Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
First glancing blow from an e-scooter
Walking along the pavement near Dunn’s in Crouch End yesterday, I had my first personal experience of person vs e-scooter.
I got a glancing blow from a young man zipping along the pavement. No harm done other than ruffled feathers. But it does underline the potential dangers posed by these vehicles. What if I’d been frail and elderly or a toddler?
The rider did have the grace to stop. It gave me the chance to firmly but calmly point out the error of his ways. Never mind that his scooter was illegal in any public place right now, the last place he should be riding it was on a busy Saturday morning pavement. But he had an explanation: he told me, “You know, people are being hit on the roads now; it's not safe!” What more to be said.
Tags for Forum Posts: escooters
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by KP on
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I hate these scooters. Glad you're ok but as you said if one of them were to hit a frail person it could be a lot more serious. Apart from the dangerous riders you also see them dumped on pavements blocking people's access
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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This frail, elderly old toddler walks softly and carries not one but two big sticks (trekking poles), one of which can be inserted under front or back wheel of the offending footway scooter while the second is brought smartly down across the back or arse of the scooterist. The advantage of having been a classroom teacher long before they abolished the cane.
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The government is really dragging its heels on this one. They simply need to categorise e scooters as e bikes, ie max speed, over 14s and only ridden on the road.
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Permalink Reply by Bob Ruggles on
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Like cycle lanes. Great where they are used where there is space for them.
Have noticed a growing number of users wearing crash helmets and adding more lights.
Worst are the ones converted to have a seat and larger tyres. Allowing them to hope on and off pavements
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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Cycle lanes are great when you can use them. Today I had to cycle around a large van parked on a double yellow line and across a cycle lane.
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Probably waiting for someone to be killed before they bother to do something about it
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Part of the Green Policy. Great in New Cities where there is space for Cycle lanes and other Traffic.
Issue is cheap E-Scooters. That do not have safe electrics or decent lights.
Another issue is rentals seem to get dumped and not placed in parking bays
There has been deaths of users and people hit by users
A lot of Funds have been invested in them
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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A pedestrian was killed by an e-scooter in Paris recently and a young girl in the UK was hit and left with life changing injuries. Little surprise: these things look like great fun, but if youngsters are allowed to ride them in an administrative and legislative atmosphere that doesn’t seem to take the dangers they pose too seriously, why should we expect them to.
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This sort of over-reaction makes absolutely no sense when compared with attitudes to a certain other method of personal transportation.
Whenever something dreadful happens involving a car, it's either the driver's fault or an 'accident'. Yet e-scooters themselves are a dangerous menace?
"...in an administrative and legislative atmosphere that doesn’t seem to take the dangers they pose too seriously, why should we expect them to." They're currently (limited trials permitting) illegal to use anywhere other than private land, so appear very seriously regulated. If lack of enforcement is the issue, maybe that's with consideration of the actual rather than perceived dangers they pose.
I actually have my own reservations about them, but the reasons are very different.
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Over-reaction, what as in "No harm done other than ruffled feathers"? Who's really the one over-reacting here?
And, Ian, of course I'm not stupid enough to blame the vehicles. I hope none of us are. As I wrote, "the last place he should be riding it was on a busy Saturday morning pavement". I'm pointing out that they're liable to be used dangerously.
As to the administrative atmosphere (for want of a better term) I mentioned in my comment, I'm questioning how much attempt this government has made to educate users in particular and the public in general about possible dangers of e-scooters and actively encouraging the minimisation of risk. Doesn't that sound all too familiar from our experience of the last 18 months?
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