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I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

jalopnik.com

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Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#91

Post by toyg »

archi42 wrote: post #78
md2be wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know what shitty behavior is ? Riding on the sidewalks. Fucking with these scooters in any manner is a form of resistance.

Abstracting this basically yields: "Random stranger X did something that is not right to do, so I'll hurt another random gal/guy Y for that"? Dear god, I hope you live really far away from me.

Punish 1 to educate 100, as a famous founder of a new superpower famously said. Except that strategy could work only if the 100 actually got to hear of the punished one, which will likely not be the case in this particular scenario.

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#92

Post by dreamcompiler »

roel_v wrote: post #82
ptaipale wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand that rules for bike paths depend on local jurisdiction, but why wouldn't an e-scooter fit a bike path in Venice, CA? Over here (Finland, like all of Europe) we have roads, we have bike paths, and we have pedestrian pavements. E-scooters are always good for bike paths, and if they move faster than 15 km/h, they are not to be ridden in pedestrian areas, only bike paths, even if they are not exactly bikes.…

"Over here (Finland, like all of Europe) we have roads, we have bike paths, and we have pedestrian pavements. E-scooters are always good for bike paths, " These escooters aren't even legal to use at all in any place that is public in the Netherlands, let alone that it would be decided where they should ride.

Good. The Netherlands is so flat that there's no legitimate reason not to just use a shitty, beat-up, stealable bicycle like everybody else ;-)

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#93

Post by mmcwilliams »

docdeek wrote: post #7
checker wrote: post #4

This is the first I've heard of people tampering with the brake systems - it's incredibly malicious. I understand some people might be frustrated by the scooters, but is manslaughter really the right way to go about it?

Story here in Lyon, France, yesterday about a less-dangerous attack on the electric scooters: instead of cutting the brake cables, vandals are painting over the QR code instead. No QR code to scan means no useable scooter. Link in French: https://www.leprogres.fr/rhone-69/2019/06/10/a-lyon-les-trot...

To be fair, QR codes are a fairly fragile technology for something like that. If instead of destroying them, someone replaced the codes with a malicious link the outcome could be worse.

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#94

Post by dreamcompiler »

underhill wrote: post #52
kcorbitt wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regularly ride my e-bike in SF but have also dabbled with the rental scooters. I have a hard time understanding the scooters' popularity, compared to a rentable e-bike like the Jump or Lime bikes. In my experience e-bikes have the advantage in top speed, stability, comfort and safety. Other than taking up marginally more space when parked, I can't think of any downsides. This matches the article author's conclusion…

I take both Jump e-bikes as well as various scooters on the regular. Honestly I prefer Jump Bikes - it's almost always cheaper and faster and safer. I definitely feel more "seen" by cars as well. That being said, with a scooter you aren't pedaling at all . Even on an e-assist bike you're still getting the adrenaline pumping and sorta sweaty. And a lot of people are afraid of riding bikes in traffic, so while even tho…

Yeah, taking out-of-town friends to the Emergency Room is fun too. Sorry if I sound snarky, but as a former EMT who has ridden scooters I know the damn things are deathtraps.

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#95

Post by buckminster »

jdietrich wrote: post #57
derefr wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about those moped-shaped electric wheelchair buggies? (I’ve always wondered what the proper “lane” for those is; they go fast enough and have enough momentum that they’re dangerous on the sidewalk, but they’re unprotected enough that it’s dangerous for them to be in the bike lane, let alone a car lane.) ...or do those even exist outside of America (and maybe the ex-Commonwealth)?

Here in the UK, we have two categories of mobility scooters and electric wheelchairs. If they're capable of no more than 4mph, they can be used on the pavement; if they're capable of more than 4mph but less than 8mph, they can be used on the road without a license but they do need to be registered. https://www.gov.uk/mobility-scooters-and-powered-wheelchairs...

> If they're capable of no more than 4mph

Do these even exist? I walk faster than 4mph and I'm routinely overtaken by these scooters on the pavement. I've never caught up to one.

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#96

Post by lmm »

jfk13 wrote: post #85
Angostura wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would generally be in favour of restrictions that stopped cars driving on cycle lanes.

Until there's a broken-down vehicle blocking the road, and the only way around it involves encroaching on the cycle lane (carefully!) ... but your hi-tech geofenced car forbids that, so you're stuck. Or you attempt to move out of the way of an oncoming emergency vehicle, as it's barrelling down the centre of the road to reach a dying patient ... but it needs an extra couple of feet of space that you can only give it…

> Or you attempt to move out of the way of an oncoming emergency vehicle, as it's barrelling down the centre of the road to reach a dying patient ... but it needs an extra couple of feet of space that you can only give it if you move partly into the cycle lane. And your car refuses.

Do you think geofencing cars out of bike lanes would lead to more or fewer deaths overall, when you include all the cases of drivers killing cyclists that would be prevented?

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#97

Post by virusduck »

justaguyhere wrote: post #20

During the single day of this test, I found three Wheels with intentionally cut brake lines WTF is wrong with people? I understand these things are annoying and litter sidewalks, but intentionally cutting brakes to harm someone? Jeez, this is just shitty behavior

I see it in my city--people get so worked up about these scooters on local social media or in editorials, they create a mob mentality. I can see where this drops the taboo in some folks' minds about causing harm o whomever uses the scooters. It's a result of people's attempts to dehumanize those they don't agree with.

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#98

Post by virusduck »

md2be wrote: post #58
justaguyhere wrote: post #20

During the single day of this test, I found three Wheels with intentionally cut brake lines WTF is wrong with people? I understand these things are annoying and litter sidewalks, but intentionally cutting brakes to harm someone? Jeez, this is just shitty behavior

You know what shitty behavior is ? Riding on the sidewalks. Fucking with these scooters in any manner is a form of resistance.

You must be lost... here, let me help: http://nextdoor.com

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#99

Post by HillaryBriss »

underhill wrote: post #52
kcorbitt wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regularly ride my e-bike in SF but have also dabbled with the rental scooters. I have a hard time understanding the scooters' popularity, compared to a rentable e-bike like the Jump or Lime bikes. In my experience e-bikes have the advantage in top speed, stability, comfort and safety. Other than taking up marginally more space when parked, I can't think of any downsides. This matches the article author's conclusion…

I take both Jump e-bikes as well as various scooters on the regular. Honestly I prefer Jump Bikes - it's almost always cheaper and faster and safer. I definitely feel more "seen" by cars as well. That being said, with a scooter you aren't pedaling at all . Even on an e-assist bike you're still getting the adrenaline pumping and sorta sweaty. And a lot of people are afraid of riding bikes in traffic, so while even tho…

> And a lot of people are afraid of riding bikes in traffic, so while even though bikes are actually much safer, there's a lower mental barrier to entry with scooters.

In LA it's not legal to ride scooters on the sidewalk, so, in theory, people should fear riding scooters too because they're supposed to ride scooters in traffic -- just like the bikes. Of course, in practice, almost everyone rides everything on the sidewalks in LA. Traffic codes are mainly unenforced here.

Re: I rode all the e-scooters, and most of them are awful except two

#100

Post by L_Rahman »

jfk13 wrote: post #85
Angostura wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would generally be in favour of restrictions that stopped cars driving on cycle lanes.

Until there's a broken-down vehicle blocking the road, and the only way around it involves encroaching on the cycle lane (carefully!) ... but your hi-tech geofenced car forbids that, so you're stuck. Or you attempt to move out of the way of an oncoming emergency vehicle, as it's barrelling down the centre of the road to reach a dying patient ... but it needs an extra couple of feet of space that you can only give it…

If there's a broken down vehicle blocking the car portion of the road, the road is closed. If the bike lane were protected with a physical barrier, you wouldn't be able to enter it. Why shouldn't it just be off limits?

I'm unhappy about a lot of the things self-driving cars will bring to our cities, but the one good thing that might happen is automatic bike lane enforcement.

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