Electric scooters really fuck me off

They are illegal, if caught riding an e-scooter, fines you may receive can include: a Fixed Penalty Notice for no insurance; with a £300 fine and six penalty points. a Fixed Penalty Notice for no driving licence, up to £100 fine and three-six penalty points.

I live in Germany. I have an electric scooter that I use to get to the bus. I’m lucky that there is a 6km cycle path from my residential area to the bus.
I must have a small number plate to show I have insurance and I am limited to 20km/h.
I have used a pavement to cross narrow bridges but I always get off my scooter and push it if there are people walking.
It is all about looking ahead, being responsible and having respect for other road and pavement users.
It is unfortunate that some people ruin it for others and they shouldn’t be using private ones in the UK any way.

Hate the damn things. We have a council scheme. They're all over the place, abandoned on pavements where there's no way to get a wheelchair around, and kids fly around on them. I've had two near misses where I've been driving down a road at about 20 mph and someone on a scooter and earbuds in has just sailed out in front of me. One was on the road and zoomed around a corner straight into my path, the other sailed off the kerb to cross the road without looking. Both times I had to stand on the brake and swerve. And yes, you see parents flying down the pavements with a kid stood on in front of them.

I hate them
I use a rollator and worry there going to knock me over
It's worse as you can't hear them behind you

YANBU

They piss me off too. There was one going down the middle of the main road near me earlier. Very fast, keeping up with cars speed. No lights, no helmet, and I'd bet my dinner there was no bloody insurance either.

it's silly they're illegal if we are trying to get people out of cars. physically separate the bike lanes and let people get around quickly.

The police did a brief stint of seizing them if seen in the town centre (they actually seized quite a few). But that fizzled out pretty quick. I have no idea if the scooters were eventually returned but it didn't reduce the number of people using them, people just avoided the town centre

Well since that's where it's busiest at least it was progress of a sort if they kept them out of the town centre, but there's not much point in doing it once or twice then never again

Same with suburbs - and the police know perfectly well which ones to focus on.
It doesn't have to be every day; a rolling programme of unannounced seizures just might make a difference, since when going out the knuckle draggers would never know when they were likely to lose their scooter

I think with everything its the attitude of the driver that's the problem

Very true. And annoyingly some now confuse those who are illegally riding electric motorbikes with those of us on e-bikes that ARE legal. In government jargon the legal ones are "electrically-assisted pedal cycles" (EAPCs). They only have a tiny, speed-limited motor and you still have to pedal; if you don't, the motor cuts out and the bike goes nowhere. You can also turn off the motor and ride the bike like any other bicycle.

But the scumbags aren't on EAPCs. They're on electric bikes that are throttle controlled not pedalled, have big motors, can do high speeds and are supposed to be registered with DVLA, insured, need a motorbike licence etc etc if they're not on private land.

I ride a 100% legal e-bike and I ride it on the road, not on the pavement. But I've had abuse shouted at me recently because people hear the whirr of a motor and think I'm doing something illegal.

It's all a bit of a mess at the moment and there's no sign the government is going to sort it out.

YADNBU OP. I nearliy got hit from behind by someone only a couple of days ago..

Not only do I hate them for all the reasons PPs have listed but also because of the brainless, selfish, f*ckwits who decide to park them across the middle of the pavement or in front of driveways.

I also hate seeing people riding on them 2 at a time especially when one of them is a young child.

In theory they are a good idea and we do need other forms of transport but unfortunately our road systems are just not designed for them and neither are some of the imbeciles that seem to favour them.

Everywhere where I am.

The police did a brief stint of seizing them if seen in the town centre (they actually seized quite a few). But that fizzled out pretty quick. I have no idea if the scooters were eventually returned but it didn't reduce the number of people using them, people just avoided the town centre.

We have a council scheme here in my small city and the scooters you can pick up in the street can only be ridden on cycle paths (we have a decent network) and are programmed to stop if you stray off that route. Works really well and I’ve ridden one to work along the cycle paths.

that doesn’t stop the privately owned ones of course but I do think it cuts down on the amount of arseholian behaviour on them.

Riding (legally hired) escooters and bikes on pavements is illegal. Riding private escooters is illegal regardless. The issue is always enforcement and the police are just too stretched to make these a priority. Try contacting your neighbourhood police team. They are often quite good at targeting an issue where there are concerns like this and a few arrests and confiscation's can act as a deterrent

The trouble is they (along with electric motorbikes) have become the “in things” for certain scumbag types, who pay scant attention to the law/Highway Code.

The problem is the lack of bike lanes. They are everywhere in Geneva and not a problem whatsoever, they stick to the bike lanes.

Never used one myself, but I can see the attraction if you are living locally and need to get to work quickly. Much more practical to have a scooter that can fold than a bike that takes up loads of space.

They should work out how to safely legislate for them, add rules to the highway code, and let people use them safely or face confiscation

Unfortunately too many riders wouldn't give a stuff about the first three, but they'd almost certainly care about confiscation, which is why I'd like to see much more of it

It needn't even take up that many resources; if there isn't onee of these ridiculous "schemes" in place just get a large police van and hang around city centres removing every one that comes along

They're illegal except on private land so they need to change the sale conditions, if you can't prove you have access to private lands then you can't buy one, same for quad bikes.

YANBU I hate them. Pedestrians need protected from them asap. If I see someone on one I just assume they are a massive bellend who doesn't give a shit for the safety of others.

Only one place for them& that’s the local tip. My worst fear is when driving & one of these clowns come toward me on the same side of the road, utter madness

They're awful and there is zero enforcement of the laws which require that:

• they can't go on pavements
• you have to be over 17 and have a driving licence to use them
• only one person at a time can travel on them

They are illegal and police are taking loads of people round here at the moment, not just from youths but also from adult's.

See they also do that where I live but as I said it just seems illogical because whilst taking away the scooters people have paid hundreds for is obviously the right thing to do legally as riding them is illegal it does nothing to resolve the idiots using the hire scooter which is the much bigger issue around here.

I hate them! We now have rules on where they can be ridden, speed limits and helmets etc. They're ignored. They fly down the road at high speeds, weaving amongst traffic, or slowly, holding it up. Had both lanes of a major road blocked at night by one weaving over both lanes. All traffic doing about 20km/hr behind them.

We're off to the beach soon for a holiday & won't be able to use the lovely esplanade path because teens hire them & drive like it's a racetrack with a human obstacle course. DS10 almost got cleaned up by one while running for the playground last year. Some say he should be looking... I say the scooter riders should be looking. It's a pedestrian track! Then they dump them wherever they please & block paths/roads etc.

I was stuck in a traffic jam coming out of Bath because two idiots on the Bath City scooters decided to ride along the A4 holding up all the traffic.
Whatever dickhead in the council thought these were a great idea needs shooting. They’re dangerous and a confounded nuisance.

They are illegal and police are taking loads of people round here at the moment, not just from youths but also from adult's. We have a problem with mobility scooters round here, too fast for path and too slow for roads. That's not even my issue its when they drive next to each other and expect people to walk on the roads, to be fair I do think it's the same group from the local oap home, just always seems to be when I'm walking to shops or something.

As an active/sustainable travel nut I should be in favour of these but I hate them with a passion. I also really hate the hire schemes that litter them all over pavements and take up streetscape.