Electric scooters: Talk to me

Misso wants one as summer’s approaching and she wants to use the car less and the train more.

Station is about 15 min walk then she’d jump on, then jump off at the other end and scoot to work, probs another 10 mins or so.

So much choice, what’s good what’s bad I have no idea. I figure something that could last a week on a charge? Also, a second charger would be handy to keep one at work, and one at home.

Segway seem to have a fair few but are they decent? Thinking around $500-600  (err… around 300 quid ish).

Cheers legends.

IDK what the rules are in Australia (I think that’s where you are?) but in the UK e-scooters are banned on many/most trains

https://www.itv.com/news/2023-06-01/why-are-rail-companies-banning-e-scooters-on-trains

and increasingly work places won’t allow charging on site because of the fire risk – at my place for bikes and scooters we’re looking at installing a safe e-bike/scooter charger facility but that’s outside and away from the main building.

In the uk you can legally rent an e-scooter for use on roads or ride your own on private property

No idea any where else

As theotherjonv says, they are being banned on public transport here in Ireland too (and also my work place) so could end up a waste of your money if the rules where you are change.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1006/1473804-e-scooters/

Your laws don’t apply to me, I’m in Oz 🙂

Paths are “shared” with bikes and other wheeled transportation options (scooters / skateboards / rollerblades etc)

We have the communal scooters in our town but not where my wife works. You can take bikes on a train just not in peak time, towards the city in the mornings and away from the city during evenings.

Not too fussed about the legality side of things, just what’s good/not so good/best avoided. Obvs I’m not going to source from AliExpress it would need the relevant Oz safety laws.

So you can’t take bikes on trains there? TBF, our carriages are a lot more open in terms of space.

Each carriage has designated bike area by the doors, as well as specific areas for wheel chairs etc.

I highly doubt we are anywhere close to banning scooters any time soon. Generally we’re 20 years behind the rest of civilisation!

A guy I worked with used a Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter to travel the 6 miles along a god awful cycle track which is bumpy and has a huge amount of leaf debris which is really filthy. It never seemed to have an issue, I’d consider one if I wanted a scooter, but I’m a bit of a Xiaomi fan.

What about a 20″ wheeled folding bicycle as an alternative to an electric scooter?

Dunno why my texts all weird in different fonts, must be my new Xiaomi phone playing games ?

I highly doubt we are anywhere close to banning scooters any time soon. Generally we’re 20 years behind the rest of civilisation!

Didn’t Melbourne ban its entire fleet of rental e-scooters? What’s the law in Australia on personal ones?

Paris banned its rental fleet too and all that happened was a massive spike in sales (cos personal ones are legal over there) and everyone continues scooting around, just that now there’s a lot more risk of them being chipped to allow them to go faster which was never a possibility on the rental ones.

The UK allows rental ones in certain “trial” areas but the trial stuff was kicked down the road again and again by the previous Government who wanted to avoid actually doing any work, especially anything that might prove unpopular so the theory remains that personal ones are illegal, it’s just that the Government and police kind of pretend the problem doesn’t exist.

I bought mine from Pure Electric, a big and reputable online retailer – they did used to have some shops which also sold e-bikes but they closed all the shops and concentrated on e-scooters, clearly putting their faith in them being legalised at some point soon.

Plus points – it’s great fun and very convenient for nipping to the shops, cafe etc or going around the park with my nieces on their (normal, unpowered) scooters. Negatives – it’s “legal” and therefore not very fast, it struggles to do even the standard 25kph. I would *love* one of the super-powered one! Also, it is illegal to actually use it on the roads, public spaces etc but so many people do that it’s pretty low risk.

What about a 20″ wheeled folding bicycle as an alternative to an electric scooter?

She’s got a bike. She’s not too fussed about cycling and sometimes gets lifts home from colleagues so a little scooter would be easier to transport. Plus I feel her attention to detail would have me worrying she hadn’t unfolded the bike correctly and put all the locks on in the right places. I think she’d cope with folding a scooter…. I’ve seen the Xiaomi scooters. I’m kinda half looking at the Amazon reviews but also aware that they’re not necessarily genuine reviews.

So you can’t take bikes on trains there?

The UK? Yes, though the companies make it as much of a hassle as they can. But not battery powered Scooters, and given the attention (illegal) e-bikes get, would t be surprised if anything with a big battery gets banned, in the name of fire risk.

Melbourne banned scooters in the CBD and ditched the scooter companies due to concerns about safety in the CBD. AFAICT the rules are it can’t go over 25km/h and it has to be under 25kg.

Given that on most days we have crossers blasting up the bike/walk paths here there just isn’t the police to police it, and the amount of alleyways and cut throughs makes catching them pretty tricky. Little ol’ po-po are thin on the ground here at the best of times. The most you’ll see is a Traffic car that plops a few cones out at random areas and does RBTs but the “normal” cops rarely pull anyone over unless you’re dumb enough to be blatantly on your phone or driving like a hoon. (Actually, I’m officially a hoon as I got caught speeding a bit). But that’s another story.

Pure always seem to look decent. A colleague has a nine-bot (Segway I think), seems decent has been in use for a couple of years and only real issues are it will fall over on wet drain covers (user error) and the rear mud guard has snapped off. I’d look at those 2 brands if I had a need for one. But my bike works for me and my dog hates e-scooters so would try and sabotage it!

Are electric scooters legal in Australia?

According to this it varies from state to state, but personally owned electric scooters are probably not legal for road use where most Australians live (by my half-arsed knowledge of Australia); they’re illegal in NSW, Vic, SA and NT.

That’s not entirely correct. Legal in ACT, NT, Tas, WA, QLD

Legal in trial areas in NSW, VIC and SA.

But all I’m bothered about is WA. Aus is kinda large and I don’t think she’ll be going interstate on hers.

Legal on roads sub 50km/h with no dividing lines, and bike lanes. Cannot do more than 25km/h. “Limited mobile phone use” (not sure but most hired scooters need an app and a phone).  Must wear helmet, BAC lower than 0.05 and no illicit drugs.

e-scooter-table.png (1310×1280) (roadsense.org.au)

If aus is anything like the uk I wouldn’t worry too much about legality of riding in public – too many of them, rule not enforced, just don’t ride like a dick etc.

but check the rules on the trains, it’s a lot easier for train staff to enforce a no e-scooter rule on their trains and stations than it is for the police in the general public space.

[ayjaydoubleyou]

ayjaydoubleyou

Full Member

If aus is anything like the uk I wouldn’t worry too much about legality of riding in public

I wasn’t. As previously mentioned re: laws. 🙂

They’re allowed on trains. Also, as previously mentioned.

Can we move on from your perceptions of the Australian scooter laws and maybe just comment on scooters. If you don’t know, all good, just move along eh?

Fark.

If aus is anything like the uk I wouldn’t worry too much about legality of riding in public

There’s very little assurance of electrical safety given the lack of statutory regulation, that the brands involved are typically iffy Chinese manufacturers, and the products are often greyish imports by wide geezers. As electric scooters and other battery-powered personal mobility devices have been implicated in multi-fatality house fires locally, I would take a dim view of being in the same building as one. HTH

I think it was a useful diversion as you gave no initial indication of where you were, and in addition you start a topic but it becomes a discussion for all – and there may be others on here from the UK wondering the same who are now informed about the situation here.

However back to topic – irrespective of laws I’d check the situation about storage and charging at work if there are likely to be range issues (you said sth about needing a second charger at work?)  Like others, I don’t take risks when it comes to fire; i’ve been scoffed at for suggesting you shouldn’t run the DW or washing machine at night but the thought of being burnt alive scares me more than anything. So if you do this, get a reliable brand and even then only charge where you have control over it.

[theotherjonv]

theotherjonv

Full Member

I think it was a useful diversion as you gave no initial indication of where you were

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I did say the price range in dollars, why would you assume I was in the UK with that in my post? And a few who do know of me also mentioned the Antipodean link. Post number 2 in the thread if you missed the reference.

All good.

I think it was a useful diversion as you gave no initial indication of where you were

==========================================================

I did say the price range in dollars, why would you assume I was in the UK with that in my post? And a few who do know of me also mentioned the Antipodean link. Post number 2 in the thread if you missed the reference.

All good.

I know. I was the second post

As I said, you asked the question but not unreasonable for it to extend to cover the territory that the majority of posters are in. It’s a forum for discussion, not a Q&A service.

Fark indeed.

There’s very little assurance of electrical safety given the lack of statutory regulation, that the brands involved are typically iffy Chinese manufacturers, and the products are often greyish imports by wide geezers. As electric scooters and other battery-powered personal mobility devices have been implicated in multi-fatality house fires locally, I would take a dim view of being in the same building as one. HTH

Common sense dictates. Given the amount sold across the world, I’m not about to get all neurotic about it. I’d be buying from an Aus seller, with an Aus warranty. Obvs, right?

[theotherjonv]

theotherjonv

Full Member

I know. I was the second post

It’s the internet dude, posters could be literally anywhere. I thought it would be obvious I’m not in the UK by putting dollars, and a fair few would know I’m not in the UK. You even questioned my location, saying you didn’t know what the rules were where I lived, linked ITV and said they were banned on trains in the UK. Cool,  but just answer the question, don’t need to be zooming off on tangents. I can do that on my own. Focus my friend. Focus.

I know. I was the second post

It’s the internet dude, posters could be literally anywhere. I thought it would be obvious I’m not in the UK by putting dollars, and a fair few would know I’m not in the UK. You even questioned my location, saying you didn’t know what the rules were where I lived, linked ITV and said they were banned on trains in the UK. Cool,  but just answer the question, don’t need to be zooming off on tangents. I can do that on my own. Focus my friend. Focus.

We have a segway ninebot es4, wife used to commute on it and now I occasionally use it when I cba to cycle. Done 1000s of km on it.

Convenient bit of kit, bit of a death trap if its wet out.