London rental e-scooter trial

I would.love for the scheme to be extended to Clapham and a wider area. It is climate-saving, not dangerous and takes very limited urban space. We need more of it, and for the London cabs lobby to be controlled.

Someone complained there were a lot of negative comments.  But if that is peoples experience surely thats the point of surveys.   I think we are all agreed that greener transport is preferred.  But surely, as even at 12.5 mph a badly driven scooter can cause serious harm, the drivers should have some training and have a license.  Then when they pick up a scooter they are capable and accountable.

Rules are broken all the time and scooters are left everywhere.  Non registered scooters should be illegal, and the legislation enforced.  The same with cycles.  Then there would not be this antagonism from people who do not ride them.  It would introduce some sort of safety.  They are not insured, so not accountable for any harm they do to fellow users.

Pavements should only be for pedestrians.  It is becoming more and more dangerous going for a walk.  I live on a hill and scooters free wheel down at high speeds.  I am not against scooters.  Just they need to be used in a responsible way and  contribute  to the cost of highway maintenance.

Abandoned scooters.  Even those thrown on a  pavement while going in a shop (I have seen this with rentals).  are a trip hazzard for children, elderly and  particularly the blind and disabled.

Scooters good, people currently riding them not so.   Make it safer and we will all learn to get on better.

If you do not want the truth about how we all feel about them the survey is pointless.  Do not look only for positive comments.

I have to step over casually abandonned scooters which appear to have been tossed aside, and to weave my way between those which have been parked upright, every day on my walk to work.

On my way home, I have to be wary of scooters being ridden carelessly - sometimes with riders on their phones as they ride.

Dangerous.  Often no more than abandonned litter.

They need more regulation and more care

There are very many very negative comments here. I seriously doubt whether they reflect Londoners as a whole. A more statistically valid, random sample is needed. 

E-scooters seem to work well in other European capitals. They could help us get to net zero faster. 

They are dangerous as they reach high speeds. Users dont require any formal training, or need any knowledge of traffic rules.

there has been way too many fatal or near fatal accidents already, do we really want more? One of them rammed onto me recently, i fractured my humerus and was off work for months. That could easily been the end of me. I see e scooters running against red lights, speeding on pavements amongst tourists and other near misses repeatedly. 
 

there arent even safe routes for London cyclists, why introduce more danger to our roads?

Scooters are a good idea. But, all scooters, legal and illegal, are used on the pavement and also, bicycles. It is very dangerous. And, they all cross through the red traffic lights. All electric scooters and bicycles should be fined for riding on the pavements and going through traffic lights. There needs to be some sort of way of identifying them i.e. like a car with a number plate. There needs to be more community police officers or traffic wardens stopping these people and fining them. Creating all these cycle lanes and these people are still cycling on the pavements, is terrible. Also, cycle lanes, wider pavements, etc have made narrower roads and this is causing traffic jams and more pollution and the emergency vehicles cannot get through either. We need to find a way to discourage people from buying cars. There are too many cars especially, in a city. I had a dreadful experience, someone on a bike on the pavement, who drove into me, as I was waiting at the traffic lights to cross the road. He really hurt me. He just drove off. Who was he??? I phoned the police but, nothing could be done. Not good. We need a good safe city and less pollution.

I haven't used one and I won't. I walk or use public transport to get around in central London and The City.

Most scooter riders are a nuisance, particularly those riding on the pavements, but allowing rental scooters implies to Joe Public that private ones can also be used; if that's not the case why are they even for sale to the public? Maybe that's not your remit, but having scooters available to rent is encouraging the use of scooters in general - and neither are policed in any way. 

Most rental scooters tend to be noticeable because they've been dumped in the middle of the pavement, causing an obstruction to everyone and a hazard for the visually impaired.  The others tend to be whizzing down the road or pavement, ridden by people with no regard for pedestrians or the Highway Code. On the pavement, there's never any warning that someone is scooting up from behind you and usually they pass you with inches to spare.  I've never noticed anyone wearing a helmet, whether they're riding a rental or a private scooter and nor have I seen many people wearing a helmet while riding rental bikes.   

Other than in The City, the vast majority of scooter riders appear to be youngsters, so I'm intrigued as to how the age limit / driving licence requirement is verified or enforced.  Like the Boris bikes, I suspect that your average youth can bypass any security and just acquire one of these scooters should they want to. 

The only, limited, advantage that I can see for them is to enable people to get around in the event of a major traffic jam, however cycling is just as quick and is at least a form of exercise - I certainly don't think these scooters are going to help our obesity problem. At least with a proper bike, the rider has to pedal and exert energy.   

My preference is to ban scooters completely, including the rental ones, and revert to just having the Boris bikes (with docking stations that bikes need to be returned to). How about doing a full public consultation?

Mainly seen teenagers on scooter, so the over 18 rule is not working, & probably most of the other rules, so need to tighten access.

Most kids can hack the scooter & rental bikes round here

I'm very interested to reduce congestion and reside in a more liveable city. But I see very few advantages of e-scooters over e-bikes. The small wheels and low level back light make them much more dangerous than e-bikes and don't provide any benefits of 'active' travel to the user.

If the scheme is to be continued please find a way to enforce the driving licence requirement, youngsters and particularly groups of youngsters using these exhibit very little appreciation for safety of themselves and other road (and pavement!) users. 

I think this kind of small, electric quiet vehicle as a means of transport is dangerous to deaf, blind and disabled Londoners. People, even responsible people drive on the pavement and that is the preserve of pedestrians. These vehicles could hurt the above people and so I am against this being made permanent.

I know there are issues with e-scooters and won’t list them here. However I think they have the opportunity to revolutionise travel in London and all towns and cities in the world, as do e-bikes. We shouldn't let the actions of the irresponsible, or underaged, cloud what is an excellent, exciting and new form of transport. I’ve used the hire scooters and on most occasions it was because public transport took too long and I didn’t want to take my bike for fear of it being stolen when I locked it up. On a couple of occasions I was dressed smartly in a suit, on a hot day, going to a social function and the scooter was the ideal method of getting me to my destination on time, unflustered and nice and cool at a fraction of the cost and time a taxi would have been.

Once properly regulated (and they need to be) private and pubic hire scooters will transform travel in London as bikes have in the last 10 years. Bring it on!

The police are unable to stop e-scooter misuse either from the retail scheme or the privately owned because - like TFL - they are risk averse.  There is no easy way to stop a moving e-scooter.  We know that e-bike, some of which are also age restricted fall into the same category.  The police can follow people breaking the rules of the road but need to be careful in how they then proceed.  Using an e-scooter is a bit like riding the escalator when a stair is available - zero fitness benefits unlike cycles.  

Re Talk London Official Representative

How clever having anticipated the uproar over illegal use of privately owned e scooters they cleverly sidestep the issue in a public consultation by saying

Remember, we won’t be able to use or act on comments about private e-scooters or dockless e-bikes, as this isn’t in our remit. 

A consultation is a consultation to cleverly exclude the most contentious issue re e-scooter is typical of a blinkered institution that has already made their decision and are going through a consultation  process just to say we did it

Just like sadiq khans diabolical and unsubstantiated ULEZ extension consultation

Please get real we are not idiots you have obviously already made you out of touch decisionas with ULEZ

E scooters are a ridiculous form of transportation, there is nothing healthy about to the rider . They are a danger to public walking on pavements etc because there is a lawlessness in London and it cannot cope with the number of idiots riding them. And even if they were insured and licensed it would make no difference .

I would like a vote, as they did in Paris, on whether the public want e-scooters. I obviously do not. 

Rental e-scooters seem to be used far less than when the scheme first started. Private e-scooters, on the other hand, have proliferated. Both forms of scooter are ridden on the pavement; the scooters that I see on the road are primarily private. These scooters on the road are a menace: they fail to observe red lights, pedestrian crossings, and speed limits. They do not have lights at night; they use the road more than the bike lanes. 

Parking of rental e-scooters along with rental e-bikes has become a pavement hazard; they are a nuisance for those of us who do not have impediments, but for the elderly/infirm, people with impaired sight, or those using wheelchairs, these are dangerous to the point of life-threatening. I live at the Elephant and Castle so have a pretty good overview of some very bad behaviour. I have yet to see anyone on a private scooter, or using the pavement for an e-scooter of e-bike stopped by police

eScooters (and bikes) frequently left blocking pavements, community spaces and just add a layer of street clutter that detracts from the local amenity. Often see them being used in an unsafe manner - swerving around the road, no awareness of the highway code e.g. stopping at crossings, being ridden with two people on them...They are more of a menace than a positive in my view.

While I agree with the comments around under-18s and dangerous use I also have another issue to raise. As e-scooters can be left anywhere rather than in bays they are often left across paths or blocking other access. This is incredibly bad for disabled people and those with limited mobility who cannot maneuver past them or easily move them. They need to be stored in racks like Santander Bikes when not in use.

I am concerned about e-scooters being ridden on pavements. Bicycles, e-cycles and e-scooters are all now being ridden on pavements. essentially there are no safe spaces for pedestrians. It is illegal to ride a bicycle on pavements after the age of 12 but enforcement is absent. There have already been serious accidents, I believe, in Paris and it can only be a matter of time before they start occurring here. I can understand that people think that it is legal to ride on the pavement as they see so many others doing so yet except for a brief reminder on the Santander stands there is no advertising of this fact. Some sort of public information programme might be helpful. 

I think in theory the idea is great for helping people get around London but in practice it's a nightmare, especially for pedestrians. So many of the users I see are obviously under age with no helmet on and usually show little or no regard for other road users or pedestrians. They're ridden on the pavements and left as obstructions to pedestrians when they're not in use. The undocked hire bikes are bad enough and now you're looking to add these on top of them.