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Child Item

rsa supporting e-scooters

aldark

From the Irish Times today, the RSA have commissioned a report to support the use of escooters.

"The report said e-scooters could even help the State hit its targets for the reduction of greenhouse emissions.

It is clear that they have potential to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and promote active travel if they are used in the right ways in place of less sustainable modes of transport such as the private motor vehicle,”

Much like bikes, no?

e-scooters are great, but unleashing 1000's of them on our crappy infrastructure? Kind of makes me feel how motorists must feel about cyclists!

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buffalo

This is laughable: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/escooter-users-facing-2500-fine-for-speeding-38595458.html

The Fianna Fáil bill is to amend the Road Traffic Act to regulate for the use of electric scooters and provide for their safe use on the roads.

Under its terms, all e-scooters would be required to be fitted with a speed limitation device which restricts it to 25kmh or less. It would be an offence to remove or tamper with the device.

There would also be a 25kmh speed limit for e-scooters on the roads. Users found exceeding this speed would get a €1,000 fine for a first offence. Repeat offenders would face a fine of €2,500 for a second or subsequent offence.

Yep, a €1,000 speeding fine for doing 26kph. I don't think there's even an official speed limit in Ireland where a car driver can be fined anything at that speed. And if you're doing 50kph in a 30 zone? Well that's €80 and some penalty points that expire after a few years. Ridiculous.

eeeee

kenmc wrote: »

And then there's these things
https://www.cyclebike.ie/drift-w1-electric-skates.html

Bizarre looking yokes altogether.

What the.......

What????!!!!!

That video is hilariously tragic.

mondeo

Looks like something "The wheelers" might like to upgrade to in return to Oz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MLVfQOknYM

kenmc wrote: »

And then there's these things

https://www.cyclebike.ie/drift-w1-electric-skates.html

Bizarre looking yokes altogether.

Utter Consternation

kenmc wrote: »

And then there's these things
https://www.cyclebike.ie/drift-w1-electric-skates.html

Bizarre looking yokes altogether.

FFS, they're like something you'd see on Back to the Future.

kenmc

And then there's these things
https://www.cyclebike.ie/drift-w1-electric-skates.html

Bizarre looking yokes altogether.

mondeo

That thing just looks embarrassing, Look like a clown riding that one wheeled thing down the street.

plodder

ted1 wrote: »

They use different riders. Of course the 4 stone 6 year old is going to stop faster than the 14 stone man.

Yeah, it's not a great video, and can't say I'm convinced yet they are safe. But, I wonder about what you say there. A heavier person needs more force to stop, but they can also resist the torque from the braking more. So, it feels like one of those things that ought to balance out (ha). Could be wrong though.

ted1

plodder wrote: »

Emergency brake tests in Denmark. I wonder if the bigger wheel makes them more practical than scooters with their tiny wheels.

They use different riders. Of course the 4 stone 6 year old is going to stop faster than the 14 stone man.

plodder

Emergency brake tests in Denmark. I wonder if the bigger wheel makes them more practical than scooters with their tiny wheels.

blackwhite

Macy0161 wrote: »

Yep, sounds familiar to me too. If it's the same lad I see, he has a full on motorbike helmet.

That's the one

Macy0161

blackwhite wrote: »

That sounds suspiciously like the guy I see most days heading from Clonskeagh up towards Sandyford.

Yep, sounds familiar to me too. If it's the same lad I see, he has a full on motorbike helmet.

ted1

rubadub wrote: »

you can see them starting up about 50sec in.

Crazy promo video considering they are illegal, I love it at the end when all 3 break an amber light for pedestrians, one of them a kid.

27 seconds in, looks like he is about to mow down pedestrians

rubadub

Another from them here showing a commute on the N11. Starts off in Kilbogget park, then goes the wrong way on a cycle lane for a bit

At the 11min mark you can see him easily going up a slope after foxrock church which many cyclists struggle on, many would be out of the saddle. He passes a cyclist by going onto the footpath, and does it again with ease later.

He is on the foothpaths in sandyford ind estate. 24mins is a pretty good time.

Think this is the start & stop and the route it roughly correct, google have it as a 1hr 22min walk.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/53.2767548,-6.2156298/53.2535061,-6.1429347/@53.2700753,-6.1929037,6639m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m9!4m8!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-6.2113783!2d53.2758483!3s0x4867090899c29f93:0xf7c66fce9306f445!1m0!3e2

blackwhite

rubadub wrote: »

you can see them starting up about 50sec in.

Crazy promo video considering they are illegal, I love it at the end when all 3 break an amber light for pedestrians, one of them a kid.

And the first thing they show - blocking people getting off the Luas whilst the rider mounts it

blackwhite

CramCycle wrote: »

I honestly don't know. I presume it takes practice but he never gets off at lights, just balances on it, calves and knees of steel I imagine. The only thing that unnerves me is he has his hands in his pockets the whole time but he comfortably holds north of 20kmph on the uphill. He looks more steady and comfy than most escooter riders. I imagine it is like riding a track bike with no brakes, you have to be very aware of the possibilities at every junction.

That sounds suspiciously like the guy I see most days heading from Clonskeagh up towards Sandyford.

rubadub

magicbastarder wrote: »

is that the one that looks almost like a unicycle segway with no 'handlebars'?
have seen on on east wall road a couple of times.
i'm curious how you mount it without taking a pratfall.

you can see them starting up about 50sec in.

Crazy promo video considering they are illegal, I love it at the end when all 3 break an amber light for pedestrians, one of them a kid.

TheChizler

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

The pavement is for pedestrians. Anyone on an Escooter should use the road like all the other powered vehicles.

Sure (I don't actually care as long as they're not being a danger) but the point I was making was why they might have been going walking pace.

italodisco

Eamonnator wrote: »

I've often wondered what happens, if you hit a pot hole or have to jam on the brakes on an Escooter, while travelling at 25/30kph.

Taxi pulled out of a parking space last night in front of drumcondra arts centre , red light, scooter guy dressed in black with no light and rain pelting down.......he hit the brakes well in advance and they didn't do much. He ended up hitting taxi .

For once i took a taxis side. Scooter guy obviously going to fly through the red light.

Useless brakes for sure

Kaisr Sose

TheChizler wrote: »

Maybe he was only going walking pace on the sections with people walking? I've used them in the past and tried pushing them in places, you end up with cut ankles as any slight forward resistance causes the back wheel to lift and the whole thing pivots.

The pavement is for pedestrians. Anyone on an Escooter should use the road like all the other powered vehicles.

plodder

Speeds of up to 80 km/h sounds like ridiculous excuse making. I'm sure you can find e-bikes that go that fast, but the reason we have regulations (25 km/h 250W etc) is to manage that. Most e-scooters I've seen recently are barely doing 10-15km/h

I've also seen that single wheel balance device as well in the Clontarf area. Very cool looking, but I'd question its ability to stop in a hurry.

tomasrojo

CramCycle wrote: »

I honestly don't know. I presume it takes practice but he never gets off at lights, just balances on it, calves and knees of steel I imagine. The only thing that unnerves me is he has his hands in his pockets the whole time but he comfortably holds north of 20kmph on the uphill. He looks more steady and comfy than most escooter riders. I imagine it is like riding a track bike with no brakes, you have to be very aware of the possibilities at every junction.

Yeah, you'd think the hands would be out to the sides in a dynamic fashion, like the Silver Surfer or something.

CramCycle

magicbastarder wrote: »

is that the one that looks almost like a unicycle segway with no 'handlebars'?
have seen on on east wall road a couple of times.
i'm curious how you mount it without taking a pratfall.

I honestly don't know. I presume it takes practice but he never gets off at lights, just balances on it, calves and knees of steel I imagine. The only thing that unnerves me is he has his hands in his pockets the whole time but he comfortably holds north of 20kmph on the uphill. He looks more steady and comfy than most escooter riders. I imagine it is like riding a track bike with no brakes, you have to be very aware of the possibilities at every junction.

tomasrojo

Speaking of Segways, it looks as if they were right about the latent demand for a single-occupancy vehicle with an electric motor with a travelling speed between a pedestrian and a car, but wrong about that demand being met by an over-engineered and expensive mobile church lectern.

magicbastarder

CramCycle wrote: »

There is a guy on my commute who has used the single wheel balance

is that the one that looks almost like a unicycle segway with no 'handlebars'?
have seen on on east wall road a couple of times.
i'm curious how you mount it without taking a pratfall.

CramCycle

The number of the Xaomi ones on my commute have increased immensely since the schools and colleges returns. Jebus they are slow. Tiny wheels really seem to struggle with the most minor of deflections. There is a guy on my commute who has used the single wheel balance thing and he leaves them for dust and takes the bumps with ease, wheel looks about 24'. The larger wheel kids scooters with no motor look quicker, and easier. The small wheel powered ones look like your calves would be dying afterwards with the shock absorbance.

Anyway, long story short, so long as they are not on a pavement and being d1cks to pedestrians (and have brakes), I really don't care.

tomasrojo

I don't know, I have an instinctive dislike of people getting about on wheels where there are plenty of pedestrians.

I'm fine when there are next to no pedestrians around and sight lines are good and you go at a walking pace, but otherwise, better not.

TheChizler

Maybe he was only going walking pace on the sections with people walking? I've used them in the past and tried pushing them in places, you end up with cut ankles as any slight forward resistance causes the back wheel to lift and the whole thing pivots.

Kaisr Sose

tomasrojo wrote: »

Based on my kids' scooters, yeah, the smaller the wheel and the higher the centre of gravity, the more likely you are to be pitched forward by even a small obstacle.

But motorised scooters don't have wheels as small as a child's scooter. I think 20km/h would be an ok top speed for them.

It was an odd incident. I was on the LUAS, thinking to myself; what an lazy idiot you are. If you are e-scooting at a fast walking pace on a pavement. With people on it, why not walk? I must have put a curse on him as almost immediately , the front wheel just stopped and he nearly fell. After that, he walked!!

tomasrojo

Interesting, non-health-related side issue with vaping ban being endorsed by Trump: it might cost him voters in some key swing states. Not sure if anyone has good numbers on this,but, as others pointed out (before the Ukraine memo) it would be a strange turn of events if vaping voters brought him down, instead of a reckoning for his crimes.

magicbastarder

i think it was on twitter that i saw a comment that this fuss about e-scooters is like the fuss in the states about vaping. they're reportedly considering banning vaping, with an unproven record of health effects, rather than cigarettes; and if the safety issues over e-scooters are enough for calls to ban them, why aren't we banning cars?