rsa supporting e-scooters

they don’t really take a car off the road. They take people off public transport or there feet.

I've read that before too.

But lately I've read some reports with more optimistic out comes.

If it got me off my miserable overcrowded train that's a win in my book.

Anecdotal but in my workplace which is a large factory complex on the edge of Limerick city they most definitely have replaced cars for a lot of people, especially females. Girls don't really want to cycle but they seem to prefer the scooters. We're having to build more bike sheds because of it, that's definitely cars off the road.

Yes. It is a legal requirement because in the event of an accident caused by you (or a third party) whoever is NOT at fault will be compensated through the insurance for injuries/damages/both.

So if someone’s acting the bollox on an escooter or a bike and they crash into me and damage my car why should I have to claim on my insurance? That’s my point.

If you’re going to use a scooter or bike on public roads (where 4 year olds should not be on their bicycles & in any case a child wouldn’t be liable it’s their parents) yes you should be required to have valid insurance in the event you cause damage to someone’s property. Or what if they’re not paying mind hit someone walking and hurt them?

Who said also it had to be prohibitively expensive anyway? Most people are happy enough to pay €120+ a year for insurance for their iPhone or smart watches right? So why not for their bike. I’d buy insurance for a bike tbh if it got robbed or damaged I’d be covered. Same goes for the scooters.

Do I think they should have licences, tax, etc? No. Do I think if you’re using a public road and liable to cause damage or harm to someone or their property? Absolutely.

Most people are not dumb enough or happy to pay €120 a year for phone insurance

insurance is compulsory for cars because the damage they do is beyond the means of most drivers.

bikes don’t do expensive damage so it’s not an issue

that’s what you think. Gadget insurance was worth nearly $60bn in 2021 with the expected growth of close to $200bn by 2031. Of course that’s pennies compared to the car insurance industry sitting at over 1.1 trillion globally by 2027 if it continues its current growth. But still to be 1/4 the size in around the same amount of time means people certainly are buying gadget insurance.

Yes maybe so and that’s why it doesn’t exist. But I just can’t be arsed with cyclists who try to side step the fact car drivers are NOT the only ones who can cause accidents or damage to property/people. But as well as insurance for motors being required to compensate a third party if you cause an accident etc, it protects you if your car is stolen. I’d buy insurance for my bike if possible to protect against possible theft. If that means I’m also covered on the off chance I cycle into someone’s car and cause damage then that’s just gravy.

I’m not a big fan of this car vs bike craic anyway but it pisses on my cornflakes when it’s the average motorist being treated as if they’re the only cause of accidents. I see as many cyclists breaking traffic laws as I do motorists.

Yes but my point being people are happy enough to pay what they consider a reasonable fee to insure their device against loss of money due to loss, damage or theft.

Equally if you wish to use a bicycle as your main mode of transportation why would you be opposed to a small fee to insure your bike against damage or theft? or protect yourself if you’re liable to foot the bill for damage to someone else’s property?

I just don’t get the pushback but whatever.

Also...

..and...

Not entirely sure why people think there is a need to drag bicycles into a thread primarily about eScooters. Or every other thread

These are tired old arguments usually unresearched.

Its incredible, there are people who spend all day everyday arguing for it on social media like Twitter and boards. I honestly think they are the stupidest and most incapable of critical thought on the whole internet, more stupid than Trump supporters or climate change deniers or anything else you can think of, I just cant get my head around it either.

Forget about the cause of accident and look at the value.

a bike hitting a wall at 20 k. Will bounce of it, a car will knock it down

they bang on about insurance and helmets because they hate people who use bikes and want to make it harder for people to just jump on a bike and go somewhere. there's nothing more to it than that.

If it's off PT, as others have said, that's not necessarily a bad thing. One of the most common excuses for not using PT in Dublin is capacity/ "they're too full".