London rental e-scooter trial

Every day I see scooters driving along pavements, not caring about pedestrians and their safety. They drive through red lights and many seem to have no knowledge of the hiflghway code. I see abandoned scooters blocking pavements on a daily basis, causing danger to the blind and to  people pushing prams who are forced to walk on the road. 

Walking on London pavements has become increasingly hazardous since the introduction of rental e-scooters and e-bikes, both of which are more often than not ridden and/or parked (dumped) on pavements. Many of the drivers are far too young to hold a driving licence. 

I have witnessed adults hiring several e-scooters, each from a different provider, and then passing them over to their children to use. I regularly see passengers - sometime two - on the platform of an e-scooter. During school term times, parents often carry one or two children to schools on an e-scooter.

For an e-scooter to observe the rules of the road is very exceptional. In common with e-bikes, they routinely ignore traffic lights, cut diagonally across road junctions, sometimes weaving though pedestrians crossing on green pedestrian lights and shouting abuse at pedestrians who are in their pathway.  

Badly parked e-scooters and e-bikes are a serious hazard for pedestrians (as well as being aesthetically offensive). Pedestrians are sometimes forced to walk in the road because the pavement is obstructed by e-vehicles. 

The providers seem to take no responsibility in the matter; for them, it is a commercial enterprise which in reality is very lightly, if at all, regulated. Neither the police nor the local authorities/Mayor for London show any interest in unlawful behaviour by e-scooter riders.

Policies, regulations, laws and expressions of good-will are meaningless and misleading in the absence of effective enforcement. Of course, there are no longer police patrolling on foot in London, but there are PCOs, who either turn a blind eye to illegal and reckless behaviour by the riders of e-scooters or stand to one side to let them pass.The providers of the e-scooters and e-bikes need to be held to account for policing the system and for the anti-social behaviour. 

The Santander bikes have been an enormous success and might be used as a model for organising e-scooter and e-bikes in London. 

These are a blight on the street and should be banned outright. They are not environmentally friendly owing to the lithium and cobalt batteries, they are a danger to blind, short sighted, disabled and old people. In all I csn see no benefits whatsoever to these death traps.

It's all very well the authorities telling us the rules and regs around the use of e-scooters, e-bikes etc. but we need to recognise what's actually happening. In the real world it's a wild west situation where users do whatever they like. I've been a cyclist for years and every day see countless examples of scooters being ridden on pavements, through red lights, the wrong way down one way streets and simply discarded anywhere people fancy. The reality is that the drive to encourage cycling, scooting etc. has created a chaotic, uncontrolled environment.

As a pedestrian and driver, I find these e scooters to be exremely dangerous. They are generally driven in an erratic manner with little regard for the highway code or other users. Quite frankly I find it astonishing that these machines are legal with out having passed a test or having insurance or haaving to wear a helmet. I have nearly been hit while walking on pavements, and had numerous near misses while driving.

I hate e- scooters and they are driven around our pavements in Croydon at super speed by youngsters.  They are not safe for drivers nor pedestrians.  Recently, I saw an old lady buzzed by an  e-scooter and she fell over and hurt herself - the driver didn't stop.

I thought the pavements were for pedestrians but I'm wrong they are for e-scooters (and where I live cars to park on).

E-scooters are vehicles so they should be driven on the road - but this is hard to enforce as they are illegal.

Due to this I'm not a fan of these things even if they are legal- sorry.

I live in Enfield.  Our streets and pavements are awash with people on illegal e-scooters.  The riders range in age from children to the middle aged. Nothing is being done to regulate these vehicles, which present a danger to motorists and pedestrians alike.

In central London, I find rental scooters strewn dangerously all over pavements, presenting a danger to pedestrians.

I've ridden a lime scooter once and that was enough. They are so dangerous, saying this as someone who cycles a lot around London and has a driver's licence. I think it should be enforced that they aren't allowed on pavement, but I think the most dangerous thing about them are the red zones. For electric bikes or anyone with a hint of common sense, you would assume a "red zone" on a map for one of these scooters would indicate where you can and cannot park the bike.

Wrong. For Lime scooters, this shows where the electric motors of the scooter work, and where they completely turn off. Queue to me trying to cross a bridge on the road, with barriers on either side of the road and on a climb with cars and buses behind me, and this scooter decides to shut down because the bridge is a red zone. Are you trying to get me killed?? Not to mention some terrible red zoning where it's clear they tried to make it so you couldn't ride on pavement (good) but bad GPS means it turns your scooter off while on the road beside it (bad). Shame because private scooters should be made legal, the rental ones have such a terrible reputation that it ruins it.

So, so dangerous. 

And the rental ones just encourage the illegal ones by legitimising this form of transport at all.

They're dangerous on the roads unless there's a bike lane (with no bikes!) and beyond scary on the pavements, which is where most end up.

Would really love to see these banned entirely before we get hurt. Especially worried about my toddler who should be able to walk safely on the pavement without risk of being hit by an e scooter.

Lime is very dangerous - they don't show you before riding that there is a map of where the scooter can be used and where it cannot, and it will shut off if you go outside of those areas without any warning (one example in London from what I've seen is Hyde Park). It happened to me in Paris in the middle of a busy road and it put me in a very dangerous situation, as a tourist in a heavy vehicle that just shut off. This is why I have never used it in London and I never will. I think the bays are inconvenient - it would take me longer to ride the scooter to a bay near where I'm going, than to take the bus or the tube or ride my own bicycle. If the future is greener transport, then make more space for the scooters and bikes by banning more parking for cars. Taking over the pavement is not the answer, especially when a lot of people don't leave the scooters where they should (not sure how people manage to dump the scooters anywhere, because with Lime at least you cannot end a trip until you're in an authorised bay - but the customer experience to find a place to park a scooter is ATROCIOUS). 

There are better ways to make transport in London greener - starting by adding more bike lanes and bus routes, and restricting car traffic and parking on main roads (except for public transport, taxis, disabled vehicles and emergency services). The current trial does not give the scooters a good chance because it would require more compromise with car owners, who would never accept such an inconvenience to benefit the rest of society.

A further note to the city government and specifically to Westminster Council: please fine the cars that regularly, daily, exceed the speed limit and put pedestrians in danger. 

Whilst I think a lot of the criticism of their use boils down to either “kids ride them around inconsiderately” (which is fair, but is not a concept unique to e-scooters - I’ve seen plenty of children riding bicycles inconsiderately of others around them, and they’re probably the same people who go on to drive cars inconsiderately too) or “people don’t ride in line with the Highway Code” (again, definitely seen more than a few people riding bicycles on pavements or not respecting traffic lights/zebra crossings for example, and I’ve certainly a few sending their cars down pavements on particular roads and otherwise disregarding established rules), I do think the e-scooter trails have a few particular issues unique to them.

First, there doesn’t seem to have been all that much information pushed to people (not just available ‘online’) on what the rules are in regard to the Highway Code - I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of (especially younger) riders didn’t actually know (disregarding ‘common sense’ arguments) that scooters riding on the road or a road-side bike lane should stop for red lights (if my understanding of the issue was based solely on personal observation I would probably tell you it’s acceptable, given how high a percentage of cyclists/riders I have seen run red lights).

Second, whilst the trials may provide vital information on their effectiveness as a transport option etc., they do appear to have encouraged the use of e-scooters generally despite them being technically illegal (it feels like this is mainly to put the e-scooter rider at fault for road accidents they are involved in, rather than a consistently enforced law). It is not uncommon in my area of London (not within one of the trial areas) to see people commuting from their home to the underground station using their own personal e-scooter, and really there is no difference between a personal and a rental e-scooter if both meet safety standards, so why not legalise and regulate personal ones?

I know that city of lohdon police give out fihes for cycling on the pavement. Why is this not London wide or in fact  nation wide. When I spoke to the police in bexley they said they don't do it. Why is this. Explanation please. They also told me there isn't much legislation for cycling. There is 1865 propelled vehicles act.so that's not an excuse.

As a person living in one of the boroughs that DON'T participate in the scheme, I had too much bad experience with e-scooter riders. The worst being a group of underage people, each on an e-scooter, having a racing competition on a pavement. These are also used by people in balaclavas who intimidate vulnerable folk and might be using the e-scooters for robbery. 

I also second everyone who mentioned that these e-scooters are being left in random places (like playgrounds, pavements, supermarket parking, parks) and obstruct pedestrian traffic.

Adults who might use e-scooters for commute and abide by the rules can purchase e-scooters themselves, so I cannot see any benefit to the majority of Londoners (apart from private companies making money).

Hi dear Londoners,

My opinion on scooters is: London is not yet ready to embrace a new motor vehicle like a Scooter.

My suggestion is that your traffic planning team and traffic engineers invest more in the quality of the bike paths, as a cyclist I observe a lot of irregularities and confusion in designated areas for cyclists.

A few weeks ago, for very little, I witnessed an accident involving a cyclist friend of mine—an experienced cyclist, very well equipped and conscious of her safety.

This crossing is near Kew Bridge, A205 - A315.

Are we going to make London safer for everyone? Once we have adequate cycle paths suitable for bicycles (I see that you are investing in this) after we have enough space and security for other means of transport, such as bicycles, it would be feasible to introduce scooters as a means of transportation.

I think that e-scooters should have a GPS lock that they cannot be rode on pavement. I am a young chap and can dodge e-scooters (some of whom are used by Deliveroo and other delivery riders), but every so often I see older people (some of wheelchairs or using walking aids feeling terrified). I also think e-scooters are a good mode of transport in general and if properly designed (with clear riding lanes (eg cycle lanes) and enforced as such), and with a much more reduced cost - I would be more inclined to use them. Today it is still cheaper to use London Underground for longer journeys (upto 20 min) than escooters, and for shorter journeys I would rather walk. Like in many European cities, cycle hire and escooter hire needs be cheaper to encourage mass movement from taxis to greener transport means. 

The scheme is ostensibly a good one.  But the data that I have seen so far suggests that walking, not car driving  is the activity being replaced by scootering,  so as a means of encouraging active transport it is merely displacing one form of active travel for another. Nevertheless the additional speed of a scooter over walking pace is a benefit to the riders. 
the firms that hire out are however the only other parties who are reaping all the other benefits while Society at large is getting the disbenefits.  This is partly down to the looseness of the memorandums of understanding local councils have with the hire companies which are not rigorous enough in insisting on eg pavement obstructing abandoned scooters being picked up quickly.  Residents who live near scooter docks have also complained about the noise late at night when maintenance and drop-off vehicles arrive.  The impact on older and more vulnerable people is especially great from escooter riders who use the scooters recklessly and on pavements.  The “controls” on riders are a joke.  Scooters are being ridden by children who are obviously too young to have a driving licence even though this is a “requirement”.  Training for new riders, if it is provided at all, is just a tick box exercise.  Enforcement against reckless use is non-existent in most places, meaning that riders and other members of the public are being put at risk.  Cross-Borough boundaries are not observed (why would they be? Who knows when they are crossing one?) so scooters from a trial borough are frequently dumped in those who are not taking part.  Scooters are dumped in rivers and canals and on grass verges and on pavements and not identified or picked u0. Y the hire companies unless some member of the public brings them to their attention -  and even then maybe not picked up at all.  GPS location and GPS boundaries ar3 clearly not working. 
Lastly I have concerns for the safety of riders themselves. Accidents have happened,

I don't ride e-scooters but am almost run over by one at least once a week. They are super dangerous, too quiet (so we don't know they're coming), and riders aren't careful or paying attention to anything around them, and riding them way too fast. There needs to be a license to operate these, there have been serious accidents causing life-altering injuries due to these things (thinking about the little girl who was hit by one in a park last year and the rider was never identified). They need to be operated on the road, not on pavement or parks. 

Generally I'm a fan of e-scooters and have used them in cities such as Copenhagen where they can be easily and safely ridden in cycle lanes, and there is plenty of space to park them out of the way.

However unfortunately in London I just wouldn't feel safe on one! As actual cycle lanes that cars cannot drive into are few and far between.

Lime are also generally a nuisance in Teddington as the bikes are constantly left in the middle of pavements blocking the way for prams and wheelchairs, and I worry scooters will increasingly be a problem that way too.

Rental e Scooter is good for London,  But  you always get young people riding e Scooter very fast on busy shopping centre. And plus when they finished using it, they just leave it everywhere.  It is not nice to see it on the floor are places were it should not be. When you finished with the e Scooter, park it in the right place. 

Scooters are a really handy way to get around particularly if you don't have room in your flat for a bike. Too many people focus on their dangers (very low from legal ones) while ignoring the much greater danger from cars.