Ebikes, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, longboards, eboards, motorcycles, skates, unicycles: Whatever floats your goat, this is all things micromobility!
"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.
micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"
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It's a little sad that we need to actually say this, but:
Don't be an asshole or you will be permanently banned.
Respectful debate is totally OK, criticizing a product is fine, but being verbally abusive will not be tolerated.
Focus on discussing the idea, not attacking the person.
On some things the UK is progressive, on other issues, like sustainable transport, they see it as antisocial behaviour.
oh, very definitely – I just saw my neighbor, Darin Stone (of Thames Valley Police), tootling around on his electric scooter getting in everyone’s way, violating traffic laws, and running over seniors
Oh man the temptation, but sadly I must be a good British citizen, and complain about it instead.
Asking people to narc on their own families? Fuck these guys.
Yeah seriously who the hell is replying to this?!
You’d have thought this would have gone to the PR team for approval and they just said yeah that’s the image we want for our police force.
the use of ... e-bikes is currently illegal on a public road or areas set aside for pedestrians (which includes pavements, cycle lanes and foot paths).
The UK Highway Code would disagree: https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules . And I'm not even going to discuss the insanity that a "cycle lane" could possibly be considered an "area set aside for pedestrians".
Thinking about this some more: is this legit? I'm not from the UK, and have only heard of Thames Valley Police from watching Endeavour on PBS. Do the police just email entire neighborhoods when they need leads?
Yeah it’s legit, I signed up for local police information when I first moved here. They post missing persons and details of crimes in the area, ask for DashCam, CCTV, doorbell cams etc.
Although unless they can solve a crime in minutes that really don’t seem interested. Unless it’s someone trying to get to work on an e-bike apparently.
Dear Resident,
The Neighbourhood Team is seeking your help for an important matter.
We are trying to find out if the department sends out email blasts when they need information from the residents. Specifically, do the police just email entire neighborhoods when they need leads?
If you have any information on this, it would be extremely helpful in understanding our current communication practices.
As a team, we value your input and recognize the importance of effective communication with our community members.
If you have any information, please contact the Neighbourhood Team by replying to this alert. Any information you provide will be in the strictest confidence.
Thank you for your assistance.
Message Sent By
Darin Stone
I think what our mate Darin is referring to by "e-bikes" is throttle-operated, no need to pedal, capable of going 30-60mph electric motorbike which, like any other motorbike, you need a licence and protective gear to ride, and no, they've got no business being in the bike lane with people noodling along at 10-15mph, and definitely not on the pavement with pedestrians.
Unfortunately, Darin is an idiot who can't string a sentence together and so he's just told everyone that my electric assist pedal cycle, top assisted speed of 15.5mph, no need for a licence or insurance, is also illegal. Thanks, Darin.
This House of Commons briefing from 2019 lays out what the issues are with e-scooters, in that because they're not legally classed as a bicycle, they have the same legal requirements as a motorbike, which is clearly nonsense for a scooter with a top speed of 15.5mph, however, the law has not yet caught up with reality. Since that briefing was written, various trials have started in cities with hired e-scooters provided by third parties to see how the law needs to be updated and what needs to change in order to make them legal on UK roads, but the trials seem to just keep getting extended with no conclusions drawn. As we're currently in election purdah, nothing's going to happen until July anyway, and I highly doubt that "sorting out e-scooter legality" will be top of the new government's priority list.
Good to see they've solved all the dangerous driving in that area
As I can hear street drag racing from my bedroom window at 2am on Saturdays I’m thinking they still have a few people they need to speak to.
James May: "Oh good. This must mean the police have found my television."
UK government seems to live up to the stereotype of being ridiculous about licenses, damn
It’s not as bad as some places, for example no need for a licence/permit for trailers or bicycles. But the current government is working on scaring seniors and authoritarian rule. Luckily it’s not working and we are due for a new government next month.
I sure hope people don't spam it with garbage information.
I have no words. How can e-bikes be illegal? Jesus fucking Christ... they're just bikes with a longer range, what kind of insurance would you need? It boggles the mind.
To be fair some e-bikes go motorcycle speed without motorcycle helmets.
Sure, in theory. But in most places, e-bikes and scooters are locked down to reasonable speeds and bikes that go faster are in a separate legal category that requires a license plate, insurance and require the rider to wear a helmet - you know, like a motorcycle.
It's not that hard to implement support for these vehicles, as regular bikes and motorcycles already existed for quite a while, along with their rules and regulations.
Sadly I think the problem is the government don’t want to regulate. We have a right wing authoritarian government right now who need the votes from the older generation and are attempting to get it by instilling fear and presenting themselves as the protectors.
Younger people are more likely to have e-bikes and scooters, so making them illegal, exaggerating the threat and promoting initiatives like this to show what they are doing to combat the scourge of youths on silent killer bikes, they lock in the scared senior votes.
They're not illegal, this police message is just plain wrong.
I'd certainly hope so.
Someone posted a link to a highway code, e-bikes are treated as regular bikes in the law.
You can’t get car insurance on a bike but you can still ride it in the street????
Of course e-bikes etc shouldn’t be on sidewalks or bike paths, but it should be fine for them to be in the street. That’s absurd.
E-bikes definitely belong in bike lanes. It's only electric motorcycles that belong on the road. The difference is size and top speed.
E-bikes are electric motorcycles, there’s no difference without some top speed enforcement mechanism.
Not according to law.
Literally what I just said. The top speed of pedal assisted bikes is mostly just 15 mph. That's bike lane speed.
Seriously, TAF?