Forum Topic

e-bike crackdown by Ealing Council

This is a very welcome development and hopefully it will prompt Hounslow Council to do likewise and start impounding bikes. Wandsworth has been doing it for some time and apparently it is very effective.If you do see a bike causing an obstruction, please do report it. The people most affected by this - the elderly and the disabled - are less likely to have the mobile phone app that you need to do this. Even though you might not be particularly inconvenienced by bikes causing an obstruction, it would be really appreciated if you helped get them moved.

Diane Brown ● 4d28 Comments

Can we do it for cars vans and lorrys parked blocking pavements as well and get the impounded too?

Paul James ● 4d

By that argument, rental bikes scattered all over the road would be acceptable, bearing in mind all the parked cars that are equally 'scattered all over the road'!

Peter Evans ● 4d

well no, but there should be much more bike parking IN The road for ebikes rather than on the pavement.

Paul James ● 4d

They should impound the drivers and riders. It’s they who cause the problem, not the machine.As Paul so amply demonstrates, intelligence isn’t required to ride a bike.

Simon Hayes ● 3d

Paul James ● 3d

And your point is Paul? A traffic warden deployed there, or even those cameras so beloved of local authorities, would stop the pavement parking you love to bang on about. Banning cars and closing roads isn’t the answer. As you know but refuse to admit.And if those are your photos you might need to consider a new career.

Simon Hayes ● 3d

"Can we do it for cars vans and lorrys"Uh...it's already being done. For years. Decades even. What Diane neglected to mention is this development in Ealing is also lucrative. It's not rocket science to figure out the need for increasing revenue from all road users. Mandatory cyclist testing and registration is only a matter of time. Get this, it would also be about safety!

David Lesniak ● 3d

And yes, whilst it's a good idea to ensure pavements aren't blocked by rental ebikes, cars lorries and vans have been "cracking down" on pavements in Ealing for years.I've reported a LOT of cracked pavements, and sometimes the council fixes them, but then they get cracked again soon after as the council seems allegeric to using bollards to stop people driving and parking on them in the first place. This is not the worst I've seen but a classic example.

Paul James ● 3d

Of course, Paul, you also have myriad examples all over London where vehicles are permitted to park precisely as the photo indicates.Why ignore facts?

David Lesniak ● 3d

>Paul, you also have myriad examples all over London where vehicles are permitted to park precisely as the photo indicates.Pavement parking is illegal in London, except where permitted by signs. There are no signs permitting it here David, or in most other places in London I see motor vehicles on the pavment.

Paul James ● 3d

Paul James ● 3d

it would be nice if the police could also do something about masked youths barrelling down the pavement on souped up electric bikes - that kinda stuff used to be illegal!

Davey Harris ● 3d

Simon, it's a hell of a stretch to go from peripatetic village idiot to a career that is of even limited use to wider society as Paul knows, which is why he chooses not to do so.

N V Brooks ● 2d

Point being, Paul, if cracked pavement annoys you then lobby for no parking nor loading of any kind on the pavement. But as long as you keep pushing for more and more paved real estate, then expect more of this to happen. When there is no loading provision, commercial vehicles will do what's needed to get the job done. Looked at another way, to get the goods and services to you.

David Lesniak ● 2d

This thread is about illegal e-bikes. It’s nothing to do with cars which are easily identifiable and subject to prosecution. So pop off Paul, you’re on the wrong thread.

Steve Taylor ● 2d

>This thread is about illegal e-bikesNo it's not.

Paul James ● 2d

Oh yes it is...

Keith Iddon ● 2d

This thread is about inconsiderate parking of e-bikes which includes inconsiderate use of them - so surely both legal and not!

Philippa Bond ● 2d

>Oh yes it is..It's not, it's about badly parked hire (legal) ebikes blocking pavements."Ealing councillors will next week debate a major shift in how the borough manages dockless e-bikes."https://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=community&link=https://neighbournet.com/server/common/earoads033.htm

Paul James ● 2d

Yes, this thread is about bikes parked illegally. If they aren’t parked illegally there would hardly be a ‘crackdown’ by Ealing Council. This thread is nothing to do with cars parked on yellow lines or pavements. That’s irrelevant to Ealing’s ‘crackdown’.

Steve Taylor ● 1d

Paul James winces in pain as he firmly grasps the wrong end of the stick yet again.

N V Brooks ● 1d

>This thread is nothing to do with cars parked on yellow lines or pavements.Why didn't you just say "illegal cars"?

Paul James ● 1d

The main point I was trying to make is getting obscured by side issues, so I will reiterate it.The move by Ealing Council is very welcome but there is a potential issue that the people who are worst affected by badly parked e-bikes might be less able to use the council's recommended reporting method. Therefore I was hopeful that people, for whom this problem is little more than a minor inconvenience, as they have enough mobility so simple side step obstructive bikes, would take the time to report obstructions nonetheless.If you don't wish to do this because you are sensitive to anything that might be seen as showing a negative attitude towards cycling, that is your prerogative.It was suggested that I was remiss in not raising the matter of obstructively parked motor vehicles so I reflected on whether I should have done so.While this is undeniably an annoyance, it has little relevance to this discussion. If you visit an area where e-bikes are parked in large numbers such as tube or train stations, there will be a very high probability almost every day that your way will be blocked to a degree. The ability to report this will reduce the problem and make a significant difference to others.Obstructively parked motor vehicles are much less common. The last time I can recall being anyway inconvenienced by one was in the summer when it was blocking a dropped kerb. I would have no hesitation in reporting this but there is no similar programme from the council to remove such vehicle and best case is that a ticket would be give out - which in turn gives the driver an incentive to remain badly parked longer than they might otherwise have done.

Diane Brown ● 1d

Paul is seriously anti-car obscured by the "there are too many cars" excuse. This of course does not apply to his own car when he is driving.

N V Brooks ● 1d

One problem is that there is no single app (AFAIK) that you can use to report issues of pavements being blocked.LBHF have a "H&F Report It Love Clean Streets" app you can download, Hounslow suggest reporting the issue to Fix my Street or contacting the scheme operators. I didn't even bother to try finding out how you do it in Ealing.Regarding driver's having an incentive to park for longer if they have a ticket, for "worse" offences like parking on the pavement and blocking the pavement so people with less mobility can't get past, there is always the option of removing the vehicle, which might encourage people to go, even after receiving a ticket. Overstaying ( or not paying for parking) is one thing, but parking where you are never ever meant to can be a bit ( and sometimes can be a lot) more of an inconvenience to pedestrians, especially if the vehicle is just left there ( rather than being there temporarily while e.g. loading is being undertaken).

Andrew Jones ● 1d

According to the article, Ealing are using the Love Clean Streets app so you should report through that.My own approach is to move bikes that are causing an obstruction when I can. Diane is right that this is an endemic problem - I'm regularly moving bikes around Turnham Green station.I think Ealing does tow vehicles but rarely in the Chiswick area for obvious reasons. I don't think Hounslow does - I can't recall seeing a vehicle being towed. Enforcement seems to be do on a quantitive rather than qualitative basis. The system should incentivise the wardens to target drivers causing obstructions rather than those parked in a bay but staying in the shops 10 minutes too long.

Mark Evans ● 1d

Fixmystreet used to cover everywhere - I've used it all over the country - but somehow Hounslow adopted and adapted it to suit and work for them and Ealing started to refuse to use it, insisted on creating their own different one - most annoying and more bureaucratic and of course will have ensured they got fewer reports!

Philippa Bond ● 2h

>If you don't wish to do this because you are sensitive to anything that might be seen as showing a negative attitude towards cycling, that is your prerogative.People should do this. I do it all the time although I'm more likely to report bad parking in the lime app itself, but then I use lime bikes so I have the app and I understand not all do or even the love cleaan streets app.>It was suggested that I was remiss in not raising the matter of obstructively parked motor vehicles so I reflected on whether I should have done so.I didn't suggest you were being remiss. I was just stating it's all well and good the council saying ebikes left in an obstructive way need sorting, which is obviously the case, but it's ignored pavement parking for a loooooong time.There's parking spaces all over Ealing that when used the gap between the wall and the car is like two feet or less wide, only just enough to be able to walk thoguh if you're able, and certanly not passable if you're using a mobilty aid. And that's before you have to deal with cars vans and lorries parked on and across pavements.Here's a classic, this has been like this for years:https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5049182,-0.3200491,24a,75y,246.05h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sa7_AphDBb4xOIafRQvDG1w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.clients6.google.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0%26panoid%3Da7_AphDBb4xOIafRQvDG1w%26yaw%3D246.0509151613221!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MTAxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Paul James ● 2h