Forum Topic

e bikes. Enough is enough

How much longer can this lawlessnes be allowed to go on? The buck has to stop somewhere.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm270ldjl37o

Bruce Hammal ● 9d21 Comments

It's the complete lack of any enforcement at any level that's so irresponsible.  1. All kinds of e-bikes can be sold, even if they don't meet the regulations for an Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle (EAPC) and are really mopeds, because how people use these things isn't up to the shop.2. All kinds of e-scooters can be sold, even if they're clearly not going to be ridden on private land, as required, because how people use these things isn't up to the shop.3. With so little regulation, many e-bikes and e-scooters have dangerously inflammable batteries that have caused damage to property and even life. 4. These e-machines have created a whole new generation of bike users who seem completely unfamiliar with our traffic regulations and there seems to be no process for educating them.5. Increasingly, e-bikes are used to support paid employment rather than leisure activity, adding pressure on riders to meet deadlines and literally, take short cuts.6. A few police road blocks at key intersections would mop up hundreds of riders and machines and take them off the road. 

Peter Evans ● 8d

At least the Met are doing more about it this year than last.https://news.met.police.uk/news/met-seize-record-2500-illegal-e-bikes-and-e-scooters-this-year-511492Would be interesting to see whether the proportion of illegal e-bikes that have ended up being seized has also increased i.e. are seizures increasing at a faster rate than numbers of illegal e-bikes.

Andrew Jones ● 8d

I wonder if the same rules about face-covering balaclavas apply to e-bike riders as they do to Dover immigrant protesters.  To many people, e-bike riders dressed like that are just as threatening.  Having said that, I see that Hammersmith and Fulham does have a Borough wide Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) that lets '..police and community officers demand the removal of face coverings if they are used to hide identity, cause alarm, or intimidate the public.'  So that should cover it!

Peter Evans ● 8d

talking balaclava delivery divers Now and then one of them very late at night will say pull alongside you and then pull up in front of you and you just wonder how a lone female  out walking  will feel No need for them whatsoever except possibly winter

Julian Pavey ● 8d

Julian you ask how a woman would feel out walking. Well I dont know, but I for one would feel intimidated as walking alone or even on a train at night is not pleasant let alone with someone wearing a face covering.

Nicholas Beard ● 8d

The hire bikes parking is also becoming a danger for those with poor eyesight. Last week, a blind gentleman who knows that stretch of Chiswick High Road walked straight into the parked Voi and Forest bikes. I counted over 60 bikes parked on the pavement between the Metro bank and the GBK burger restaurant. I did complain but got nowhere.I noticed today the number of bikes was down, possibly because of the market. It’s just a question of time before they are back.

Martine Dismore ● 8d

The swarm of bikes outside the GBK was there both before and after the market. When I brought this to the attention of Cllr Biddolph she engaged with Homefields councillors and eventually the bikes we culled.What I always find extraordinary is how councils miss the opportunity to penalize the suppliers as they have done in Kensington. It is an easy cash cow for councils. Worse, still, is how councils open themselves up to all manner of liability. It is only a matter of time before a clever solicitor will monetize this for an injured client. Make no mistake, that cost will be passed on to residents and businesses. Regulating and enforcing is a win/win.

David Lesniak ● 8d

Thank you for that. My next step was to contact my Homefields councillors.

Martine Dismore ● 8d

I'm assuming the Metro Bank corner is the 'border' between Hammersmith and Hounslow and, if they have different e-bike arrangements, then there'll be a pile up of bikes that can't go any further.  It's similar near Turnham Green station and on Chiswick Bridge and lots of other places across London.  Time for a more unified approach to 'make the world a better place', or to get rid of the pesky things cluttering up our public spaces!

Peter Evans ● 7d

The border between Hammersmith and Hounslow is further west (at Goldhawk Road) than Metro Bank which is in Hounslow's Chiswick Homefields ward. The pile up of bikes there is usually due to operators not managing e-bike spaces efficiently and/or not getting the geo-fencing right. At Turnham Green station, the largest bike pile-up is on the Acton Green side (which is in Ealing's Southfield ward) though there is often a chaotic arrangement of bikes just south of the station on Thornton Avenue (which is in Hounslow's Chiswick Homefields ward). The current arrangements with councils are:**  Ealing: Forest, Lime (https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201176/cycling/3027/rental_e-bikes)**  Hammersmith: Bolt, Lime, Forest, Voi (https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/transport-and-roads/cycling/cycle-hire)**  Hounslow: Forest, Voi (https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/transport-traffic/e-bike-rental-scheme)Yes, there could be more collaboration between councils to avoid dumping when the bikes stop working over a border but, as I understand it, Lime would have to work very hard to convince Hounslow that it will not make the same mistakes again. In Hounslow, out of control e-bike bays and abandoned e-bikes can be reported on the Hounslow Fix My Street app; photos always help including of the QR code on each bike so that the operator can issue fines to the riders, if it wishes to: https://fms.hounslowhighways.org

Joanna Biddolph ● 7d

Bruce Hammal ● 7d

Sorry - managed to send before I had written anything!I simply don't understand why Hounslow don't punish the operators who in turn don't punish the riders who break the terms of their agreement. Other councils do it, so what's the problem, except lack of will? This is the same council that sees no irony in planning major changes to C9 in Chiswick with virtually no consultation because it supports active travel, while at the same time sitting on its hands when it comes to climate-destructive expansion of Heathrow airport. Hypocritical hardly does it justice.

Bruce Hammal ● 7d

“In Hounslow, out of control e-bike bays and abandoned e-bikes can be reported on the Hounslow Fix My Street app; photos always help”I did all that but got a message saying that Fix my street didn’t deal with this problem and that they had forwarded my complaint to Voi (strangely not Forest). No help from Voi.

Martine Dismore ● 7d

In no way shape or form, should anyone be expected to report each bike's QR code. Bad enough LBH can't pull it's head out of it's a-s on this. Round them up. It's called impound. Hold them for ransom. As Bruce says, other councils clearly know this is cash cow. Hounslow can't figure it out. With the recent swarm of VOI, was someone supposed to take 50-60 photos and then upload each one to Fix My Street?

David Lesniak ● 6d

They can be numbered and identified as one provider already does this.  There are very young children riding huge e-scooters through the parks.  More needs to be done sbout the way they are sold in well known stores and online without enough information about their legality - or illegality- and the consequences of and costs of being caught using them illegally.

Philippa Bond ● 5d

They can be numbered and identified as one provider already does this.  There are very young children riding huge e-scooters through the parks.  More needs to be done sbout the way they are sold in well known stores and online without enough information about their legality - or illegality- and the consequences of and costs of being caught using them illegally.

Philippa Bond ● 5d

The genie is well and truly out of the bottle with e-scooters. Pretty stupid of political types to rely on the general public to behave responsibly and within the law. Since when has that ever been the case? The retailers, including big high street stores like Curry’s, are laughing all the way to the bank.

Simon Hayes ● 5d

I agree, Philippa, e-bikes can be numbered and identified with actual registration plates. Even proper size ones would fit on the rear wheel cover. My point was it isn't down to the public to do the council's job.The council should hire a person - man with a van - or a service to round up the problematic bikes and scooters. Could even work on commission. That would get the problem sorted lickety split.

David Lesniak ● 4d

It is the case in a lot of other countries  - but it isn't here.  Once uponna time if you were riding a bike without lights you would be torn off a strip by the police who would tell your parents - and that usually resulted in you being in trouble again with your parents.

Philippa Bond ● 4d

Firstly, I'd just like to say that I think that e-bikes do need to be regulated, and a 15.5mph limit on what the motor can bring you up to seems about right.I think it would be fair to say that many people question the fact that it's perfectly legal to sell e-bikes ( or similar) that are capable of much faster speeds than 15.5mph.What suddenly occurred to me was - (some) people question why it's ok for retailers to sell e-bikes that it would be illegal to use on the public highway, and the reason it would be illegal is because they can achieve speeds of more than 15.5mph.Yet, it's entirely legal to buy a car capable of 155mph (see https://www.autosnout.com/Top-Speed/Top-Speed-155-And-Over-Car-List.php)which is capable of going at a speed of 75mph higher than the national speed limit of 70mph.Thoughts?

Andrew Jones ● 4d

PS I know this thread is about e-bikes, so my apologies for digressing.

Andrew Jones ● 4d