Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Rant about scooters!

95 replies

singlemama91 · 08/10/2021 09:05

To be pissed off at all of the people (adults and kids) that are iresponsible and just dangerous with the electric scooters!

This is my first thread on Mumsnet so please be nice but I just needed to get this off my chest. They drive them dangerously on pavements and park them so that if you have a pushchair you have to go on to the road to get around them.

They should ban them all. I thought it was just a tempory thing but it seems like there are more everyday! Its not just kids either but so called responsible adults as well. Although i have definitely noticed that it is majority men that use them and not women. Maybe we are more sensible. Does anyone else think this?

OP posts:
BogRollBOGOF · 08/10/2021 10:36

The silence and sudden acceleration makes them more hazardous than bikes. Add in a lack of lights, high-viz and often dark colours and they tend to be less visible than responsible cyclists.

I use a manual scooter, but it's rattly and takes me up to a fast running pace and is much easier to use sensibly without alarming other people.

I can see the point of an electric scooter as a commuter transport but I think it would need to be regulated with insurance, registering and safety rules (helmets, lights, reflectors) for them to be used safely. Or a significant cap on acceleration and speed.

I had thought they would be more suited to the road carriageway like bikes, but when I encountered someone using one approaching a roundabout, it was much harder to read and anticipate the movement than a bike.

Babysharkdoodoodood · 08/10/2021 10:44

They are heavily regulated in my city. The university area is doing a trial of Voi scooters so everyone thinks they can ride one. Wrong!
I work in a police station and we're always getting people in trying to recover their seized scooters and I have to tell them that they're going to be crushed as they're illegal to ride, apart from on private property. You can't get insurance, despite what some people think, as they can't be taxed and mot'd etc. Good job I can tolerate the abuse from the public when this happens. Grin

Gothichouse40 · 08/10/2021 10:45

I am hard of hearing. I don't hear scooters/ bikes behind me. Men have a very bad habit of going at great speeds very quietly. There was a guy who was just about on my shoulder behind me and gave me the fright of my life. Heaven knows what it must be like for totally deaf, blind, partially sighted people. They must take their life in their hands walking on a pavement. As a pedestrian I don't feel safe on pavements or paths now and Im of an age I can't just jump out of the way. Mobility scooters aren't much better and the difficulty with all these contraptions is, people are using them who have never driven. They also think everyone should just jump out of their way.

Dizzy1234 · 08/10/2021 10:46

Yep they're a pain in the arse but like all transport it's not the vehicle it's the driver / rider.
I once got rammed by a person in an electric wheelchair that was speeding down a ramp into a shop, I'm stood in an aisle picking something up, I apologised even though she hit me so hard she knocked me down 🙄 I always apologise even if its not my fault, check the other person is ok🙄
She called me a fucking idiot and told me to fuck off out the way as I limped off 😂
Some people are just natural charmers!

OddsNSodsBitsNBobs · 08/10/2021 10:53

My DC (16 and 14) aren't interested in them. They both cycle to school and this is also part of their daily fitness. Electric scooters in this scenario are for the lazy, just encouraging teenagers to move less!

Justcallmebebes · 08/10/2021 10:58

I was in B&M the other day and as I walked too the end of an aisle, a young lad came zooming round the corner on one in the shop. Frightened the bloody life out of me as he was going at some speed

JojobaFromOctober · 08/10/2021 10:59

No, they are a good idea and I'd recommend getting on board because they're going to become more popular, not less. Everything that gets people out of their cars is a net positive.

They are extremely popular in my city, both privately owned and hire scooters, and there were a few teething problems as people got used to them (especially with the silly parking you mention) but it has all improved a lot. They annoyed me at first as well, isn't it human nature to resist change? But now I'm planning to get one for DP for Christmas. They are really nice for short journeys when it's too windy for cycling to be pleasant, for example. Although I generally cycle, it would be nice to have another option that isn't a car. There's definitely a place for them.

SoupDragon · 08/10/2021 11:30

Most of the problems with them are actually people problems rather than scooter problems.

Original poster
singlemama91 · 08/10/2021 11:35

They ride them inside supermarkets??? I havent seen that before but that sounds horrific.

I think the problem is more than just a few bad people. I'm yet to see anyone riding responsibly! Its way more of an issue than bikes and other transport which you definitely never get inside stores and much less on pavements.

They need to ban them before it gets too big a problem!

OP posts:
bert3400 · 08/10/2021 11:36

We need to get cars off the roads, so if electric scooters are the solution, then the highway agency needs to rethink how to incorporate them safely into everyday use.
I live in Europe, we use ours everyday ...but we ride them in bike lanes and it perfectly safe, we also have to wear a helmet. In Valencia they have proper dedicated scooter lanes, which are brilliant. Maybe the uk need to consider this ?

CaptaNoctem · 08/10/2021 11:39

I just look at them and think "future organ donors".

They whizz around here with hoodies up, earphones in and usually sunglasses. If it's dark, then they wear dark clothing too. They can have no awareness of what is around them and are a danger to themselves and pedestrians alike.

SoupDragon · 08/10/2021 11:41

I think the problem is more than just a few bad people. I'm yet to see anyone riding responsibly! Its way more of an issue than bikes and other transport which you definitely never get inside stores and much less on pavements.

I've seen many people riding them responsibly and also many bikes on pavements.

They need to ban them before it gets too big a problem!

No, they need to properly regulate them. Like they did when cars were invented.

Gazelda · 08/10/2021 11:45

I saw a woman scooting across a road while scrolling on her phone the other day.

Shade17 · 08/10/2021 11:46

Fortunately the police do have crackdowns on them. They get confiscated then crushed and the fucking idiots riding them get done for no insurance/licence.

Wafflehouse · 08/10/2021 11:47

DP got one at the very beginning of lockdown, he usually walks to work and there was virtually no traffic back then. He used to cycle a lot when he was younger so was pretty good with wearing a helmet and being visible. As soon as the lockdown started easing he sold it on, he knew it wouldn’t be safe to keep using going into the town centre and also that the rules were supposed to be getting stricter on them. He’s back to walking now, it is mostly teenage lads around our area that use them and they are nuisances, on and off pavements and into the road with no warning, no protection if they do come off it.

I don’t see how they can be regulated without licences etc, they’re better off banning them altogether, although it is actually illegal to be using them anywhere but private land it doesn’t stop anyone.

Original poster
singlemama91 · 08/10/2021 11:51

I've seen many people riding them responsibly and also many bikes on pavements.

Well I am yet to see that.

I don’t see how they can be regulated without licences etc, they’re better off banning them altogether, although it is actually illegal to be using them anywhere but private land it doesn’t stop anyone.

This. They are illegal no one should be riding them at all!

OP posts:
mikedyson · 08/10/2021 11:52

@CaptaNoctem

I just look at them and think "future organ donors".

They whizz around here with hoodies up, earphones in and usually sunglasses. If it's dark, then they wear dark clothing too. They can have no awareness of what is around them and are a danger to themselves and pedestrians alike.

Sadly they are more likely to create organ donors from others.
IhateBoswell · 08/10/2021 11:53

Absolutely agree.

Alleycat02 · 08/10/2021 11:53

I haven't seen many in my area but the same two teenage girls have appeared a few times on electric scooters, they are utterly obnoxious with them and drive straight at people while taking up the whole path. They did this at school run time when I was walking my children home and as they came towards us I distinctly heard one of them say "She's going to get knocked over!"

I'm sure there are people out there who do ride them sensibly but yes, generally they're a complete menace as no sound to know they're coming, no training / licence etc required. Grrrr!

mikedyson · 08/10/2021 11:53

@JojobaFromOctober

No, they are a good idea and I'd recommend getting on board because they're going to become more popular, not less. Everything that gets people out of their cars is a net positive.

They are extremely popular in my city, both privately owned and hire scooters, and there were a few teething problems as people got used to them (especially with the silly parking you mention) but it has all improved a lot. They annoyed me at first as well, isn't it human nature to resist change? But now I'm planning to get one for DP for Christmas. They are really nice for short journeys when it's too windy for cycling to be pleasant, for example. Although I generally cycle, it would be nice to have another option that isn't a car. There's definitely a place for them.

Congratulations on your plan to buy your kid a present they can't legally use.
IhateBoswell · 08/10/2021 11:55

They did this at school run time when I was walking my children home and as they came towards us I distinctly heard one of them say "She's going to get knocked over!"

She'd have been yeeted clean off it Angry

JojobaFromOctober · 08/10/2021 11:56

No, I'm not getting one for my child, I'm getting one for my partner who is an adult man.

picklemewalnuts · 08/10/2021 11:56

I think they are great, and we need to get used to them.

I've heard people complain about the dangers of electric cars 'cos they are too quiet, bikes are too small to see and too quiet etc.

We all need to pay more attention to looking and listening, and scooter drivers need better training and manners.

Everyone on the road should be insured and qualified and we should make room for each other. We can't keep going round in noisy, petrol guzzling tanks.

SoupDragon · 08/10/2021 11:57

I don’t see how they can be regulated without licences etc, they’re better off banning them altogether

Cyclists are completely unregulated. Cars were once unregulated but they managed to deal with that.

It's called progress. The answer isn't banning an excellent and environmentally friendly mode of transport, it is finding solutions to the problems.

SoupDragon · 08/10/2021 11:58

I've heard people complain about the dangers of electric cars 'cos they are too quiet

Exactly. And the answer was to put a "sound machine" onto them, not ban them.

Swipe left for the next trending thread