by Shaftesburymum » Mon May 31, 2021 10:13 am
This trial is great news! E-scooters are not inherently unsafe, the problem has been prioritising the use of public space for people travelling in cars/vans/trucks over people walking, cycling or scootering. At the moment, despite significant improvements in the past year, London still has a patchwork of safe cycle infrastructure. With a safe e-scooter hire service and joined up, segregated cycle lanes, our city will be that bit safer, quieter, less polluted and more enjoyable. A person on an e-scooter is occupying barely any more space than just a person, versus a person in a car typically occupying space that could contain 8-10 people.
E-scooters are not be permitted on pavements and they are also currently banned from public roads. This new trial limits the use to roads (cycle lanes in effect) and the speed is restricted to 12.5 miles per hour.
Tier is one of the three brand selected for the trial, and they are an exciting innovation partner. You can see just how cool and fun these scooters look, whilst having great safety features, here:
https://www.tier.app/swap/
If you are interested in what a more liveable, people first city might look and feel like I recommend looking here;
https://www.15minutecity.com
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018 ... pontevedra
And if you care about safety and want to reduce the the number of road fatalities in London, you might be interested to know that Helsinki and Oslo have pedestrian deaths down to zero.
“In the last few years, we have also focused on how we build the street environment. Streets are being better divided between pedestrians, cycle lanes and cars – the car lane is not the widest possible.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... hs-to-zero
By the way, the location where Emily Hartridge was killed was on the circus on Queenstown Road, after it was redesigned. The exact place where she was hit was not a protected cycle lane, but a corner that buses, cars and trucks routinely cut over when turning. Although the circus is safer for cyclists than it used to be, this is a (fatal) design flaw. The coroner found that she was travelling too quickly and had an underinflated tyre which caused her to lose control, colliding with a lorry at this unprotected location. A 34 yr old male cyclist was hit by a rubbish truck and killed on the same circus in July 2018, also after the redesign.
This trial is great news! E-scooters are not inherently unsafe, the problem has been prioritising the use of public space for people travelling in cars/vans/trucks over people walking, cycling or scootering. At the moment, despite significant improvements in the past year, London still has a patchwork of safe cycle infrastructure. With a safe e-scooter hire service and joined up, segregated cycle lanes, our city will be that bit safer, quieter, less polluted and more enjoyable. A person on an e-scooter is occupying barely any more space than just a person, versus a person in a car typically occupying space that could contain 8-10 people.
E-scooters are not be permitted on pavements and they are also currently banned from public roads. This new trial limits the use to roads (cycle lanes in effect) and the speed is restricted to 12.5 miles per hour.
Tier is one of the three brand selected for the trial, and they are an exciting innovation partner. You can see just how cool and fun these scooters look, whilst having great safety features, here:
[color=#c0392b]https://www.tier.app/swap/[/color]
If you are interested in what a more liveable, people first city might look and feel like I recommend looking here;
[color=#c0392b]https://www.15minutecity.com
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/18/paradise-life-spanish-city-banned-cars-pontevedra[/color]
And if you care about safety and want to reduce the the number of road fatalities in London, you might be interested to know that Helsinki and Oslo have pedestrian deaths down to zero.
[color=#2980b9]“In the last few years, we have also focused on how we build the street environment. Streets are being better divided between pedestrians, cycle lanes and cars – the car lane is not the widest possible.”[/color]
[color=#e74c3c]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/how-helsinki-and-oslo-cut-pedestrian-deaths-to-zero[/color]
By the way, the location where Emily Hartridge was killed was on the circus on Queenstown Road, after it was redesigned. The exact place where she was hit was not a protected cycle lane, but a corner that buses, cars and trucks routinely cut over when turning. Although the circus is safer for cyclists than it used to be, this is a (fatal) design flaw. The coroner found that she was travelling too quickly and had an underinflated tyre which caused her to lose control, colliding with a lorry at this unprotected location. A 34 yr old male cyclist was hit by a rubbish truck and killed on the same circus in July 2018, also after the redesign.
