Should E Scooters be banned?

In the south east where I am there are plenty of these scooters. Some of them are the trial scheme council ones which you pay a nominal fee to hire and then plenty of other ones which must be owned by individuals.
In our area it is to try to cut down on cars as the government want more people walking or cycling and of course using these scooters.
Firstly they are a danger because when walking down the footway they come hurtling behind you and they give no indication they are there and even more dangerous if you happen to have your dog on a lead with you particularly if your dog is getting on in years.
Also only last week I drove into a small road where there is a few shops and bank without any warning three of those damn scooters went past the car one of them narrowly missing my wing mirror I was not amused.
I have seen a few posts on here saying they are illegal on the road well there were two of those special community officers
talking to a shop owner at the front of his shop and they did not even bat an eyelid.
These scooters are a menace.

Here in Germany they are allowed and in our little town they have recently been introduced to pick up and use (via an app).

I have just checked the regulations: they are not allowed on the road or the pavement, only on cycle paths, and in one way streets only in the direction of the traffic.

Helmets are not compulsory, nor is a driving license. I couldn't find anything about age limits but on the official website a young boy was pictured riding one.

I haven't heard of any accidents involving them as yet, but they have literally only just started up. I would be happy to use one but I can't think of a situation where I would - what do you do of you're carrying shopping?

As harrigran said we have them on trial in NE. You need at least a provisional driving licence to use one (although I think some youngsters have found ways to bypass that). They don't seem to be causing too much bother, but I did see one being ridden by 3 boys the other day.
As far as deaths go over 100 people a month die in car accidents. Anyone want to ban cars?

I've only seen one and that was in a park in Torquay, being ridden by a young lad. It made me jump, I must admit, as he zoomed past me, but my first reaction, apart from that, was envy. I so much wanted one! But I can see how they must be dangerous on roads, surely.

They are being trialled by West Country authorities

However:
E-scooters are classified as motorised vehicles and are subject to the same legal requirements as any motor vehicle – i.e. you must have a full or provisional driving licence and insurance
So why are they allowed on pavements and in pedestrianised areas?

travelwest.info/projects/e-scooter-trial

We saw some carelessly left by the side of a by-pass the other day.

AmberSpyglass

Why should they be banned? People use cars for criminal activity and they hurt people too. Should cars be banned?

What an odd post.

The difference is that cars are regulated and the police enforce those regulations. Escooters are supposed to be regulated but those regulations are not enforced - riding on pavements, riding 2up, underage people riding them, going wrong way up one way streets, going wrong way on roundabouts etc. Police mainly ignore these actions.

The original idea was that people would use them instead of taking their cars - on the whole this hasn't happened, instead they are mostly being used by young people who seem to use them as a fun toy whilst pretending they are saving the planet

There is a report in the local newspaper of someone abusing a bus driver because he wasn't allowed to take his escooter on the bus!!

They are legal in France and they are supposed to be used on the roads. My problem is as a car driver is that they don’t wear protective clothing but there again neither do a lot of cyclists especially children. Dark nights and neither have lights, they are not enforced, it is so dangerous . I was following one down (on a hill) the potholed road where I live who was looking at their phone doing, in my car it was registering, 30 kilomètres an hour. As for going for a walk in the woods, riders of both contraptions, you are in their way.

We have them in our city here in the NE.
It is illegal to ride a privately owned scooter on a public road and those using a hire scooter must have a driving licence.
Apparently you can just leave them wherever you like when finished with it, pavements are congested enough

Yes they should be Banned.Aside from all the points here about the dangerous riding of most of them and especially young children riding them fast on busy main roads around here, , I've watched the local thieves in the last year go from using bikes to these scooters, which they ride up onto people's properties and steal packages left on doorsteps, and they're gone in seconds with the package resting on the footbed of the scooter..

Many of these.

Have seen too man of theses illegal scooters, no trial in my town, whizzing in and out of pedestrians on pavements. They have no helmet on, go too fast, and are more of a danger to pedestrians as they ride on footpaths, than any thing else.

Katie59

Much more convenient than a bike for commuting, easier to keep secure, my son has one.

They are illegal to use unless on private land, only legal as part of an approved scheme.
roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/illegal-use-of-private-e-scooters-an-issue-on-the-rise/

E-scooters are very common here in Sweden especially in larger towns and cities and you can actually rent them from different operators using an app on your smartphone. Fortunately however not in the little town where we live - yet.

People whizz around on them with little thought for other pedestrians or traffic and when they’ve finished using them many are just left lying around on the pavement instead of in the scooter stand.

I’m terrified when I’m out where there are e-scooters because being deafblind I can’t hear or see them coming and my white cane seems to attract them like a magnet. I’ve also been close to going head over heels over scooters left lying around.

I’m not normally one for banning this that and the other but I’d gladly make an exception here.

I think they have the name of the driver now 25Avalon.
But to steal an injured (as the thief may have thought) boys scooter is beyond the pale.

A 16 year old lad on an escooter was knocked down and killed by a drunken hit and run driver. Someone also stole the escooter.

But as it's supposed to be a 'trial run' the Police probably dont think it's worth their time to get too involved.
Can you imagine, with all the things they have on their plate, they now have to supervise these escooters.
If you feel strongly please email your MP.

I can honestly say I have never seen one being driven on the road (where it should be). I see dozens every day whizzing along the pavements and through the parks - with no consideration to anybody else.

The police need to be out and about and just confiscate them on the spot.

I think there have been 29 deaths attributed to scooters in the USA.

That's precisely it 25Avalon, and who will pick up the financial burden of the fall out?
New lanes, a change in the law, accidents (NHS) to name but a few of the areas the tax payer will have to stump up for.
Just so someone else can make a profit.

SueDonim

That’s very sad Chardy but I can assure I was in no way complicit in my own ‘accident’. I was walking in a railway station where bikes should not be ridden.

Sorry Sue if I implied you were at fault. I promise I did not mean to ❤

Big money for the manufacturer though.

Ban them, please, we are in a busy area here in Brussels and they are a nuisance and dangerous.
No safety gear on most and zooming along on narrow pavements they are a menace.
You can hire them here like bikes and some people definately have not been on a scooter since they were about 6.
Bloody nuisance.

Sadly that 3 year old little girl will have life changing injuries and the police have urged the rider of the scooter to come forward.

According to the news last night there is a little girl in a bad way in hospital due to one of these things.

I read the other day 7 people have been killed in E scooter accidents since March 2019.