[Brighton] E Scooters

Chicken Run · Oct 6, 2020

There are quite a few on the roads and pavements of Brighton & Hove and they seem a good way to get about but I didn’t realise they are illegal to ride on pavement, road or cycle lane, another issue the Police no doubt will have to enforce.

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18771677.brighton-council-no-plans-join-e-scooter-trials/

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Garage_Doors · Oct 6, 2020

They have always been illegal, been in then news often enough over the last couple of years.

HantsSeagull · Oct 6, 2020

Chicken Run said:
There are quite a few on the roads and pavements of Brighton & Hove and they seem a good way to get about but I didn’t realise they are illegal to ride on pavement, road or cycle lane, another issue the Police won't enforce.

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18771677.brighton-council-no-plans-join-e-scooter-trials/

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edited for you

zefarelly · Oct 6, 2020

Big Toys, but each to their own. . . .they've clearly been developed to fill a gap in the market and try and swerve legislation.

Make proper E scooters and license them, tax free, cheap insurance, but insurance none the less, and a CBT to riude them

A brilliant way of getting round a city. Even commuting as they easily to 30mph.

maffew · Oct 6, 2020

zefarelly said:
Big Toys, but each to their own. . . .they've clearly been developed to fill a gap in the market and try and swerve legislation.

Make proper E scooters and license them, tax free, cheap insurance, but insurance none the less, and a CBT to riude them

A brilliant way of getting round a city. Even commuting as they easily to 30mph.

Out of genuine interest, Im trying to understand why any vehicle on the road should be exempt from road tax, thats whats used, or meant to be used to maintain the roads and keep them safe isnt it? Maybe a really low road tax for things that cant go on motorways

zefarelly · Oct 6, 2020

maffew said:
Out of genuine interest, Im trying to understand why any vehicle on the road should be exempt from road tax, thats whats used, or meant to be used to maintain the roads and keep them safe isnt it? Maybe a really low road tax for things that cant go on motorways

I said it as currently E vehicles are exempt ? Its all a mess IMO, our fuel is extremely heavily taxed and our roads are appalling . . .who knows where the money goes!

There should be incentives to reduce emissions, I don't think many disagree with that.

AK74 · Oct 6, 2020

maffew said:
Out of genuine interest, Im trying to understand why any vehicle on the road should be exempt from road tax, thats whats used, or meant to be used to maintain the roads and keep them safe isnt it? Maybe a really low road tax for things that cant go on motorways

This might help:

There is no such thing as a road tax. It was abolished in 1937, with the process having been started by a certain Sir Winston Churchill.

For the first year, vehicles pay to use the public roads depending on their emissions (VED); electric cars and bicycles pay nothing while petrol and diesel vehicles pay more.

After the first year there is flat rate to pay for cars of £140. But none of it pays directly for roads - All of it goes into the pot of general government taxation.

Although changes are proposed in 2021, where the VED will go into a Road Fund to pay for English Strategic Roads, at the moment it goes into central funds.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41212379

dylan_bha · Oct 6, 2020

maffew said:
Out of genuine interest, Im trying to understand why any vehicle on the road should be exempt from road tax, thats whats used, or meant to be used to maintain the roads and keep them safe isnt it? Maybe a really low road tax for things that cant go on motorways

Road tax has nothing to do with maintaining roads.

zefarelly · Oct 6, 2020

I don't think anyone in government has anything to do with maintaining roads.

Uter · Oct 6, 2020

zefarelly said:
Big Toys, but each to their own. . . .they've clearly been developed to fill a gap in the market and try and swerve legislation.

Make proper E scooters and license them, tax free, cheap insurance, but insurance none the less, and a CBT to riude them

A brilliant way of getting round a city. Even commuting as they easily to 30mph.

There are some e-scooter trials going on around the country, but they are limited to 15.5 mph.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/e-scoot...dditch-,Speed limits,to a lower maximum speed.

They seem potentially quite useful for short urban journeys and I've certainly noticed a lot in Brighton this summer. Too fast for the pavement IMO, but seem well suited to segregated cycle lanes. Seem vulnerable on the open road, but I suppose no more so than cyclists.

I don't think they've been developed to avoid legislation. If that was the aim then they made a poor job of it as existing legislation here is enough to deem them illegal to use in most situations. Isn't their emergence here is more likely a consequence of their popularity in the US where they are legal?

drew · Oct 6, 2020

Garage_Doors said:
They have always been illegal, been in then news often enough over the last couple of years.

In certain circumstances, they are legal to ride on the road. The e-scooter must be a rental, the rider must have a driver's licence (provisional or full). Without those, they can only be ridden on private land with the landowners permission. Rules were changed at the beginning of July. However, as with breaches of covid rules, the Police aren't 'policing' this.

junior · Oct 6, 2020

The only people that use them round here are robbers and street dealers. Any normal person that rides one risks having it took off them at knife point.

blue-shifted · Oct 6, 2020

They are an excellent way of getting around the city. I'm looking at buying one.

Not as many drug dealers in Hove I suppose

Official Old Man · Oct 6, 2020

I did have a plan to start the first e-scooter rental in Brighton. Then it was made illegal. In time it will be permitted and there will be 100's of scooters all over town. You think cyclists are bad enough, wait until a scooter shoots through red lights.

matski_98 · Oct 6, 2020

The police were stopping people on scooters in town last week to give them a bollocking for riding on the pavements.

Feels to me though that they're fighting a losing battle and they'll be road legal within the next 18 months or so.

virtual22 · Oct 6, 2020

dylan_bha said:
Road tax has nothing to do with maintaining roads.

Actually you may be wrong, it was scheduled to be changed in the 2015 budget for this year: http://www.infrastructure-intellige...15/budget-vehicle-tax-all-be-spent-roads-2020

East Staffs Gull · Oct 6, 2020

Should be classified as mopeds IMO.

beorhthelm · Oct 6, 2020

should be treated as cycles, with strict speed/power limit. current rule is arcahic, putting them in the motorised category when so different to other motorised vehicles.

zefarelly · Oct 6, 2020

blue-shifted said:
They are an excellent way of getting around the city. I'm looking at buying one.

Not as many drug dealers in Hove I suppose

Just different types. Of transport that is

zefarelly · Oct 6, 2020

I've seen an E scooter on Shoreham High Street, easily doing 30mph.

They need some classification, like biddy-mobiles/Lardy-trucks 8mph max if on the pavement, unlicensed. then once on the road, 30mph like a moped I guess.

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