We've had ongoing issues with mobility scooters for years and nothing has been done about it, the same is now happening with e-scooters. Motorised vehicles should not be sharing space with pedestrians. They certainly should not be able to travel faster than walking speed if they are allowed to be ridden on a pavement. The government and law enforcement are deliberately turning a blind eye and continuing to have their sights firmly set on punishing car drivers and motorcyclists
You have missed the issues and points. There is little problem with bicyclists cycling according to cycling laws. They aren't allowed to ride on the pavement (except where cycling is allowed). E-scooters must follow the same laws. There is a problem with *_rental_* scooters, and them being strewn around everywhere. The problem is their location when stationary. Both problems are already caused by illegal behavior, so the problem is lack of enforcement. I own my own lightweight e-scooter, which is infinitely better to ride than rental ones, and which I can take inside everywhere I go when folded up (and I can store it in my car). I have never bothered anyone as I ride according to laws just like a cyclist. BTW I have lived in several countries where riding privately owned e-scooters is legal, so I'm not breaking the law by riding my e-scooter. I've even ridden it abroad, as it was legal there too.
As I child in the 70s and 80s the police would always tell us to get off the pavement with our bikes, and I lived in a sleepy village. Police now do nothing about this hazard.
What police? Where? The town I'm in right now has a population 31,000 and growing but no cop shop. It used to. Now converted to flats!!!! Nearest one 20 minutes drive away along a notoriously dangerous B-road.
She's a natural. Managing to get Hitchens to sit through an interview without storming out or losing his shit is no small achievement. If she ever wants a career change then she'd be great working at London Zoo with chimps or in an old folk's home for people with dementia.
@@sjhoff It is rumoured some people use them as their main mode of transport to and from work, where they previously used public transport. I suspect there is some truth in that. Of course, they could always walk as you implied.
@@bobmason1361 it is primarily young people using what is essentially a slightly larger electric version of a kids scooter. It is rare to see anyone but people in their teens and early 20's using them and this is all in urban areas. They are not going clear across town they are going within walking distances of home, school or work. Their use in my city has mainly become centered around a large university campus and it is students utilizing them.
@@bobmason1361 nope. It replaces walking.. it is largely young healthy teens and twentysomethings who use them. They are not using them to go across town, they call Uber for that, they use them for walking distances.
The problem is everywhere. I live on a narrowboat and e-bikes and scooters have become a nightmare. 4 miles per hour on the canal and these things fly down the towpaths at 40-50 miles per hour. Most appear to be drug dealers using the towpaths knowing they are not policed.
Ridiculous exaggeration. 40 miles an hour requires at least 16 times the allowed maximum power of a legal ebike. The maximum speed is 15.6 miles an hour.
@@Tonyv1951 e-bikes in the UK can travel between 15 and 28 mph depending on the class. I have no doubt that they can be altered to go faster than that.
He's right about drugs, not that I need to be persuaded by him. Unfortunately most other people do and listen to the nonsense of Alex O'Connor and the like.
The E-bikes in most major cities school age kids and teenagers,no helmet ,doubling in some case tripling passengers and the person in control on the phone ,riding on sidewalks not obeying road rules ,going ridiculous speeds ,complete disregard for pedestrians and legal road users - no infringement notices handed out no police in sight - ride a push bike around with no helmet and you get a ticket - go to a city like Newcastle (Mereweather) in Australia and this is on display all day everyday. Is it a case of the legislation has not caught up with the law ? Is it a case of multiple deaths occurring before legislation is brought in ? It’s complete lunacy !
An old boy in my Australian regional city tripped over an abandoned e-scooter a couple of weeks ago and died. A niece in Brisbane got knocked over by one and injured. I am not against the scooters, as young people enjoy them, but am astonished by how careless many riders are.
E-scooters attract riders who have no respect for the law or convention. The regulations around them, as Hitchens explained are laughable: easily tampered speed limit, guff about hiring and legal usage only on private land.
Thing is there’s a WHOPPING industry of fast food delivery based on delivery riders. They range from perfectly decent happy students on nicely maintained petrol scooters using the app on their own phones to make ends meet to young immigrants often esl, who rent knackered ebikes AND the phone from some horrid and exploitative boss man. They make dreadful money and often have to do back to back shifts to pay for the kit and are dead on their feet… but so long as we get our burger fast, we seem not to care mutch 😮
As Kate Melua sang 'There are eight million stolen bicycles in London'. Whatever, I gave up on British cities years ago. They are hell holes I cycle around the quiet lanes of North Staffordshire on my Dutch oma fiets (grandma bike). It is lovely.
It's not just the streets or pavements. People using them don't - or can't - park them anywhere, so they have to take them to their workplaces, fill up half of the lifts (elevators for Americans), use up much-needed seating (or even standing) space in trains. Talk of lawless, I've seen three people standing on them - no helmets and usually children who have no road sense at all. I've seen fathers and mothers doing same with a small child in front. ER doctors are reporting a massive increase of horrific - even catastrophic - injuries from these things. It seems to me that we have fast been losing our minds because there is just no law enforcement... at least not for real crime.
When I was growing up in New Zealand in the 1960s we had to have license plates on our bicycles. We were given cycling and rules of the road lessons at school. I don't know if this is still the case as I haven't lived in NZ since the 60s.
Another dimension of Governments being willing to "let this go" (4:45) is that there are in fact so few people going about their business by walking ... suburbia in Australia is characterised by streets dominated by motor vehicles and empty of those who may be walking. This is an issue for public justice for those who walk but since there are so few visibly walking why should local by-laws be formulated to worry about those who may be walking ... try intersections, and try roundabouts ... walking is positively discouraged by local by-laws dominated by motor-mania ... so much for walkers, the elderly, parents pushing a pram or walking with kids to school ... this is an issue that is worthy of systematic sociological investigation ... thanks.
Another issue is EV bikes with batteries over 250W. 250W is the max power that an EV bike can be classified as a bicycle. But retailers are selling EV bikes with up to 750W batteries. Above 250W they are classified as scooters. They cannot be used on cycle lanes and require insurance, registration with DVLA and a driving licence to use. The police need to step up checking EV bikes are legal.
You seem to be mixing up battery and motor, and you're mixing up kWh and kW. But I agree: legality of these things should be checked. One good solution is the German way of requiring insurance and a number plate. That's another hurdle for illegal machines, and increases liability for use of illegal machines as then you've also defrauded the insurance company.
What are you talking about? You know NOTHING about this. The restriction is on the maximum continuous power of the motor (250 watts). The battery does not feature at all in the legislation. Above 250 watts continuous power they are not classed as 'scooters'. They are treated like mopeds. A moped is not a 'scooter'.
These "trial" schemes on endless extensions-of-trial are obviously a rort. They've had many years to decide if they should be legal or illegal. Instead, they make it illegal (unless you ride a rental e-scooter) and make lots of money for the e-scooter rental company. Oh, and anyone pinged for riding their own gets a HUGE fine. Who has vested interests in these e-scooter rental companies?
I hadn't even heard of such a thing before as a ban on privately owned e-scooters while allowing corporate-owned ones! I've lived and ridden my e-scooter in several countries now, and most if not all neighboring countries also have no bans on privately owned e-scooters. Why would privately owned e-scooters be banned?? The *_only_* explanation can be corruption. Privately owned scooters are far lighter (in fact in some countries the max weight limit is far under the weight of rental scooters!), and aren't strewn all over the place.
Gov should demand a basic ride and road proficiency test and keep the cost down so people have no excise. Plus third party insurance should be available. Not ban them.
100% agree. I happened to pass through Melbourne's Southern Cross railway station a couple of months ago and noticed the size of the Victoria Police building and assumed most of the police force must work behind a computer! It's massive!
I live in Melbourne. They’re a menace. I’ve seen two serious incidents (well one was clearly subsequent to a serious incident) - a woman flew over the top of the thing crashing into a car causing rib fractures, another time we saw a guy on one going the wrong way down a bike path next to us with no helmet. I thank goodness didn’t shout at him because a few seconds later we saw him holster his gun in his trousers and escape off down a side road. Minutes later 5 police cars were after him with lights and sirens. Unfortunately no chance, they make for a great getaway.
Always a joy to listen to the Hitch pontificating. Here in Paris the situation would seem to be the opposite of London in so far as rental e-scooters are now banned but it's still legal to ride privately owned ones. It's also worth bearing in mind that French law now requires e-scooters to be covered by 3rd party insurance which costs around €5 per month. But the situation is broadly the same as Peter explains in the UK.....between e-scooters, bikes of all kinds and cars, the city can be a dangerous place to navigate however you choose to do so.
2:33 not here in Germany it isn't! It's against the law. The scooters must be insured and registered and have little number plates here. Insurance is imperative. They are vehicles and can cause damage hence insurance is mandatory.
I am writing from the (almost) extreme north of Australia. We suffer the same indignities here in the regional city of Cairns. Alive with young tourist in the tropical winter months looking for fun and adventure. They love electric scooters as do the locals of similar age and younger. I very rarely see a person who appears to be older than twenty years old riding one. it is obvious to all that can see and reason - young people taking risks on very risky equipment!! ARRRGGGHHH!!
These new forms of e-transport have the potential to revolutionise the way we get around but we just haven't realised how to use them in conjunction with other forms of transport. All the laws regulating cars didn't come about until years after cars first appeared on our roads, frightening the horses and pedestrians alike.
Those guys'n'gals riding e scooters don't realise how ridiculous they look, and seem to be oblivious to the risk they are putting themselves to and to other road and pavement users.
I have to say e-scooters and e-mobility is BRILLIANT for cities, experience its utility once and you feel how awesome they can be. It is about how we manage it.
The biggest problem is the domination of cars. Far more dangerous statisically and polluting. A more nuanced transport future for all of us where we can choose a vehicle for a given purpose is still better than the smog infested present where grumpy old men like the guest featured sit behind almost static 2 tonne lumps of combustion engine.
well said Peter i 100% agree - " no point in making new laws in a country where nobody enforces them !!! " under a Peel Principled Police Force - - these "e" bikes/scooters need to be either banned or licenced / registered / insured - that will cure the problem am sure.
I see lots of older people using escooters now. They ride slowly and dont go through red lights. I also know of two people with walking disabilities, they find their escooter lets them go places they otherwise couldn't.
@@DieFlabbergast Morons who gun their scootercycles on the sidewalk meet nincompoops walking while wearing headphones with their heads buried in their phones. Justice at last.
Peter Hitchens reads standing up. Who does that? I like Peter. He’s a very wise and learned man. But he is just a little starchy stiff for my liking. I agree with him often but I don’t think I could live in the rigid society he desires.
I don't know about 'learned', he made several errors of fact in the three minutes of that clip that I managed to tolerate his grumpy old colonel impression.
I take umbridge at this, as someone that has a condition that means sitting is painful the longer i do it(it's not classed as a disability) i can't wait for them to be fully legalised. I have a full car and motorbike licence and used to cycle a lot 30 mile rides 2-3 times a week and cycle 25 minutes to work, but alas i no longer can. I would gladly have a licence plate and insurance but it's next to impossible to get DVLA to regester a scooter even if it has all the lights, brakes, meets all the power and speed requirements etc, I've looked into it. As to people riding them irresponsibly, on pavements etc, they're breaking the law and should be delt with accordingly, why does everyone that would ride them responsibly have to suffer for a few idiots. Figures up to june 23 show that 2.5 million journeys were done covering 6.46 million kilometres in London alone on rental scooters, obviously there's 50+ more towns and cities participating. Do you really want those journeys done in cars or public transport, the roads and public transport system can't cope and of course there's the massive amout of CO2 thats been saved.
And quad bikes, please please put a law in place that those vehicles should have a low set roll bar or cage on them, so many teenagers are dying by simple rollover...
Nah. For if there is such law, the number of people like you will keep increasing. So scared of life itself that you demand everybody else surrenders the need to think.
@@architexturalchaos1862 Oh great, two kids killed off quads last week on their own family farms. "The need to think"?? Obviously that goes out the door with parents who let children drive quads or with people using scooters, and obviously you don't do much critical thinking yourself... 🙄🙄
Anyone who still has faith in Hitchens as a sensible, reasonable man, do yourself a favour and watch his interview with Alex O'Connor. I wouldn't take into account his view on anything after seeing his behaviour there.
And anyone who watches that will see a wise old sage with experience and intellect walking away from a wet behind the ear student union drug appeaser because he was wasting his valuable time.
He is just like the grumpy old colonels of old. Miserable, carping old bastard - I say that even though I would agree that e-bikes should meet the legal requirements and that - as with any vehicle - they should be ridden considerately. He is just a carping old git, being given a platform to grumble about everything that ever annoyed him by a passive Cindy Yu who never challenged any of the ridiculous things he said.
As someone who regularly rides a legal e-bike, I despise these things too. Everyone assumes my bike is illegal because so many illegal bikes are around. I follow the laws, I don't ride on pavements, yet these morons with derestricted bikes and scooters ruin it for people like me.
Hitchens is missing the point that the primary risks are caused by cars. E-scooters ride on the footpaths because the roads have cars which are seriously dangerous and carry a high risk of death upon collision. Segregated bike lanes are a genuine solution because it separates a unique mode of transport from both cars and pedestrians.
i have a motorcycle. if i rode my motocycle on the footpath at 40kmh like these ebikes and scooters i would be tasered and arrested. But the ebikes and scooters go unimpeded. Sydney AUST. Something is going on...for sure.
Not a very conservative position, surely big government trying to legally impose upon hundreds of thousands of people who use these with incident is an overreach? Demanding insurance and expense of car ownership and insurance is corporate welfare? Why not leave them be until an individual oversteps the line, breaks the law or causes an accident? Why should the public be denied cheap and efficient travel because some very bad apples use them to commit robberies?
PH spot on as usual. Spectator however are just trying to push an anti green agenda with the title of this vid. The e-scooters and e-bikes are foisted on us by Politicians in awe of the US tech bros who are trying to re-enforce the idea that "Tech" will solve all of our problems. Good public transport, Buses, Trains and Licensed Taxis are the solution. It ain't rocket science, and might be as old as the hills as an idea, but it works. Trying to get around town at the moment is more difficult and time consuming/wasting than it has ever been.
@@Namelbmert There might be a few deaths at most when someone hits an elderly individual who suffers a fall and consequently dies. Cars are an enormous cause of death and should have been banned early in the 20th century.
@@ZadenZane The rules probably do need to be enforced a bit more strictly though. In theory I’m a fan of those rental bike schemes. But in practice they’re often left strewn all over the pavements, and nobody seems to get penalized for it.
Rental e-bikes are an eyesore -- but so is much of city life. What's causing mayhem for pedestrians and real cyclists is souped up e-bikes and e-scooters. And, the system isn't working, because as Hitchens explains, there's no law enforcement.
@@stevemoore8745 Yes. All this could be reasonably resolved with sensible laws actually enforced. Like if e-bike providers were fined for cluttering the pavement. Then they’d implement software which penalized their users for doing so. And if we had official and logical categories for these new classes of electric vehicle.
All Hitchens does is complain and moan about how everything is to his distaste, who actually cares? His brother was a far superior intellect and much nicer man.
It's a bit like Bidell & co complaining that their woke logic has come back to bite them. Cyclist complaning a out ebikes and escooters is highly amusing. If you can;'t segregate then the only answer is to register all of them (with compulstory plates) and require the insurance from the whole lot.
Hitch is all narrative and no facts. He begins by correctly stating that he knows very little about this topic then pontificates for a quarter hour. I heard a lot of "I don't knows" and "I'm not sures".
Once again Hitchens has no idea what he's raving on about. There are rules about the wattage of electric bikes in Australia, where it is illegal to ride any bike on the footpath, or ride through a red light. Peter is menace to society with his ill-informed opinions.
Hitchens made the ridiculous remark that e-bikes and scooters are 'powerful'. They are not. The rated motor power can not exceed 250 watts which is one third of a horsepower. The average man in his twenties can easily put that much power into a pedal cycle transmission, and the fit ones can put in twice that power. How does Hitchens get away unchallenged with this grumpy old duffer persona?
Apparently only when you have gotten hit and knocked down by one of those vehicles at its top speed while riding your bike legally in the bike lane will you be convinced of the impracticality and indeed dangerous confluence of motor vehicles and bicycles in the bike lane.
I find it mazing that with several issues going on now(e. g. certain issues with a certain pharmaceutical product that was handed out and how it harmed and killed people, what is going on in the Middle East, Ukraine, etc.) - Hitchens some how thinks this is one of the most prominent to cover.
No - not loads. In the whole UK in 2023 there were 181 ebike fires. There were over 150,000 fires and typically about 350 people die in fires in the UK each year. You are far more likely to be set on fire by a domestic cooking appliance or a tumble drier.
I don't think e-scooters are inherently more dangerous than bicycles. They just tend to have teenage boys on them. Whatever vehicle teenage boys are using in each generation will be perceived as more dangerous, because they do a lot of reckless things.
My friend almost got done in Ireland for being in charge of an e-scooter while intoxicated My friend told the cop that in no way he was in charge of it... Cop laughed and let him go 😂😂😂
Kitchens decries e-scooters as unregulated (bad),also asserting his concerns we may have to carry licence plates for cycles, like North Korea. Does he not see that regulation of e-scooters, licencing, is exactly the authoritarian dictat he warns of. His contradictory positions are incoherent
No, I think he wants efficient mass public transport (trains, business, even trams) to make a comeback. Like they do in civilised countries. You know, such as Japan.
@@DieFlabbergast It was the first part when he said they were too lazy to learn to drive which seems to contradict his later advocation for efficient public transport of which I too favour.
We've had ongoing issues with mobility scooters for years and nothing has been done about it, the same is now happening with e-scooters. Motorised vehicles should not be sharing space with pedestrians. They certainly should not be able to travel faster than walking speed if they are allowed to be ridden on a pavement. The government and law enforcement are deliberately turning a blind eye and continuing to have their sights firmly set on punishing car drivers and motorcyclists
You have missed the issues and points. There is little problem with bicyclists cycling according to cycling laws. They aren't allowed to ride on the pavement (except where cycling is allowed). E-scooters must follow the same laws.
There is a problem with *_rental_* scooters, and them being strewn around everywhere. The problem is their location when stationary.
Both problems are already caused by illegal behavior, so the problem is lack of enforcement.
I own my own lightweight e-scooter, which is infinitely better to ride than rental ones, and which I can take inside everywhere I go when folded up (and I can store it in my car). I have never bothered anyone as I ride according to laws just like a cyclist. BTW I have lived in several countries where riding privately owned e-scooters is legal, so I'm not breaking the law by riding my e-scooter. I've even ridden it abroad, as it was legal there too.
As I child in the 70s and 80s the police would always tell us to get off the pavement with our bikes, and I lived in a sleepy village. Police now do nothing about this hazard.
More often than not, it's foreigners. I believe they're untouchable...
What police? Where?
The town I'm in right now has a population 31,000 and growing but no cop shop. It used to. Now converted to flats!!!! Nearest one 20 minutes drive away along a notoriously dangerous B-road.
Splendid work Cindy. You bring out the brighter, lighter side of Mr Hitchens.
I agree. It was nice to see an interview where the chemistry is natural.
She's a natural. Managing to get Hitchens to sit through an interview without storming out or losing his shit is no small achievement. If she ever wants a career change then she'd be great working at London Zoo with chimps or in an old folk's home for people with dementia.
E scooters don't replace cars, buses, taxis or any other motorized vehicle, they replace walking.
Not correct.
@@bobmason1361 you are incorrect, bob.
@@sjhoff It is rumoured some people use them as their main mode of transport to and from work, where they previously used public transport. I suspect there is some truth in that. Of course, they could always walk as you implied.
@@bobmason1361 it is primarily young people using what is essentially a slightly larger electric version of a kids scooter. It is rare to see anyone but people in their teens and early 20's using them and this is all in urban areas. They are not going clear across town they are going within walking distances of home, school or work. Their use in my city has mainly become centered around a large university campus and it is students utilizing them.
@@bobmason1361 nope. It replaces walking.. it is largely young healthy teens and twentysomethings who use them. They are not using them to go across town, they call Uber for that, they use them for walking distances.
The problem is everywhere. I live on a narrowboat and e-bikes and scooters have become a nightmare. 4 miles per hour on the canal and these things fly down the towpaths at 40-50 miles per hour. Most appear to be drug dealers using the towpaths knowing they are not policed.
@@TrevsTravelsByNarrowboat hilarious that you you say policed as if they do any good
So you too are talking about a problem of enforcement. The laws are fine (except why is privately owned e-scooter use illegal?).
Ridiculous exaggeration. 40 miles an hour requires at least 16 times the allowed maximum power of a legal ebike. The maximum speed is 15.6 miles an hour.
@@Tonyv1951 e-bikes in the UK can travel between 15 and 28 mph depending on the class. I have no doubt that they can be altered to go faster than that.
@user-bf3pc2qd9s They think they have the same rights as being on the road. Towpath order of priority boater, walker, then cyclist.
Hitchens proved right as usual, about Starmer. The man's a visionary.
He's right about drugs, not that I need to be persuaded by him. Unfortunately most other people do and listen to the nonsense of Alex O'Connor and the like.
@@SagaciousFrankAlex is terribly decent, but also terribly wrong - about drugs, monarchy, and religion. Pretty important stuff.
Just another example of the breakdown of our civil society. Narcissism reigns supreme.
Exactly.
The E-bikes in most major cities school age kids and teenagers,no helmet ,doubling in some case tripling passengers and the person in control on the phone ,riding on sidewalks not obeying road rules ,going ridiculous speeds ,complete disregard for pedestrians and legal road users - no infringement notices handed out no police in sight - ride a push bike around with no helmet and you get a ticket - go to a city like Newcastle (Mereweather) in Australia and this is on display all day everyday.
Is it a case of the legislation has not caught up with the law ?
Is it a case of multiple deaths occurring before legislation is brought in ?
It’s complete lunacy !
In Adelaide Australia they are left lying all over the place as a tripping hazard. No one could ever get away with this with any other object
When the interviewer suggests we might miss the police if we were burgled, you know she lives in a bubble outside of reality.
An old boy in my Australian regional city tripped over an abandoned e-scooter a couple of weeks ago and died.
A niece in Brisbane got knocked over by one and injured.
I am not against the scooters, as young people enjoy them, but am astonished by how careless many riders are.
E-scooters attract riders who have no respect for the law or convention. The regulations around them, as Hitchens explained are laughable: easily tampered speed limit, guff about hiring and legal usage only on private land.
Thing is there’s a WHOPPING industry of fast food delivery based on delivery riders. They range from perfectly decent happy students on nicely maintained petrol scooters using the app on their own phones to make ends meet to young immigrants often esl, who rent knackered ebikes AND the phone from some horrid and exploitative boss man. They make dreadful money and often have to do back to back shifts to pay for the kit and are dead on their feet… but so long as we get our burger fast, we seem not to care mutch 😮
If an illegal turned up at my door with a food item, I would refuse delivery.
You forgot that the immigrants often already live on state benefits, and make money on top with this job which is undeclared.
@@chocksaway100 How would you know whether they were illegal or not? Surely the vast majority of immigrants are legal?
@peterreynolds6235 My food, my judgement call .
As Kate Melua sang 'There are eight million stolen bicycles in London'. Whatever, I gave up on British cities years ago. They are hell holes I cycle around the quiet lanes of North Staffordshire on my Dutch oma fiets (grandma bike). It is lovely.
I LOATHE E-SCOOTERS - they are silent and dangerous.
It's not just the streets or pavements. People using them don't - or can't - park them anywhere, so they have to take them to their workplaces, fill up half of the lifts (elevators for Americans), use up much-needed seating (or even standing) space in trains. Talk of lawless, I've seen three people standing on them - no helmets and usually children who have no road sense at all. I've seen fathers and mothers doing same with a small child in front. ER doctors are reporting a massive increase of horrific - even catastrophic - injuries from these things. It seems to me that we have fast been losing our minds because there is just no law enforcement... at least not for real crime.
Good job, Cindy, and - as ever - well said, Mr Hitchens.
When I was growing up in New Zealand in the 1960s we had to have license plates on our bicycles. We were given cycling and rules of the road lessons at school. I don't know if this is still the case as I haven't lived in NZ since the 60s.
I got knocked down by a disabled buggy in Tesco 😂
The buggy was disabled? The poor thing! What about the human riding it? :D
@@DieFlabbergast it only had three wheels 🤣
Many of the people on these buggies are, indeed, lunatics.
@@RPMcMurphy-k9l The buggy or the human?
Another dimension of Governments being willing to "let this go" (4:45) is that there are in fact so few people going about their business by walking ... suburbia in Australia is characterised by streets dominated by motor vehicles and empty of those who may be walking. This is an issue for public justice for those who walk but since there are so few visibly walking why should local by-laws be formulated to worry about those who may be walking ... try intersections, and try roundabouts ... walking is positively discouraged by local by-laws dominated by motor-mania ... so much for walkers, the elderly, parents pushing a pram or walking with kids to school ... this is an issue that is worthy of systematic sociological investigation ... thanks.
E scoters are only banned in - the Central. business district - they are not banned in surrounding inner suburbs!!!! .
Another issue is EV bikes with batteries over 250W. 250W is the max power that an EV bike can be classified as a bicycle. But retailers are selling EV bikes with up to 750W batteries. Above 250W they are classified as scooters. They cannot be used on cycle lanes and require insurance, registration with DVLA and a driving licence to use. The police need to step up checking EV bikes are legal.
That'll happen - not!
You seem to be mixing up battery and motor, and you're mixing up kWh and kW. But I agree: legality of these things should be checked. One good solution is the German way of requiring insurance and a number plate. That's another hurdle for illegal machines, and increases liability for use of illegal machines as then you've also defrauded the insurance company.
What are you talking about? You know NOTHING about this. The restriction is on the maximum continuous power of the motor (250 watts). The battery does not feature at all in the legislation. Above 250 watts continuous power they are not classed as 'scooters'. They are treated like mopeds. A moped is not a 'scooter'.
These "trial" schemes on endless extensions-of-trial are obviously a rort. They've had many years to decide if they should be legal or illegal. Instead, they make it illegal (unless you ride a rental e-scooter) and make lots of money for the e-scooter rental company. Oh, and anyone pinged for riding their own gets a HUGE fine.
Who has vested interests in these e-scooter rental companies?
I hadn't even heard of such a thing before as a ban on privately owned e-scooters while allowing corporate-owned ones! I've lived and ridden my e-scooter in several countries now, and most if not all neighboring countries also have no bans on privately owned e-scooters. Why would privately owned e-scooters be banned?? The *_only_* explanation can be corruption. Privately owned scooters are far lighter (in fact in some countries the max weight limit is far under the weight of rental scooters!), and aren't strewn all over the place.
It's like a tyranny, isn't it..
There is no appetite from government for law enforcement to tackle this. It really is insane
Ban Them Please ……
Great to hear an interview with Peter, with a sensitive and sympathetic host.
Did you mean an 'entirely supine host', who failed to pick him up on factual errors, ridiculous exaggerations and his grumpy colonel persona?
No @@Tonyv1951
Gov should demand a basic ride and road proficiency test and keep the cost down so people have no excise. Plus third party insurance should be available. Not ban them.
100% agree. I happened to pass through Melbourne's Southern Cross railway station a couple of months ago and noticed the size of the Victoria Police building and assumed most of the police force must work behind a computer! It's massive!
And what about walking? This is a "total lack of imagination" in planning departments about the true social value of WALKING!
I live in Melbourne. They’re a menace. I’ve seen two serious incidents (well one was clearly subsequent to a serious incident) - a woman flew over the top of the thing crashing into a car causing rib fractures, another time we saw a guy on one going the wrong way down a bike path next to us with no helmet. I thank goodness didn’t shout at him because a few seconds later we saw him holster his gun in his trousers and escape off down a side road. Minutes later 5 police cars were after him with lights and sirens. Unfortunately no chance, they make for a great getaway.
Always a joy to listen to the Hitch pontificating. Here in Paris the situation would seem to be the opposite of London in so far as rental e-scooters are now banned but it's still legal to ride privately owned ones. It's also worth bearing in mind that French law now requires e-scooters to be covered by 3rd party insurance which costs around €5 per month. But the situation is broadly the same as Peter explains in the UK.....between e-scooters, bikes of all kinds and cars, the city can be a dangerous place to navigate however you choose to do so.
Hitchens is a sellout. He wouldn't back the protests but instead wants to 'rage' about a really important topic - e scooters.
“They have a highly efficient law enforcement system in Pyongyang” - Peter Hitchens
Well said
2:33 not here in Germany it isn't! It's against the law. The scooters must be insured and registered and have little number plates here. Insurance is imperative. They are vehicles and can cause damage hence insurance is mandatory.
I am writing from the (almost) extreme north of Australia. We suffer the same indignities here in the regional city of Cairns. Alive with young tourist in the tropical winter months looking for fun and adventure. They love electric scooters as do the locals of similar age and younger. I very rarely see a person who appears to be older than twenty years old riding one. it is obvious to all that can see and reason - young people taking risks on very risky equipment!! ARRRGGGHHH!!
This is like seeing Red Rosa speaking with Trotsky. Truly Enlightening.
These new forms of e-transport have the potential to revolutionise the way we get around but we just haven't realised how to use them in conjunction with other forms of transport. All the laws regulating cars didn't come about until years after cars first appeared on our roads, frightening the horses and pedestrians alike.
Thank you.
Those guys'n'gals riding e scooters don't realise how ridiculous they look, and seem to be oblivious to the risk they are putting themselves to and to other road and pavement users.
I've got a feeling that looking ridiculous is part of the appeal.
Good talk
Three children died this year riding those things in Ireland,....it kinda makes me wonder about parents....but hey!! 😢
"This is the least we can do, we try to do the least we can!" I liked the "bolognaise"!
I recognise that low traffic neighbourhood example shown, in East Dulwich, brought in during covid.
He’s dead right about trams, lived in Kraków, fantastic trams!
I have to say e-scooters and e-mobility is BRILLIANT for cities, experience its utility once and you feel how awesome they can be. It is about how we manage it.
Go from liverpool street to Chelsea in 30 mins on a scooter. Try any other way. Transformative
The biggest problem is the domination of cars. Far more dangerous statisically and polluting. A more nuanced transport future for all of us where we can choose a vehicle for a given purpose is still better than the smog infested present where grumpy old men like the guest featured sit behind almost static 2 tonne lumps of combustion engine.
Peter speaking common sense as always.
well said Peter i 100% agree - " no point in making new laws in a country where nobody enforces them !!! " under a Peel Principled Police Force - - these "e" bikes/scooters need to be either banned or licenced / registered / insured - that will cure the problem am sure.
I see lots of older people using escooters now. They ride slowly and dont go through red lights. I also know of two people with walking disabilities, they find their escooter lets them go places they otherwise couldn't.
Peter Hitchens, yet again, hits the nail square on the head.
Scooters are not the problem. It’s people who ride them are the problem.
Scooters don't injure people, PEOPLE injure people!
That's why there are driving tests, licenses and insurance.
@@DieFlabbergast Morons who gun their scootercycles on the sidewalk meet nincompoops walking while wearing headphones with their heads buried in their phones.
Justice at last.
As so often, P H is correct. But for over 20 years now the UK has been a land devoid of all reason, morality or justice. This is just another example.
Illegal ones ought to be banned.
Rages is a inflammatory word of rhetoric.... He's not raging, merely answering your questions
Peter Hitchens reads standing up.
Who does that?
I like Peter. He’s a very wise and learned man. But he is just a little starchy stiff for my liking.
I agree with him often but I don’t think I could live in the rigid society he desires.
I don't know about 'learned', he made several errors of fact in the three minutes of that clip that I managed to tolerate his grumpy old colonel impression.
These are motorised vehicles, how are they not seen as such by the law?
I take umbridge at this, as someone that has a condition that means sitting is painful the longer i do it(it's not classed as a disability) i can't wait for them to be fully legalised. I have a full car and motorbike licence and used to cycle a lot 30 mile rides 2-3 times a week and cycle 25 minutes to work, but alas i no longer can. I would gladly have a licence plate and insurance but it's next to impossible to get DVLA to regester a scooter even if it has all the lights, brakes, meets all the power and speed requirements etc, I've looked into it. As to people riding them irresponsibly, on pavements etc, they're breaking the law and should be delt with accordingly, why does everyone that would ride them responsibly have to suffer for a few idiots. Figures up to june 23 show that 2.5 million journeys were done covering 6.46 million kilometres in London alone on rental scooters, obviously there's 50+ more towns and cities participating. Do you really want those journeys done in cars or public transport, the roads and public transport system can't cope and of course there's the massive amout of CO2 thats been saved.
People using these devices have ruined any modicum of enjoyment in riding my bike in SF.
And quad bikes, please please put a law in place that those vehicles should have a low set roll bar or cage on them, so many teenagers are dying by simple rollover...
Nah. For if there is such law, the number of people like you will keep increasing. So scared of life itself that you demand everybody else surrenders the need to think.
@@architexturalchaos1862 Oh great, two kids killed off quads last week on their own family farms. "The need to think"?? Obviously that goes out the door with parents who let children drive quads or with people using scooters, and obviously you don't do much critical thinking yourself... 🙄🙄
The introduction of compulsory "roll over bars" for Tractors back in the 1970's resulted in a 60-70% reduction in overturn fatalities.
Anyone who still has faith in Hitchens as a sensible, reasonable man, do yourself a favour and watch his interview with Alex O'Connor. I wouldn't take into account his view on anything after seeing his behaviour there.
And anyone who watches that will see a wise old sage with experience and intellect walking away from a wet behind the ear student union drug appeaser because he was wasting his valuable time.
He is just like the grumpy old colonels of old. Miserable, carping old bastard - I say that even though I would agree that e-bikes should meet the legal requirements and that - as with any vehicle - they should be ridden considerately. He is just a carping old git, being given a platform to grumble about everything that ever annoyed him by a passive Cindy Yu who never challenged any of the ridiculous things he said.
@@Edward-cv2gw Old sage. Get a grip and take your lips from his arse.
As someone who regularly rides a legal e-bike, I despise these things too. Everyone assumes my bike is illegal because so many illegal bikes are around. I follow the laws, I don't ride on pavements, yet these morons with derestricted bikes and scooters ruin it for people like me.
Hitchens is missing the point that the primary risks are caused by cars. E-scooters ride on the footpaths because the roads have cars which are seriously dangerous and carry a high risk of death upon collision. Segregated bike lanes are a genuine solution because it separates a unique mode of transport from both cars and pedestrians.
Not the right kind of EV. Looney left in charge of the green Shangri La. What can go wrong?
And you’re lucky if they don’t burn your house down. I shudder the thought of one parked by an apartment door.
I would like a signed original of the thumbnail photo to put in my office.
"So lazy they won't get a driving license." Oh Peter, you're so cute in your dotage.
i have a motorcycle. if i rode my motocycle on the footpath at 40kmh like these ebikes and scooters i would be tasered and arrested. But the ebikes and scooters go unimpeded. Sydney AUST. Something is going on...for sure.
Not a very conservative position, surely big government trying to legally impose upon hundreds of thousands of people who use these with incident is an overreach? Demanding insurance and expense of car ownership and insurance is corporate welfare? Why not leave them be until an individual oversteps the line, breaks the law or causes an accident? Why should the public be denied cheap and efficient travel because some very bad apples use them to commit robberies?
Lighten up Peter
PH spot on as usual. Spectator however are just trying to push an anti green agenda with the title of this vid. The e-scooters and e-bikes are foisted on us by Politicians in awe of the US tech bros who are trying to re-enforce the idea that "Tech" will solve all of our problems. Good public transport, Buses, Trains and Licensed Taxis are the solution. It ain't rocket science, and might be as old as the hills as an idea, but it works. Trying to get around town at the moment is more difficult and time consuming/wasting than it has ever been.
Are there any real statistics about the number of pedestrians killed or injured by e-scooters (or cyclists) vs cars?
I understand your point...I wonder how a study like that would work.
@@Namelbmert There might be a few deaths at most when someone hits an elderly individual who suffers a fall and consequently dies. Cars are an enormous cause of death and should have been banned early in the 20th century.
Rental bikes and scooters are registered and insured, that's how the system works
@@ZadenZane The rules probably do need to be enforced a bit more strictly though.
In theory I’m a fan of those rental bike schemes. But in practice they’re often left strewn all over the pavements, and nobody seems to get penalized for it.
Rental e-bikes are an eyesore -- but so is much of city life. What's causing mayhem for pedestrians and real cyclists is souped up e-bikes and e-scooters. And, the system isn't working, because as Hitchens explains, there's no law enforcement.
@@stevemoore8745 Yes. All this could be reasonably resolved with sensible laws actually enforced.
Like if e-bike providers were fined for cluttering the pavement. Then they’d implement software which penalized their users for doing so.
And if we had official and logical categories for these new classes of electric vehicle.
All Hitchens does is complain and moan about how everything is to his distaste, who actually cares? His brother was a far superior intellect and much nicer man.
It's a bit like Bidell & co complaining that their woke logic has come back to bite them. Cyclist complaning a out ebikes and escooters is highly amusing. If you can;'t segregate then the only answer is to register all of them (with compulstory plates) and require the insurance from the whole lot.
Or you could centrally fund an insurance scheme because the insurance cost is so low.
Bicycle paths and female bathrooms . . . .right?
Hitch is all narrative and no facts. He begins by correctly stating that he knows very little about this topic then pontificates for a quarter hour. I heard a lot of "I don't knows" and "I'm not sures".
But they're saving the world
Once again Hitchens has no idea what he's raving on about. There are rules about the wattage of electric bikes in Australia, where it is illegal to ride any bike on the footpath, or ride through a red light. Peter is menace to society with his ill-informed opinions.
Copy the UAE. And may we please have designated safe areas for walking?
Awful things
I think it would be best to return to horses
Hitchens made the ridiculous remark that e-bikes and scooters are 'powerful'. They are not. The rated motor power can not exceed 250 watts which is one third of a horsepower. The average man in his twenties can easily put that much power into a pedal cycle transmission, and the fit ones can put in twice that power.
How does Hitchens get away unchallenged with this grumpy old duffer persona?
Apparently only when you have gotten hit and knocked down by one of those vehicles at its top speed while riding your bike legally in the bike lane will you be convinced of the impracticality and indeed dangerous confluence of motor vehicles and bicycles in the bike lane.
13:46
Typical Peter Hitchens. Lots of motherhood statements without evidence.
I find it mazing that with several issues going on now(e. g. certain issues with a certain pharmaceutical product that was handed out and how it harmed and killed people, what is going on in the Middle East, Ukraine, etc.) - Hitchens some how thinks this is one of the most prominent to cover.
The scooters are ok , its just the clowns that use them.
loads of house fires caused by charging those batteries
No - not loads. In the whole UK in 2023 there were 181 ebike fires. There were over 150,000 fires and typically about 350 people die in fires in the UK each year. You are far more likely to be set on fire by a domestic cooking appliance or a tumble drier.
He thinks people who don't have cars are lazy. This is some next level stupidity.
Some riders are dickheads….the machines themselves have potential.
I don't think e-scooters are inherently more dangerous than bicycles. They just tend to have teenage boys on them. Whatever vehicle teenage boys are using in each generation will be perceived as more dangerous, because they do a lot of reckless things.
We should ban teenage boys.
And risk taking.
Anything unsafe, actually.
Let's ban teenage boys.
Grumpy old journalist raging about something that young people are doing.
What else is new.
My friend almost got done in Ireland for being in charge of an e-scooter while intoxicated
My friend told the cop that in no way he was in charge of it...
Cop laughed and let him go 😂😂😂
Peter’s reaction in the thumbnail is exactly mine whenever I get off the train in Bristol or Oxford - please get rid of the infernal f*ing things.
cyclists are the feminists of the road.
There's far too much sibilance in Hitchens' voice, I can't listen to this broadcast because of this.
A 17 minute monologue on E-scooter 'tyranny'... This is pure, unbridled reactionary tosh from Hitches, who seems to resist any form of change.
@@Iamharryparker _“I like my bicycle, but I hate e-scooters because they’re a slightly different new thing.”_
Kitchens decries e-scooters as unregulated (bad),also asserting his concerns we may have to carry licence plates for cycles, like North Korea. Does he not see that regulation of e-scooters, licencing, is exactly the authoritarian dictat he warns of. His contradictory positions are incoherent
So Peter would like all these scooter riders to pass their driving test and to buy a car so we have more grid lock !
No, I think he wants efficient mass public transport (trains, business, even trams) to make a comeback. Like they do in civilised countries. You know, such as Japan.
@@DieFlabbergast It was the first part when he said they were too lazy to learn to drive which seems to contradict his later advocation for efficient public transport of which I too favour.
OK Boomer