Driving standards

[62613]

1 hour ago, Nick C said:

But then it's the people, not the scooters, that I have a problem with!

 

I'd also suggest that they're not actually that useful - they seem to be used not to replace a car for short journeys, but to replace walking. They're no good for anyone of reduced mobility (as you need good balance), and have no luggage capacity - so really they're only any good for journeys you'd normally walk or cycle, at which point either of those are better options...

 

electrically assisted bikes on the other hand could be very useful if dealt with properly - either for giving access to a bike to those who aren't fit enough to ride well or to increase range for those who are - and with panniers they can easily carry at least some shopping.

I've had a pedal - assist trike now for coming up for 18 months, it was legomatic when bought, but since upgraded. Once the PAS sensor had been set up correctly it's been absolutely wonderful. The Longest trip I've done so far is from Newton, Hyde to Withington and back; I had to change the battery when about 5 miles from home, because I wasn't going to risk  running out on the almost continuous climb. I regularly go to football matches, meetings, shopping and so on; a couple of weeks ago, I cycled more than I drove.

[Hroth]

21 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

The thing with e-scooters is that it is illegal to use a privately-owned one on public land.

 

Therefore, the police should be confiscating them on sight and sending them for destruction.

 

Its not easy to seize them.

 

First you have to catch them, its not easy as the areas in which most e-bike/scooter abuse takes place is rife with alleyways and paths that it is unsafe or impossible for police vehicles to chase the perpetrators down.

 

Then there have been recent cases of the police being pilloried for chasing loons on e-bikes/scooters, that has resulted in the deaths of the loons as they try to escape from the police.

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Hroth

[Mallard60022]

I'm probably sanctimonious and Green? Is that because I'd quite like an Electric Car or Van and also support the way forward to attempt to save the Planet? However I wouldn't call everyone that likes something I don't want or dislike, some rather patronising name.

I also understand what the Police have to put up with and most, if not all, I worked with over the years, were not ex PE Students that couldn't find anything else to do. What an ill informed generalization. I understand the the Police service probably needs a good deal of adjustment in how it performs and what it does, but that takes time and a lot more money, the latter of which most seem unwilling to pay for in Taxes and Council Taxes. 

In my earlier post about SUVs and speeding Motorbikes I should have said that I have ridden quite powerful Motor Bikes in the past, again with the Police...not for the Police, and I didn't really enjoy the experience. The ones I was worried about were pulling wheelies and thinking they were in a TT on the IOM. It's their unusual riding that catches a lot of people out, even themselves occasionally and that's usually very messy indeed. 

As for SUV 's, I totally agree that that sort of vehicle, for what one might call normal Road use, are just not necessary. However I was told by and ex Road Safety Colleague (my Boss at the time) that his wife preferred them as she felt safer in such a vehicle.

Oh yes, I have a Scooter, but it isn't electric, so am I probably some sort of Millennial, beardy bloke?

I have a Bicycle, but wish I had an Electric Bicycle as I can't ride a normal one up hills any more.

E Scooters? Not sure what to say.

E Bikes that can do 60 mph? That needs looking at in a serious way.

Public Transport? Whole can of very smelly Worms.

Phil

 

[Reorte]

20 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

E Bikes that can do 60 mph? That needs looking at in a serious way.

That's simply an electric motorbike, so I think it should be subject to the same rules as motorbikes (and I think they are). It doesn't follow that anything else electrically powered should fall in the same category though.

[admiles]

17 hours ago, johnofwessex said:

I must admit that I am heading towards the idea of banning motorbikes.

 

The basic concept isnt safe and many of those that drive them should not be let anywhere near a powered vehicle.

 

SUV's ditto

 

Should we ban all cars, vans, taxis, bicycles, buses, coaches and trucks too? Because there are bad/dangerous drivers of every one of those types of vehicle too.  To stereotype one particular group is a very unpleasant trait...

[Hroth]

6 minutes ago, Reorte said:

That's simply an electric motorbike, so I think it should be subject to the same rules as motorbikes (and I think they are). It doesn't follow that anything else electrically powered should fall in the same category though.

 

The problem is that they don't "look" like a motorbike, and as brakes, tyres and bearings aren't suited to sustained speed, they're lethal no matter how they're legislated for.  In addition, as they're usually uprated by backstreet cowboys or by their owners, batteries, controllers and chargers are equally lethally mismatched, resulting in battery fires when charging.

 

 

[Dunsignalling]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Its not easy to seize them.

 

First you have to catch them, its not easy as the areas in which most e-bike/scooter abuse takes place is rife with alleyways and paths that it is unsafe or impossible for police vehicles to chase the perpetrators down.

 

Then there have been recent cases of the police being pilloried for chasing loons on e-bikes/scooters, that has resulted in the deaths of the loons as they try to escape from the police.

 

 Tasers?

[MrWolf]

10 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

 Tasers?

 

But, but, but.....

 

They'd fall off, get hurt and instantly become the victim!

 

(Regardless of whether they were delivering a pocket full of class A's and the resultant carnage)

 

An RPG would be more fun...

[Hroth]

12 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

But, but, but.....

 

They'd fall off, get hurt and instantly become the victim!

 

(Regardless of whether they were delivering a pocket full of class A's and the resultant carnage)

 

An RPG would be more fun...

 

Just get Dirty Harry on the job. The stopping power of a Magnum 44 should be sufficient...

 

Joking aside, the reason why e bikes/scooters are so popular amongst the anti-social element is because they're so difficult to control and capture in a safe manner so that concerned third parties aren't triggered by apparent overuse of force by the authorities.

 

[MrWolf]

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

I'm probably sanctimonious and Green? Is that because I'd quite like an Electric Car or Van and also support the way forward to attempt to save the Planet? However I wouldn't call everyone that likes something I don't want or dislike, some rather patronising name.

 

I've been a lifelong motorcyclist.

At school, I liked art and hated football. I like trains and old cars, I don't dress like everyone else and don't like the same music.

 

You get used to being pigeonholed and called every name in the book, but it's okay because you don't fit into some minority pigeonhole to be defended and mitigated to the last regardless of right or wrong.

 

But put the boot on the other foot and my lived experience and opinions thus gathered are somehow hate speech?

 

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

I also understand what the Police have to put up with and most, if not all, I worked with over the years, were not ex PE Students that couldn't find anything else to do. What an ill informed generalization. I understand the the Police service probably needs a good deal of adjustment in how it performs and what it does, but that takes time and a lot more money, the latter of which most seem unwilling to pay for in Taxes and Council Taxes. 

 

I suggest you read up on the disadvantages of Unit Beat Policing which was introduced in the middle 1960s as a starting point.

It's not about money, so much as method, will and the knowledge that the work of the police will actually result in an arrest, an actual trial, conviction and due punishment.

 

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

In my earlier post about SUVs and speeding Motorbikes I should have said that I have ridden quite powerful Motor Bikes in the past, again with the Police...not for the Police, and I didn't really enjoy the experience.

 

I understand that it's not for everyone, I have ridden very, very fast around various race tracks, but I don't do it on the roads and wouldn't want to do it on the roads, it's at best inconsiderate and at worst tantamount to murder, same A with any vehicle.

 

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

 

The ones I was worried about were pulling wheelies and thinking they were in a TT on the IOM. It's their unusual riding that catches a lot of people out, even themselves occasionally and that's usually very messy indeed. 

 

I can say that nine times out of ten that's the "weekend wobblers" or the "200 miles a year club". Nearly all middle aged and think that because they've got "This week's must have bike", they're invincible.

They're too damned arrogant to notice the bunches of petrol station flowers and bits of brightly coloured plastic that litter our hedgerows.

 

They don't speak to us, (literally ) they certainly don't speak for us, any more than the boy racers speak for car drivers.

 

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

As for SUV 's, I totally agree that that sort of vehicle, for what one might call normal Road use, are just not necessary. However I was told by and ex Road Safety Colleague (my Boss at the time) that his wife preferred them as she felt safer in such a vehicle.

 

One of the reasons I give SUVs a wide berth when cycling, motorcycling or driving.

If you're so nervous about being behind the wheel that you feel the need to cocoon yourself in two tons of pig iron that you can barely control, then you probably shouldn't be driving.

I've heard the safety excuse from too many yummy mummies who park on the pavement outside schools and pull out again without indicating because their indicator switch hand is full of bejeweled I-phone.

A friend of mine has a plate in his wrist from just that.

 

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

Oh yes, I have a Scooter, but it isn't electric, so am I probably some sort of Millennial, beardy bloke?

 

As long as you don't ride it amongst pedestrians, why not? Especially if it keeps you fit, though pedals would be better for that.

The last scooter I had was a big rusty old Triang thing that resulted in my first ever trip to A&E, as well as first hand knowledge that little wheels and drain covers are a bad mix!

 

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

I have a Bicycle, but wish I had an Electric Bicycle as I can't ride a normal one up hills any more.

 

I happen to think that electric bikes are a good idea, providing you don't burn the house down, but I still think that the definition of what constitutes a "Motor Bicycle" and all that implies needs some serious attention.

 

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

E Scooters? Not sure what to say.

E Bikes that can do 60 mph? That needs looking at in a serious way.

 

See above comments.

 

52 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

Public Transport? Whole can of very smelly Worms.

Phil

 

 

Very much so and by rights, Britain ought to have the finest integrated public transport system in the world.

 

But we appear to have spent the last seventy five years stuffing it up.

[MrWolf]

18 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Just get Dirty Harry on the job. The stopping power of a Magnum 44 should be sufficient...

 

Joking aside, the reason why e bikes/scooters are so popular amongst the anti-social element is because they're so difficult to control and capture in a safe manner so that concerned third parties aren't triggered by apparent overuse of force by the authorities.

 

 

Absolutely agree with you there.

 

BTW, I was joking about the RPG.

 

They're much too inaccurate for such a small fast moving target...

[Hroth]

55 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

Absolutely agree with you there.

 

BTW, I was joking about the RPG.

 

They're much too inaccurate for such a small fast moving target...

 

Its about time a small low-yield ground to ground heatseeking device was developed for law-enforcement purposes.

 

hey-ho

 

You can tell that I'm not feeling well today and have spent too much time keeping warm with various high-potency* cold relief preparations, watching police chase programmes on the telly....

 

* Warm mixtures containing honey, lemon and scotch tend to fluffify the brain...

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Hroth
punctuation and clarification

[MrWolf]

I can't watch those police chase programmes.

Caught in a stolen / cloned car with a bag of brown and a zombie knife.

Case dropped due to lack of evidence / because it's a wet Saturday afternoon...

 

No wonder the police don't bother.