London rental e-scooter trial

As with the rental bikes these e scooters are a menace to roads and pavements.

A majority of both users are inconsiderate with no regard to pedestrians or other road users. Very often on the pavement. 

They are littered around Lbhf when they are abandoned after use. Usually on their side causing obstruction to any pavement user.  They should have to be placed in docking stations as are the Santander bikes to end the journey.

I recently used a LIME E-Scooter for the first time - the main reason being that there weren't any E-Bikes available and out of curiosity.

• I was really pleased with the onboarding process and safety guidelines in the LIME app.
• The E-Scooter limited my first trip to 50% speed (8mph) so that I could get confident and used to the E-Scooter (I didn't know this at the time, I thought it was broken!)

• I was impressed with the sturdiness of its ride.

   

Given what I've seen from Connected Car data, E-Scooters can replace many single occupancy car journeys.

• 20% of car trips are less than 1km
• 54% of car trips are less than 5km

It would be great to see the E-Scooters advertised as replacements for single occupancy car trips (not active travel replacements/alternative) because E-Scooters are effectively very tiny motor vehicles. 

They are also 17 times more energy efficient than a typical Electric Car so they'll use less energy and hence CO2e will also be reduced by 17X.

I would love to see some trials with some kind of cargo-based E-Scooter in London. If there was the possibility of carrying some small cargo (e.g. groceries) then I think the E-Scooters would serve more of the core mobility-jobs and help get people out of cars for these trips.

They stop for no-one, straight through traffic lights, think they can ride along in front of you holding up traffic, never wear helmets, don’t have licences as they’re mostly too young, and stick two fingers up at drivers. Do they pay tax? Do they realise how dangerous they are both on the road and (mostly) on pavements where they weave in and out of pedestrians! No, I hate them and you would be wise to ban them as Paris seem to want to do.   Absolute pests!

I agree with the rules set. It is weird to have private companies able to regulate this, rather than the way road use is usually regulated by the police and legislation. Part of me is unhappy that a private company can own them but not individuals, who are required to follow the rules, as we do with cars.    I am extremely cross about them being abandoned on pavements.   If they were individually or communally privately owned, we could have a place to store them where we are going, and have a place to store them at home, so this just wouldn't be an issue.  All e-scooters should be regulated and any that aren't confiscated by community police. This can be managed through DVLA with something like a number plate.    We need a public service announcement/education Ad that explains the rules and makes it clear, even for teenagers, that you have to be 18, that is transport, like a car and you have to have passed road use test, like for a car, to use it.  The test would also be a marker for young people to pass through before use, and help us all respect those rules.   Ie, I want this to be commonly owned (not restricted to 3 companies) but treated like a vehicle.   OR provided at a very cheap rate (ie accessible to all regardless of financial situation) and stored perfectly by the companies. ie more like a nationalised public service, such as bin collection. 

I have not used one of these escooters in London (I have tried a rental one in Portsmouth though) and personally I have no reason to. It was an incredibly uncomfortable experience and it felt very unstable and unsafe. As many others have said there’s no exercise involved and if I’m gonna pay those kinds of prices to get somewhere I’d rather use a taxi and arrive in comfort. 

As for the behaviour of those riding them I think many can probably count on one hand the amount of times they’ve seen an escooter stopped at a red light rental and private. Ebikes are a lot more stable and safe (if ridden correctly) and an improved rental scheme for these would probably be a better focus and they are better exercise too. Plus owning your own ebike is also legal providing it meets the requirements. 

It would be quite a bad situation if these trials are seen as successful especially as many videos seen online show escooter riders behaving in a careless manner risking their own lives and the lives of others. 

I haven't seen many rental e-scooters in London at all. I agree that privately owned ones (and illegal) are much more common.  

Having used both rental e-bikes and e-scooters in Paris and Prague I have to say that the e-bikes are much safer. 

Could you not focus on delivering rental e-bikes instead? Bikes are safer than the scooters. Could TfL also deliver a mix of pedal/push bikes and e-bikes on their Santander scheme - in Paris the City has both provided under the Mayor's scheme. Could the Santander bikes also be extended to North London - Haringey. I cannot understand why the focus is on e-scooters when e-bikes exist and are seemingly better. On pricing whether through TfL or a private company these should be competitive and I would like to see passes for 30 mins, 60 mins, 120 mins able to be purchased rather than an unlocking fee and then charged per minute - this is pricey. 

E-scooters seem to be frequently ridden by young people who are too young to have a driving licence. They are a liability ridden on the pavement, too fast even at 12 miles an hour if you are the unlucky pedestrian to be hit, silent so you can't hear them coming up behind you, weaving in & out of pedestrians on busy pavements. Dangerous on the roads & a hazard for cars, motorbikes & cyclists especially in the way a lot are ridden. Maybe if London had cycle routes that were completely separate to the roads it would be a bit better but most of the roads are too narrow for that. Generally a very bad idea & terrible accidents waiting to happen. 

Even the legal e-scooters are an absolute menace. Ditched on pavements, normally on their side making it difficult for people in wheelchairs or those with prams to navigate the pavement, normally having to swerve the e-scooter by stepping into the road. Most of the time e-scooters are used on the pavement, very rarely do you see them on the road. I suggest taking a leaf out of Paris' book and ban them.

In my experience about 50% of scooter journeys are on the pavement and travelling fast relative to pedestrians, scooters are left anywhere and everywhere and I have never seen a scooter rider use a hand signal. Is the Mayor's office looking at the experience of Paris where scooters are about to be banned? Will that feature in the assessment of the current trial? Cheers.

these e scooters and bikes are dangerous: E-bike and e-scooter fires at record high, warns Brigade

Three people have been killed – in Southwark, Shadwell, and Kentish Town – and 51 injured in these fires this year, the LFB said: https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/london/e-bike-and-e-scooter-fires-at-record-high-warns-brigade/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-latest-news-from-southwarknewscouk-2

They are a nuisance. Mostly they are left in front of people's homes and driveways or in the middle of the pavement. This is a hazard that shows a lack of regard for the health and safety of disabled, wheelchair bound, parents with young children and strollers. They are heavy and difficult to move. 

They aren't healthy since there is no exercise involved. So they support obesity and poor health a hidden cost for everyone else to pay. 

Why we are providing a product to Londoners that is reliant on a slave trade in Africa? Its hypocritical and blatantly racist. 

12.5 MPH. Really; most of the drivers cannot count or read and think as it seemingly does not apply to them. I was walking in the Kings Road Chelsea where I live and a  E scooter just missed hitting me as I crossed a zebra crossing to go to Marks & Spencers. Sadly he stopped to apologise trying to make excuses etc.

I was not convinced and told hm to "fuck off out of it" and would make sure he couldn't ride his e-scooter again. My wife  has also had the same experience. 

In principle E scooters are fine. Pity about the doughnuts who cannot understand the English rules or don't really giive a shit. It's a two way street and has sooner they all know the better.

The use of e-scooters in London, and in the UK as a whole, should not be encouraged. They are used by young people who have no regard for other users on the roads or pavements. At night they do not wear any high-viz clothing so are difficult to see, putting their lives at risk and you at fault if you hit them in a car.

E-scooters are left lying about, not in authorised bays, which cause an unsightly look and are dangerous to elderly people who have to get past them when walking on the pavement.

TfL should not be encouraging them and should be doing everything to prosecute those who use e-scooters illegally on the roads.

E scooters are motor vehicles and require the same standards as other motor vehicles (insurance, identification). Hire bikes and scooters are abandoned on the street and pavement, and are therefore a hazard. In so far as hire bikes and scooters exist, they should be parked in a commercial dedicated parking bay: these are after all, hire vehicles.

E-Scooters seem to work quite well when I travel abroad to other capital cities and in theory should do here too. They are really useful if you need to hop between two places rather than a taxi, especially later at night. I think they will overall present an alternative to short car journeys, and also a nicer way to get around for people who struggle to use the tube. They would also be popular with tourists who could see more of the city - I really enjoyed them in Vienna for example, although there is far less road traffic there!

Other cities have designated bays (usually in place of a single car parking space) where you can collect or leave them and take a photo. The same should apply to lime bikes where they are more tightly maintained - I notice that once you leave zone 2, people will move lime bikes/scooters into the road just to annoy people but that doesn't seem to happen as often elsewhere.

I do share the concerns of others about driving standards. If we covered London in cycle lanes then maybe under-18s could have a lower speed and be forced by the app to stay on cycle lanes, and only those with a full license be able to take them off routes with them? Legislation needs to be in place to ban the sale of private e-scooters or at least fully register them with the DVLA as they are the ones I particularly see zip around pavements and far higher speeds - Police aren't able to enforce the ban on public use and its bizarre that we can still buy them only to "only use on private property **wink wink**".