Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

jasonc wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:17 pm

vbplease - one of the hire scooter vendors does include insurance, and one doesn't. I don't recall which is which. I would have got details and reported it to the police anyway.

Yeah, when I asked the question I was thinking the only insurance could have been through the hire company.. oh well, hopefully it doesn't happen again. If reporting to the police, I imagine they'd need me to have a copy of the e-scooter driver's ID?

vbplease wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:24 pm

jasonc wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:17 pm

vbplease - one of the hire scooter vendors does include insurance, and one doesn't. I don't recall which is which. I would have got details and reported it to the police anyway.

Yeah, when I asked the question I was thinking the only insurance could have been through the hire company.. oh well, hopefully it doesn't happen again. If reporting to the police, I imagine they'd need me to have a copy of the e-scooter driver's ID?

or at least name and address

vbplease wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:21 pm

Wow.. the cynic in me thinks its more about turning people into motionless blobs than ergonomics etc..

LOL yes. I asked "but why do you need it" to the e-scooter rider who was telling me about their cruise control, and their reply was: "Cos holding the throttle in the one position for a long time can get really tiring on your hand", oh sob sob.

vbplease wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:24 pm

jasonc wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 09, 2024 2:17 pm

vbplease - one of the hire scooter vendors does include insurance, and one doesn't. I don't recall which is which. I would have got details and reported it to the police anyway.

Yeah, when I asked the question I was thinking the only insurance could have been through the hire company.. oh well, hopefully it doesn't happen again. If reporting to the police, I imagine they'd need me to have a copy of the e-scooter driver's ID?

probably not directly relevant but I noticed the other day that the orange coloured Neuron scooters in Melbourne have a prominently displayed unique number on the front

Had three KOMs knocked off yesterday by a larger, older gentleman on a ride marked 'Scooter Squad' with a photo of him and his five mates all dressed in full leather with their oversized e-scooters parked outside a cafe.

His 'ride' was 62.7km at an average speed of 25.2km/hr and maximum of 68.6km/hr. 25km/hr limit hey?

Same guy has a total of 163km on Strava, all on his e-scooter, all uploaded as 'ride'. Apparently anything counts as exercise these days. Apparently riding around with your e-scooter mates pretending to be a bikie gang is a thing now.

Mr Purple wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 14, 2024 8:02 am

Had three KOMs knocked off yesterday by a larger, older gentleman on a ride marked 'Scooter Squad' with a photo of him and his five mates all dressed in full leather with their oversized e-scooters parked outside a cafe.

His 'ride' was 62.7km at an average speed of 25.2km/hr and maximum of 68.6km/hr. 25km/hr limit hey?

Same guy has a total of 163km on Strava, all on his e-scooter, all uploaded as 'ride'. Apparently anything counts as exercise these days. Apparently riding around with your e-scooter mates pretending to be a bikie gang is a thing now.

Worst of all, they think it's exercise

Finally spotted some local e-device illegalities yesterday
Started out with a guy on a MTB no-pedaling up a hill, ended on a private scooter doing about double the speed traffic was through the local restaurant strip.

reddit has a thread stating there was some enforcement yesterday speed/helmets. I'm crying on the inside.

jasonc wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 9:58 am

reddit has a thread stating there was some enforcement yesterday speed/helmets. I'm crying on the inside.

The “show of enforcement” might have been brought on by the start of the Queensland school holidays.
(Less time at school = more time on wheels)
Perhaps.

There appears to be more kids on fat tyred e-bikes around in Kingscliff (NSW) this week.
Maybe some of them are from over the border in Qld.

This morning at Kingscliff I saw - for the first time ever- a tripler (that’s 3 people on an e-thingo) Teenagers.
They weren’t doing anything crazy but this is the sort of thing that should not be considered acceptable.
There is a disconnect in the way that our bureaucrats are directing our enforcement priorities.
I saw a Post on Social Media from Tone’s (a Trucking celebrity) who got a NHVRA infringement for having a stonechip on the passenger-side windscreen. Not affecting vision.
Perhaps it’s just crappy times that we live in.

There is no real enforcement to speak of. This is evidenced by the flagrant disregard for laws.

On Tuesday I was at my GP - at a small local suburban centre. There was two electric motorbikes (proper off-road looking motorbikes, not over-powered ebikes, no pedals) parked on the walkway right outside Subway (like up against the glass window), blocking about 2/3 of the "footpath" / walkway, motorbike helmets hanging on the handlebars, no number plates. I looked inside and there was only two customers in the shop - two teenage boys, one might have been 16 (at a stretch) and the other looked like he was nearer 12.

They were obviously riding around the neighbourhood on these electric trail bikes and though it was a good idea to park them against the shop window instead of using a designated carpark 3m away, obviously neither bikes nor riders licensed. Right across the road is the local police station.

So, clearly they were not too worried about enforcement.

Unfortunately I was in a rush (doctor was running late), so I didn't have time to walk across the street to report it to police - not sure that they would have done anything anyway.

Up at Noosa this week and seeing loads of young teenagers on what seem to be full size electric trail bikes without plates.

They’re going to have to start enforcement at some stage. Hopefully before too many dead teenagers.

Mr Purple wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 19, 2024 10:07 am

Up at Noosa this week and seeing loads of young teenagers on what seem to be full size electric trail bikes without plates.

They’re going to have to start enforcement at some stage. Hopefully before too many dead teenagers.

Yes that’s the problem isn’t it.

The bureaucracy responds to most evolving issues that involve health and safety at a very glacial pace.
Like maybe 10 or 20 years too late, by which time the proverbial horse has bolted.
Depends on how many lives are at stake of course.

The only fast-tracked public health intervention that I can think of in my memory would be the gun buy-back scheme that was in response to the Port Arthur disaster.

Everything else takes years of meetings, reports, consultations of “key stakeholders”, a Royal commission or 2, the correct stage of the lunar cycle and the electoral cycle. Etc.
And no other distracting crisis.

They used to talk about Academics living in Ivory towers.
These days it’s the state bureaucrats that live in a parallel universe where they are still working on agendas that were important 10 years ago, and haven’t noticed what is happening out on the streets right now.

the best example right now is ecigarettes/vapes
they are outlawed*. but it can't be enforced by the police. so shops are still selling them

*to be sold through chemists

Oh dear, it looks like e-devices are about to "explode" in Qld. I just saw this on OzBargain.

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/867434

A govt rebate of $500 on e-bikes and $200 on e-scooters starts in 3 days apparently - Giggles trying to buy more votes ?

Hopefully they will check and apply one of their eligibility rules for bicycles - "be fitted with 1 or more electric auxiliary motors with a maximum power output, or combined maximum power output of not more than 200 watts". Govt have never been too good at that though.

No power limitation mentioned for escooters though So be prepared for an uptick in these in coming months. Comforting that an eligibility limitation is "not more than 60kg in weight, when not carrying a person or other load"

Andy01 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 20, 2024 6:39 pm

Hopefully they will check and apply one of their eligibility rules for bicycles - "be fitted with 1 or more electric auxiliary motors with a maximum power output, or combined maximum power output of not more than 200 watts". Govt have never been too good at that though.

Full details :https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/projec ... fc_AT0nwYw
"or: be an electrically power-assisted cycle (EPAC) with a maximum continuous rated power of 250 watt, of which the output is....."

Great

skyblot wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 20, 2024 10:07 pm

Andy01 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 20, 2024 6:39 pm

Hopefully they will check and apply one of their eligibility rules for bicycles - "be fitted with 1 or more electric auxiliary motors with a maximum power output, or combined maximum power output of not more than 200 watts". Govt have never been too good at that though.

Full details :https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/projec ... fc_AT0nwYw
"or: be an electrically power-assisted cycle (EPAC) with a maximum continuous rated power of 250 watt, of which the output is....."

And no restriction on power for e-scooters