Bus lanes, cycle Lanes, 20 mph speeds, being overtaken by electric cycles and now e-scooters. Is there any point to owning a car in a city?
The lesser the benefit of car ownership the better it is for everyone as a whole.Is there any point to owning a car in a city?
Yes, for when you want to leave the cityBus lanes, cycle Lanes, 20 mph speeds, being overtaken by electric cycles and now e-scooters. Is there any point to owning a car in a city?
I don't know how the UK is managing this issue. In Portugal, the benefit of an e-Scooter over Bicycles is that they are allowed on all forms of public transport for free.
They are easy to stow and thus are regarded as hand luggage.
Are they being legalised in the UK then..?
However, we can ill afford a situation where only the wealthiest still continue to drive cars in cities, be it electric or not.
Can't we?
Absolutely not. If we are aiming to pedestrianise and de-car areas then it has to be universal. Cannot have the likes of London's pseudo-oligarchy or cleb types continuing to absolutely tear about in high performance vehicles with the rest of us confined to an overgrown kids toy. Socially...just absolutely unacceptable.
And they have no insurance, unless they are the hired ones.... They are only banned now due to incendiary batteries on cheap uncertified imports. ...
And they have no insurance, unless they are the hired ones.
We seem to be commenting on two different things! Banned from public transport because of unstable batteries. Banned from the roads unless hired because of no insurance. The cost of insurance will depend on how many pedestrians they knock over, as electric scooter riders seem to think the pavement is theirs. It isn't.Insurance is of no relevance whatsoever to carrying a piece of luggage on a train. I'm not insured to carry a power bank, either.
I suspect insurance will be a requirement, FWIW. And I imagine very, very cheap.
We seem to be commenting on two different things! Banned from public transport because of unstable batteries. Banned from the roads unless hired because of no insurance. The cost of insurance will depend on how many pedestrians they knock over, as electric scooter riders seem to think the pavement is theirs. It isn't.
Not so effortless in this country because who would want to commute with a bike or scooter in heavy rain or snow
also down & up steep hills in places like Bradford or Edinburgh!
and segways?Yes, the Queen's Speech said legislation will be brought forward in this Parliament. Interestingly they will be legalised not as bicycles/e-bikes (which is where I think they should sit) but as a special category of "low speed electric vehicle" for which presumably a driving licence will remain mandatory and children won't be allowed to ride them. Safety was also mentioned, so I'd expect speed limits by law and possibly mandatory helmet wearing, and possibly some sort of test, online perhaps? I suppose an advantage of a licence being required is that a ban could be given for misuse. It would be good if purchase required a licence to be produced.
I suppose it also provides for future regulation of other classes of low-speed electric vehicle which have not yet been invented.
If live somewhere with lots of bus and cycle lanes, and you find being overtaken by buses or bicycles annoying, then you can solve that by getting on a bus or a bicycle. It really is that simple.Bus lanes, cycle Lanes, 20 mph speeds, being overtaken by electric cycles and now e-scooters. Is there any point to owning a car in a city?
The main difference is that officially at least, e-bikes in the UK should be pedal assist and not fully electric, meaning you still have to be pedaling to get any boost from the electric motor (though of course in reality there are plenty of grey market add ons and downright illegal e-bikes that are sold that circumvent all that). While e-scooters are full self propelled once you are on them.As far as e-scooters are concerned, I don't see much difference between them and e-bikes.
Agreed: The OP is obviously being provocative with the title, but they need to look at which classes of vehicles (or their drivers) cause the most deaths and injuries, and recognise that a significant proportion of those victims are pedestrians on the pavement.The premise of this thread needs a firm dose of reality.
If we look at spending on car related policies, versus that spent on active travel, and even rail, we can see the car continues to reign supreme.
E Scooters, along with a host of E-machines, should be given far more road space than exists at present.
Active travel is cheaper, more affordable and far better use of resources than everyone driving a car.