rsa supporting e-scooters

Macy0161

I really feel escooters are really a made up issue for culture war shíte than a real world "problem". There's obviously been a couple of high profile tragedies, but no one is talking of banning cars when we have deaths nearly every other day.

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122624429#Comment_122624429

Have already marked the Calendar to tune into Pat the 7th October 2024 - wont be able to bring them escooters on board Public Transport from that day onwards. (Fire risk)

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122624731#Comment_122624731

A guy I commute on the train with has kept receiving warnings that he can't being his ebike on the bus (said to him by a Wexford Bus driver) or train from the same date (a big brand bike with a bosch motor). He also keeps getting warned about the DART ban and he could be fined and no matter how many times he explains, they can't seem to grasp the concept of an intercity train in Pearse Station.

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122624859#Comment_122624859

Can see plenty of confusion surrounding this alight; even foldy bikes and regular scooters that are not even E-enabled!

Widows Son

Forgive me if this has been covered before, but is anyone in Ireland selling road legal e scooters. I've contacted a few suppliers and I can't get anyone who can provide a declaration of conformity ,or assure the scooter is fitted with a manufacturers plate... Just getting really a lot of waffle and evasive answers. Thanks.

magicbastarder

is there even a structure around being able to declare that?

i suspect if you bought a road legal e-bike, you'd still run into problems - that there's no official framework for being able to declare it 'legal' which is not just a letter from the shop, which would have no legal basis.

Widows Son

That's on the RSA site

zell12

Newstalk doing piece on escooters, batteries, and ban on bus.

NTA say the bus ban is based on evidence from other global cities, and that becaue the battery is so slow to the road surface they are susceptible to damage. BÉ drivers campaigned to have escooters banned from their buses as they did want a fire risk so close to them.

magicbastarder

https://www.irishtimes.com/transport/2024/10/03/ludicrous-irritating-and-very-wrong-e-scooter-users-on-public-transport-ban-from-monday/

"It comes on foot of incidents in Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin and London in which lithium batteries in e-scooters overheated and in some cases caused fires on trains and buses."

does anyone have any knowledge of these incidents?

zell12

London train https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-59148069

Barcelona train https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/e-scooters-banned-from-public-transport-in-barcelona-from-february-1

Cabaal

The issue here is unregulated batteries, not escooters.

THere are phones with unregulated batteries also and fires have been known to happen, especially when charging. You can charge phones on trains and buses so the risk if anything is greater then e-scooter which is less likely to be charged.

It would be unthinkable to ban phones though, instead they'd be a push for better regulation.
Same should be happening with e-scooters and ebikes.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122682652#Comment_122682652

cheers - i hadn't heard of stories before where scooters caught fire while not charging.

re unregulated batteries; how would you inspect or specifically allow for regulated batteries?

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122682757#Comment_122682757

I've no interest in getting a eScooter or electric bike, but I've been complaining about the lack of regulation for a few years now. They're not going away. They play a role in people seeing cars as less of an absolute essential. Just embrace that and regulate how they can be used, sold and what standards need to apply. Should have happened about 5 years ago when the writing was on the wall. Instead the market is now flooded with models that clearly don't comply with even the most basic standard relating to speed. A classic case of trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Have they banned electric cars from ferries yet?

Cabaal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122683012#Comment_122683012

I'd 100% agree, they are not going away especially now that their use is legal on roads.

The ban is silly, there's nothing stopping somebody using one to get to train station and then throwing it in a bag.

Regulation is the issue…or more so lack there of, this issue falls on goverment.

Its like banning pain killers because you allowed the market to have lots of unregulated pain killers to be sold for years. Thats not the answer.

Even if you buy a regulated one, it still comes with a risk. Every battery does. Just like every ICE in a car does!

Cyrus

if the ban is enforced the same way the ban on bikes is enforced during peak times itll be business as usual for anyone that uses one.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122683286#Comment_122683286

Completely stupid and over the top to ban what is an effective "last mile" solution. Whats the stats of fires v travel with them? Tiny I would imagine, just seems the NTA getting sucked into culture war shíte.

LeoD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122683012#Comment_122683012

eScooters do not replace car trips so they will play no part in reducing car usage. Evidence shows they are a substitute for walking or public transport trips and the only reason they are popular is because the cycling offering is so poor in so many countries - that includes both the network and the bike parking facilities. I'd love to see the back of them. Whatever about privately owned scooters, ride share offerings should be banned everywhere.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122684301#Comment_122684301

They're a substitute for public transport… yet… public transport feels the need to ban them? I'd love to know who commissions all these studies showing the uselessness of electric scooters and bikes. They make life easier for people who don't have a car. I see with my own eyes people who incorporate their use into their daily commute. Of course they could probably walk, but when its a 10 minute eScooter ride or a 30 minute walk, just to get to your desk… I wouldn't be judging those people too harshly.

I've used ride sharing eScooters in Berlin. They were great. As far as problems go, they're pretty far behind town planning, transport 'offerings' and allocation of road space.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122684301#Comment_122684301

And yet some of the regular "can't use public transport" excuses are:

1. they're always full, so if there is a shift to escooters that helps capacity
2. it doesn't go exactly door to door, and escooters help first mile and last mile for public transport (hence the apparent issue with them on public transport)

If I wasn't interested in cycling and worked somewhere down the quays near the point, I would 100% think the dart and escooter was a better option than dart and change to luas.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122684395#Comment_122684395

The door-to-door thing is a big part of the problem where you have commuter towns and new build developments miles from a bus, and companies based in business parks with no real integrated public transport system in the city. You're fine if you're management with your company car and your reserved parking space. Or if you're in the earning bracket that has you living by the luas or the dart. But if you live 5km from the bus stop. Or if your office is 5km from the bus stop. What do you do? Form me, since I've become lazy and stopped cycling the 50km each way to work, I drive to the bus/ train every single day. Park the car and take public transport. Without a car it's not really feasible - it's a simple choice - car or bike/ eScooter. The advantage of the eScooters, I presume, was that they were relatively inconspicuous, could be stowed on a bus/ train, therefore were secure. What do you do now? Lock it near one of the bus stops for the day and hope that it's not vandalised/ stolen? That's not an option. It's more of that RSA mentality - "don't be a loser - get a car".

Widows Son

For what it's worth,my take on it is there are essentially no legal e scooters out there,even with the new regulations most of what is being sold doesn't comply. Because it's impossible to insure something illegal,the insurance companies will insist that they can't be carried on public transport. No point taking on that risk of you don't have to.

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122684547#Comment_122684547

According to the RTE news tonight, it was the NBRU members who sought the ban - nothing to do with insurance companies.

magicbastarder

i wonder was it a particular cohort of drivers; e.g. bus drivers rather than from across the board.

ExoPolitic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122684301#Comment_122684301

Not true. I often get the bus in to town to use the scooter for last mile trips, whereas before I was driving in for these trips.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122691790#Comment_122691790

It's a bit like the security on the intercity 5pm trains that started a few months ago, I think it was SIPTU and NBRU demanded after a spike in anti social behaviour.

fits

I wish they’d ban those ridiculous Fido folding fat bikes instead. They take up way too much room and they’re awful junk.

MojoMaker

Do they allow fat bikes on trains currently?

fits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122703526#Comment_122703526

there were two on the train with me last week. They were folding but still massive.

MojoMaker

Agree, that should be nipped in the bud now. Fatties are too large for public transport.

loyatemu

how do you define a fat bike though, by weight, by tyre size? There are non-folding bikes on every train I take in rush hour, you can add more rules but they won't be enforced (I'm also not convinced it's a huge problem).