucks, etc) and what little there is is barely enforced, if at all, by comparison."

[mikmas]

His bike was illegal (as you probably know) so the law covers that particular point, how it could be effectively enforced with the current lack of coppers on the beat is beyond me - same goes for any laws related to bikes. Citizens arrests may be the only answer!

I recall his counsel tried to argue that having a fixed gear bike meant it effectively had two forms of braking (backpedaling and putting his feet on the floor) and was thus road legal - that was thrown out PDQ ....
What really got me about this case was Alliston's apparent arrogance and indifference (given that he had killed another human being....) - he claimed she had ample time to 'get out of his way'.
This sums up the attitude of too many two wheelers and electric scooter users I have come across who seem to think they have some kind of 'right of way' on the pavement

Fortunately not all are like that and have the good manners and grace to acknowledge that the footpath is primarily the safety area for pedestrians on the highway to go about their daily business unhindered..

[User211]

Err - that really just confirms what I said in the first paragraph

"The level of legal restrictions applied to pedal cycles and electrical vehicles is staggeringly minimal compared to that of larger road vehicles (cars, vans, trucks, etc) and what little there is is barely enforced, if at all, by comparison."

Well I don't think the points made by me.and that paragraph are the same. But hey. Don't worry. I'm not out to argue.

[User211]

I recall his counsel tried to argue that having a fixed gear bike meant it effectively had two forms of braking (backpedaling and putting his feet on the floor) and was thus road legal - that was thrown out PDQ ....
What really got me about this case was Alliston's apparent arrogance and indifference (given that he had killed another human being....) - he claimed she had ample time to 'get out of his way'.
This sums up the attitude of too many two wheelers and electric scooter users I have come across who seem to think they have some kind of 'right of way' on the pavement

Fortunately not all are like that and have the good manners and grace to acknowledge that the footpath is primarily the safety area for pedestrians on the highway to go about their daily business unhindered..

I think there's a lot of contempt held between cyclists and motorists and vice versa. And a disparity of view on what's right or not in terms of road usage. Whether it's correct or not.

I do frequently see cyclists riding right out in the middle of the road. Without a care in the world. They think they own it type arrogance. When I'm on mine I always ride as close to the kerb as possible.

Cyclists riding in packs feel no issue with taking up entire lanes.

There's no accounting for attitudes and behaviours sometimes.

[struth]

Both often try to take their own high ground instead of respecting each other. Same can be said for motorcycles

Whether we like it or not the internal combustion engine as such is gonna go for most. If all countries could agree on anything we might get somewhere but that won't happen. Human nature