Rental e-scooters : yea or nay?

[Duque de Bragança]

Long story short, rental e-scooters are not popular over here, dropped randomly on pavements, killing or maiming pedestrians, crowding even more busses or métros etc.
Of course, the current mayor, Hidalgo, is not exactly popular with too many last-minute works in the streets for the Olympics next year and degraded public transportation networks, rubbish strike, etc. She may have chosen already, (contracts are ending soon and may not be renewed) and just looking at an excuse to ban them.

Still, some other like to see them as "soft and green mobility".

What does Languish say?
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230402-paris-votes-on-ban-for-rental-e-scooters

[Iormlund]

As a driver those things terrify me. Way too many riders jump red lights or come at you from blind spots with nary a thought.

That been said, I think they are a very useful tool in urban mobility. I just feel there should be some regulation involved (license, insurance).

[Duque de Bragança]

It's not about banning ALL e-scooters just rental e-scooters, which have the worst drivers.
I'm not sure more regulation and strict enforcement (good luck with that) would be enough but it would help, of course.

[Admiral Yi]

We don't have them where I live but the one problem I can relate to is lack of parking.  I would like to see dedicated docking racks.

On bad driving I have no opinion.

[Josquius]

Where I live actually owning them I believe is still illegal (many have them though) but rental ones exist and always attract the ire of certain old moaners.

There's always a big clump of them not far from my place where the operator  arbitrarily decided beyond here is too poor for them.

Never tried them myself though. Too much of a faff to setup the app.

They're lasting well where rental bikes didn't. Which is curious. Doubt they're profitable.

As to the poll... I'm a sort of I between yes leaning person. They're not adding anything amazing and aren't worth going to special efforts to setup but they're prefectly fine that they do exist.
Could probably use better safeguards to stop kids driving them and link sightings of stupid users to who had them at the time, with actual prosecutions/fines.

[Jacob]

I find them annoying and ridiculous, but I'm not sure whether that's just me being a cranky old guy yelling at clouds or whether my feelings are based on anything worthwhile.

[mongers]

My main issue with them is the social impact of all the associated accidents and medical costs from the injuries, both to 'riders' and to sometimes unlucky pedestrians.

Personally I'm against them because our local bus company has now banned them from being taken/carried on buses and in the process also banned people carrying small folding bikes, which is rather annoying for me as that's part of my transport arrangements.

[Grey Fox]

By default, I am against these ideas of transportation being app ran imported from  Southern California tech bros who are mostly bad for our non-American communities.

[grumbler]

I think that e-scooters are a technology that hasn't been fully thought through.  A quick scan of some articles indicates that their safety record shows that they are something like 5 times more likely to have an accident than a pedal bicycle used in the same way.  And bicycles themselves are frequently used by reckless flaming assholes, so I can't imagine what some of these scooter users must be like to be that much worse.

[Sheilbh]

I find them annoying and ridiculous, but I'm not sure whether that's just me being a cranky old guy yelling at clouds or whether my feelings are based on anything worthwhile.

Same

I think that e-scooters are a technology that hasn't been fully thought through.  A quick scan of some articles indicates that their safety record shows that they are something like 5 times more likely to have an accident than a pedal bicycle used in the same way.  And bicycles themselves are frequently used by reckless flaming assholes, so I can't imagine what some of these scooter users must be like to be that much worse.

I think there's a scale issue with that. It's broadly pretty true in London for sure - but then very different in countries where cycling has reached critical mass like the Netherlands and Denmark. I think as long as roads are perceived as risky unsafe you need to have a certain level of, maybe, aggression or something to cycle on them. Which attracts the MAMILs out working off their stress.

Once roads feel safe - and the biggest difference is segregated cycle lanes - then families, women, tubby middle aged men not in lycra, kids start cycling and it changes the mood of the experience for everyone.

[Richard Hakluyt]

There are not many of them in my town but they are noticeable because the proportion of users that are arseholes is incredibly high....perhaps as high as 50% 

[The Larch]

MAMIL

 

[Sheilbh]

Middle aged man in lycra.

[The Larch]

Middle aged man in lycra.

I wouldn't have guessed that acronym if my life depended of it. 

[Maladict]

Just limit their top speed to something like 15 kph. Then they're still useful to get around but slow enough to avoid most serious accidents. And most importantly, they won't be cool enough for the people causing most of the accidents.