Tuesday, September 27, 2022

A Mad World, My Masters

Puttering along the High Street  this morning; a 20mph zone, God Bless you Mayor Khan! I was overtaken on the inside by an electric scooter in the cycle lane to my left behind the bollards.

This is actually insane. The bollards have long prevented us car drivers from getting out of the way of the ambulances racing to and from St George's hospital now they are penning pedestrians into narrow corridors that are half mothers with toddlers in push chairs, and half boy racers on machines with Formula E specifications moving faster than the actual traffic.

TFL: Electric Scooters

Rental electric scooters (e-scooters) are the only way to legally ride an e-scooter on public roads or in other public places within London - and even this is limited to specific boroughs. It is still illegal to use privately-owned e-scooters or other powered transporters on public roads....

We want to explore new, environmentally-friendly forms of transport that can be used to reduce road congestion in London - but we need to make sure that any alternatives are safe for both users and non-users alike.

The current rental e-scooter trial trial is helping us test the best ways to protect the public.

Rental e-scooters have specific safety features installed. For example, they are limited to a speed of 12.5mph and have lights that are always on throughout any rental.

Our current trial of rental e-scooters is expected to run to November 2022.

Yeah right, that would explain today's cognitive dissonance. Nothing against e-scooters myself, they look like they might be useful fun, but let's get some joined up thinking going on as opposed to ignored platitudinous nonsense.

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