4 ms·

> Since it's a rental, nobody wears a helmet and almost everybody drives them irresponsibly In Tel Aviv, all rental scooters come with helmets, and wearing a h

by xpl 4y ago

> Since it's a rental, nobody wears a helmet and almost everybody drives them irresponsibly In Tel Aviv, all rental scooters come with helmets, and wearing a helmet is actually enforced by the police. Also they are banned from riding on sidewalks. So it seems to be just a regulation/enforcement problem, not intrinsical to scooters themselves or being rental or private.

dolmen 4y ago
> So it seems to be just a regulation/enforcement problem But it is less costly for the cities to remove the problem (ban e-scooter) that to hire people to chase bad e-scooter behavior. Especially if many users of those e-scooter are tourists who will bring back home a bad souvenir of their trip if they get fined.
- xpl 4y ago
  > But it is less costly for the cities to remove the problem It does not remove the problem but would simply transfer it elsewhere. In result, either people become significantly less mobile, or they get more used to cars, creating huge traffic jams and polluting cities with noise and fumes. With scooter, one can get to any point of the city in 15 minutes max and basically for free compared to taxi. It has a huge value for the city economy, and worth the regulators' time. > tourists who will bring back home a bad souvenir of their trip if they get fined If you are caught for the first time, you'll just get a warning. So not an issue for a tourist.
petre 4y ago
Sharing a helmet comes with its own set of hygene issues. I believe most of the EU cycling helmet laws are okay because they make it optional and the rider decides to wear one or not. If we'd adopt similar rules for e-scooters, limiting their speed to 25 km/h (like e-bikes) and their weight to 20 kg or so, it would be possible to ride them on bike lanes. That and designated parking spots for rental, just as the Budapest city council did. Rental e-scooters that are not parked in those spots are picked up and treated like lost objects. I'm quite sure that the rental companies have to pay a fine to recover them or have their license suspended otherwise (= banned from operating the service). Also, e-scooters are banned from riding on sidewalks just about everywhere. That doesn't necessarily mean the rule is enforced or that collisions with pedestrians don't happen. I've almost been hit while riding a bike by an e-scooter operated by an underage child (in violation of the terms of service) that darted from an alley without right of way. But I generally agree that it's a regulation issue and outright banning rental scooters is rather extreme. Paris did it with public consultation, so the city coulcil has their backs covered.

by xpl 4y ago

dolmen 4y ago

> So it seems to be just a regulation/enforcement problem But it is less costly for the cities to remove the problem (ban e-scooter) that to hire people to chase bad e-scooter behavior. Especially if many users of those e-scooter are tourists who will bring back home a bad souvenir of their trip if they get fined.

xpl 4y ago
> But it is less costly for the cities to remove the problem It does not remove the problem but would simply transfer it elsewhere. In result, either people become significantly less mobile, or they get more used to cars, creating huge traffic jams and polluting cities with noise and fumes. With scooter, one can get to any point of the city in 15 minutes max and basically for free compared to taxi. It has a huge value for the city economy, and worth the regulators' time. > tourists who will bring back home a bad souvenir of their trip if they get fined If you are caught for the first time, you'll just get a warning. So not an issue for a tourist.

petre 4y ago

Sharing a helmet comes with its own set of hygene issues. I believe most of the EU cycling helmet laws are okay because they make it optional and the rider decides to wear one or not. If we'd adopt similar rules for e-scooters, limiting their speed to 25 km/h (like e-bikes) and their weight to 20 kg or so, it would be possible to ride them on bike lanes. That and designated parking spots for rental, just as the Budapest city council did. Rental e-scooters that are not parked in those spots are picked up and treated like lost objects. I'm quite sure that the rental companies have to pay a fine to recover them or have their license suspended otherwise (= banned from operating the service). Also, e-scooters are banned from riding on sidewalks just about everywhere. That doesn't necessarily mean the rule is enforced or that collisions with pedestrians don't happen. I've almost been hit while riding a bike by an e-scooter operated by an underage child (in violation of the terms of service) that darted from an alley without right of way. But I generally agree that it's a regulation issue and outright banning rental scooters is rather extreme. Paris did it with public consultation, so the city coulcil has their backs covered.