Electric kick scooters

[Cloudane]

Just got a Xiaomi m365. It's kind of weird as I'd always associated kick scooters with children, but it's a HECK of a lot of fun, goes 15mph, does up to 18 miles (realistically 13ish I think) and did I mention is fun.

Downside: technically illegal. You can't ride them on the roads or the pavements. It's kind of stupid really, there are petitions to the government to get into the 21st century as the existing law is from the 1800s and talks about horses.
The consensus as far as I can see it is that as long as you're not being a nuisance or a danger to yourself or others, the popo will tend to turn a blind eye. If they're being dicks, they might not and you could get fined (absolute worst case, though this was a kid exceeding the road speed limit, points on driving license) that's the risk you take. Down south they seem to ride on the road, up here where we have fairly quiet pavements I've (only got it today) been sticking to those and being courteous e.g. hopping off to pass pairs of people rather than dinging the bell or squeezing past. I treat it as "everyone else has higher priority, I'll take the clear runs"

Anyone else get one of these?
Currently out of stock at Halfords due to a hotukdeals shared code (kids10) which got 10% off.

[Little stoned kiwi]

Lime is moving into New Zealand, city by city.
By our laws it's illegal to ride on the road but legal on footpaths because of the small wheel size (the law considers something with small enough wheels to be a child's toy). They can go up to 40km/h I think, and can do 50km on a full charge.
And boy, is there an uproar about them. Foolish people hurting themselves, hurting other people, dumping them in places creating trip hazards, etc.

It's a pity society is collectively dumb because they are a great option for "last mile" use to encourage public transport.

[venusian]

There's a decent network of shared cycle paths around Bristol. I've seen a few in use and they seem fine when used sensibly.

ISTM they could be a useful part of the strategy to get people out of their cars. I worry though that there are factories churning out cheap crap that will break in a couple of months and get dumped in landfill.

[WiteWulf]

There was an interesting article on Boing Boing a while back about how these things are being abandoned in their hundreds in The States and illegal stolen and reconditioned:

https://boingboing.net/2018/12/08/flipping-a-bird.html

Amusingly, the company tried to stop them publishing the article. A *really* bad choice of website to pick a legal fight with

https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/14/1818 ... wn-apology

[Little stoned kiwi]

Hmmm...
E-scooters simple to hack, says researcher

[Cloudane]

It is a shame that only too often, it's the idiots that spoil it for everyone else. And so if they become too much of a nuisance, they'll become explicitly banned rather than "just technically illegal". Hopefully just byelaws in places where it's a problem, rather than national...

As for cheap crap the most popular is the Xiaomi which although a Chinese company are actually really well built, easy to repair and easy to get parts for. Meanwhile the Segway Ninebot is notoriously unreliable and expensive/impossible to fix.

Shame on the hacking issue but not too worried, it's a proof of concept with no actual incidents yet. Workaround for the more dangerous potential hacks (force stop / speed up) is to make sure you're connected before you set off. Hopefully firmware updates can sort it

[Firefox]

A chap down the isle from me on my last job had one of these parked next to his desk all the time.

One day I happened to be following him out of the building. He wheeled it through the offices, into the lift and down to the lobby, and out through the revolving doors. As soon as he was outside he planted one foot on it and zoomed off into the night - seconds later he was out of sight.

I instantly got it! It's obviously a brilliant way to commute, and certainly much faster than getting in your car and struggling through the morning gridlock. No worries about there being enough parking spaces, either. (Not to mention being incredibly inexpensive to buy and run.)

Not sure how well they'd work somewhere ultra-hilly like here in Sheffield, but if you're somewhere reasonably flat it looks amazing.

[Cloudane]

Gradual hills are fine

Steep hills that put you out of breath when you're a normal weight person getting to the top (such as at our park).... it puts the scooter out of breath when it does too (walking speed at best)
But, it gets there. Unless it's below 50% battery, then it might not.

[Little stoned kiwi]

It is a shame that only too often, it's the idiots that spoil it for everyone else. And so if they become too much of a nuisance, they'll become explicitly banned rather than "just technically illegal". Hopefully just byelaws in places where it's a problem, rather than national...

There's a sad trend where Lime is blamed for what should be personal accountability. Such as Warning after horror Lime scooter crash left woman with fractured neck, lost tooth

They went into town, had a 'couple' of drinks, and wound up with friends at McDonalds (which is traditional after a night on the piss). She thought it would be a great idea to take a Lime home and wound up with a fractured neck.

"Drunk people are always going to do silly things anyway but my understanding was that these Limes weren't left around the city for people to use after hours when they've been drinking a lot," Gianfrancesco says.

There was a bit of fuss over helmets (which aren't legally required like they are with bikes on the road), so now Auckland is littered with Lime provided polystyrene helmets that blow around and aren't worn by people. There's also questions about people under 18 using them. The kids just click on the terms and conditions before entering their parent's credit card details.

Somehow, it's all Lime's fault.

[Cloudane]

There's a sad trend where Lime is blamed for what should be personal accountability.

That's a sad trend in general - no one is personally accountable any more, it's all "what organisation can we pin blame on for our own poor behaviour / choices / parenting / ineptitude"

[skab]

There's a sad trend where Lime is blamed for what should be personal accountability.

That's a sad trend in general - no one is personally accountable any more, it's all "what organisation can we pin blame on for our own poor behaviour / choices / parenting / ineptitude"

"Objects in mirror are closer than they appear" or my favourite "Caution: Hot Coffee". Idiocracy.

[venusian]

"Objects in mirror are closer than they appear" or my favourite "Caution: Hot Coffee". Idiocracy.

Really? I thought that was Meatloaf.

[(o)(o)]

Just phoned my garage - all local ones are shut down as of tomorrow - they cannot get parts.

Car is running OK atm passed MOT but is due service etc basically wouldn't be surprised if I have to SORN, and I'm rural and my nearest shops are too far to walk practically and I can't access home deliveries due to being vulnerable etc. Have a parent accross town who will add a few bits and pieces on so I don't starve again too far to walk..

So thinking about one of these scooters..

The path I would have to use is a bit hit and miss.. it's got overgrowth in places.. I guess I'l have to walk those bits

So I'm looking for feedback..

Is it practical for a big guy to ride along on one of these with a backpack full of necessities??

[Cloudane]

Bear in mind they're still not officially legalised yet

Check the scooter's spec for maximum load if you're on the larger side

Generally fine for transporting groceries but keep in mind it's heavy vibration. I put some breaded fish in my backpack vertically and fair to say they weren't very breaded afterwards :p

[(o)(o)]

Bear in mind they're still not officially legalised yet

Fuck them, and their laws.

Check the scooter's spec for maximum load if you're on the larger side

Generally fine for transporting groceries but keep in mind it's heavy vibration. I put some breaded fish in my backpack vertically and fair to say they weren't very breaded afterwards :p

Never considered vibration. Yeah looks like max weight is typically 100Kg so with shopping weight combined - maybe I'll need to starve before I shop for food.

Are they easily secured or do you carry it with you whilst shopping?