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The Rise of the Electric Scooter

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Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#331

Post by robbrown451 »

e40 wrote: post #329
robbrown451 wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is extremely black and white thinking. You are trading your safety for theirs when you insist that no one but pedestrians be in certain places. Whether they are breaking the law is rather irrelevant, unless you think the problem would be solved by making riding bikes on the sidewalk legal (which you obviously don't). You can't say "the law shouldn't be changed because that would be bad" and then "it's bad to do…

The burden is on cyclists/scooter operators. In my city it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk. In California, motorized vehicles cannot be used on the sidewalk, I've been told by local Police officers I've discussed this with. In the Netherlands, they know bikes and pedestrians don't mix, so they make separate paths. They are the gold standard for cyclist and pedestrian safety. I, as a pedestrian, am an advocate for m…

"In California, motorized vehicles cannot be used on the sidewalk"

Possibly true. (actually electric skateboards are allowed) But bikes also entered the conversation.

Regardless, I personally find the discussion of what the rules should be, rather than what they are in any particular jurisdiction, to be more interesting.

"I've had a bunch of very close calls already."

I don't know where you live, but you're quite the outlier. Maybe your attitude that the burden is entirely on someone else is putting you in danger?

I have a 5 year old (and yes, we spend an awful lot of time on San Francisco sidewalks), and I teach her that the burden is always on her to keep herself safe.

Of the 8 people killed using electric scooters so far, all of them have been the riders. Maybe you'll be the first to die this way, but that sounds a bit unlikely to me, unless you are actively trying to. Also, I've yet to hear of a pedestrian bicycle accident that caused significant injury that happened on an actual sidewalk.

"Everything you wrote is just avoiding the main issue."

No, it's not.

It's simply calling you out for assuming that your views and your priorities are the only right ones. You show no nuance. Placing "the burden" entirely on one party, here in the real world, makes no sense to me.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#332

Post by grogenaut »

lkbm wrote: post #330
grogenaut wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people really can't run much over 7-10 mph. A bike and a skateboard both easily go faster than this. Eject and run is not really an option unless you want to face plant or do a skilled tuck and roll. This gets more true the further you are from sprinting on a regular basis. And really unless you have practice you're not going to match speeds with the ground anyway

I have to keep my feet under me for a few dozen steps while I come to a stop. I might not be able to do that at 20 MPH, but I think I can at 12 MPH. I can at whatever speeds I was going when people ran over my back wheel. (Once was a parking lot, so I was probably going fairly slowly, but the other was biking downhill.)

Go to the gym, turn the treadmill up to full speed and jump onto it, and see how it goes. That'll be a good data based test. The mill will drop speed by about 30% and most mills don't go up super high. Take a face plant for science.

If you did then you're probbably faster than normal and better balance than normal. I'm pretty sure I'd pull a hammy immediately. My coworker immediately face planted and broke arm and collar bone.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#333

Post by WillPostForFood »

CarVac wrote: post #286
WillPostForFood wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the large majority of small vehicles on the road there are now electric. Maybe in some parts of China like Shenzhen that are mandating it, but gas powered cars are still outselling electric cars 25 to 1 in China, so it will be a long time before electric cars make up a majority.

>small vehicles There are far more electric scooters on the road than there are cars.

Citation? It is basically impossible to be true, as cars still and scooters sold about the same number in China last year, but you also have the last two decade of cars sold on the road.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#334

Post by frabbit »

jdietrich wrote: post #225
frabbit wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or a Bike Friday Pakit https://www.bikefriday.com/folding-bikes/product/bike-friday...

The Brompton is really the only game in town for urban folding bikes. Uniquely, the Brompton locks into a compact and balanced package that can be comfortably carried in one hand. If you opt for a model with a pannier rack (or buy an EazyWheels kit) the folded bike can be pulled around like a wheeled suitcase. There are lots of good folding bikes, but only one good folded bike. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cepoV17…

Depends on what you're looking for. I found the wheel size a bit too small.

I think this is a fair comparison and gives the advantage to the Brompton in small folded size, although its weight is not something to be taken lightly (!) http://anatolyivanov.com/prose/en/AI.7.00109/

I love the Pakit, however I like the looks of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mkzRF3trJM https://youtu.be/xscDjAmD2MM?t=251

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#335

Post by smashah »

jstanley wrote: post #128
smashah wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ebikes are technically restricted to 15mph here. The micromobility laws in the UK are a complete joke and driven by car and tier 1 manufacturers lobbying (e.g Bosch via EU). EBikes and scooters are hands down the best solution to London's pollution issue yet people are getting fined for using them. There is a complete lack of logic in the rulings. The reason why escooters are illegal whereas EBikes are not: throttle.…

Why do you want to fine ebikers for not wearing what you consider to be the "proper safety equipment", even after you yourself said that an ebiker with a throttle is safer than an ordinary cyclist at the same speed?

I agree with the arguments and facts against forcing safety gear. It's in the list as a compromise under certain conditions - if any proper micromobility legislation can happen without it then great.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#336

Post by CarVac »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #333
CarVac wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>small vehicles There are far more electric scooters on the road than there are cars.

Citation? It is basically impossible to be true, as cars still and scooters sold about the same number in China last year, but you also have the last two decade of cars sold on the road.

You might be right about there being more cars in the rural areas.

In cities, it's no contest, there are hordes of scooters and only some cars. And 99% of the scooters were electric, in my experience.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#337

Post by mips_avatar »

umvi wrote: post #176
eldenbishop wrote: post #38

I rode a non-electric kick scooter (Xootr) for three years working in downtown SF. It is by far the best form of transitional transport there is and superior to bikes for 99% of actual real world travel. It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking and more importantly suddenly made the entire city open due to how insanely efficient it was for "glueing" together various forms of public transport. I could hop from tran…

> It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking I can walk a mile in 20 minutes which is 3 mph. This implies these scooters can maintain 12-15 mph? Am I just underestimating how fast you can get going on these things? That seems kind of fast unless you are going downhill both ways.

The boosted rev goes 24 mph

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#338

Post by ars »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #308
ars wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The toughest nut to crack And you somehow managed to completely forget that families with small children exist.

Every time we put my son onto or into a bike, I'm reminded of the impossibility of our existence.

"children" is plural not singular.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#339

Post by geddy »

mips_avatar wrote: post #273
geddy wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only bigger, but inflatable rubber wheels. The small, hard rubber wheels that we used to rip when Razor Scooters were huge in the 90s were great if you didn't value your face.

I broke my arm on one of those as a kid.

Were you trying to karate chop it in half?
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