This is the first I've heard of people tampering with the brake systems - it's incredibly malicious. I understand some people might be frustrated by the scooters, but is manslaughter really the right way to go about it?
Story here in Lyon, France, yesterday about a less-dangerous attack on the electric scooters: instead of cutting the brake cables, vandals are painting over the QR code instead. No QR code to scan means no useable scooter. Link in French: https://www.leprogres.fr/rhone-69/2019/06/10/a-lyon-les-trot...
To be fair, QR codes are a fairly fragile technology for something like that. If instead of destroying them, someone replaced the codes with a malicious link the outcome could be worse.
Someone detached my brake cables on my bike locked right next to a hill that lead to the busiest road in the area. I noticed before I even got on the bike, but come on people.
Wow! That's something I do not normally even check. Then again, I don't leave my bike out of sight but the fact that someone would even think of doing something like that is pretty close to an attempt at murder.
Yeah, having ridden Birds around Paris at 25 km/h without ever considering this (I think they had lever brakes with cables too), this is terrifying. People are crazy.
Why do you say "buy a motorcycle" instead of "buy a horn and a bike with disc brakes?" Is there something intrinsically wrong with going fast without at least a quarter ton of steel with you?
For that matter you can easily achieve 25 km/h on a normal unpowered bike. They don't seem to kill as many people as motorcycles though.
They have true dedicated bike lanes in Paris. Taken from the car lanes to reduce most streets to 2 lanes. The only things allowed on the sidewalks are people, pets, prams, and cafe tables and chairs.
> They have true dedicated bike lanes in Paris. Taken from the car lanes to reduce most streets to 2 lanes. The only things allowed on the sidewalks are people, pets, prams, and cafe tables and chairs.
FWIW the only things allowed on bike lanes are bicycles[0] and tricycles. Motorised cycles (including e-scooters or ebikes) are not allowed and should be on the road (if they're legal at all, which e-scooters often are not as they don't fit the motorbike standards e.g. no license plates, etc…).
[0] this includes EN15194 LEV: pedal-assistance only, under 250W continuous rated power, 25km/h assistance cutoff
Is that only true in France? Bird and Lime capped their scooters to 15mph in my city so they can be considered bicycle-type vehicles by traffic law (and not a moped that you need to register and get a license plate and insurance for). The apps even recommend you stay in bike lanes wherever possible. When they first appeared out of thin air in my city, limes had the muscle to go 20mph (birds didn't have the oomph to break 15 unless going downhill).
To the extent that anything not obviously / actually a bicycle and not covered by EN15194 (mandating that pedelecs be legally considered bicycles) is left entirely to each country's devices, yes: the stuff above is french law (current as of now, a law passed early this year to make e-scooters legal under various constraints from September).
Other jurisdiction could have other laws / criteria yielding different results e.g. I think in Switzerland s-pedelec (faster and throttle-activated) can and must use bike lanes, but are limited to pure pedalling in pedestrian zone. Apparently your jurisdiction is based around speed capabilities, IIRC Belgium is similar, if devices can't go above a certain speed they're treated the same as bicycles.
How about those moped-shaped electric wheelchair buggies? (I’ve always wondered what the proper “lane” for those is; they go fast enough and have enough momentum that they’re dangerous on the sidewalk, but they’re unprotected enough that it’s dangerous for them to be in the bike lane, let alone a car lane.)
...or do those even exist outside of America (and maybe the ex-Commonwealth)?
Here in the UK, we have two categories of mobility scooters and electric wheelchairs. If they're capable of no more than 4mph, they can be used on the pavement; if they're capable of more than 4mph but less than 8mph, they can be used on the road without a license but they do need to be registered.
Funny that you talk about bike lanes: on my way to work I cross a bridge, with the sidewalk on one side being a bike lane, I usually walk on the other side, since it's closer to the tram station I'm going to; each time I'll have to avoid bikes and e-scooters that don't want to go to the other side and instead choose to swerve among the many pedestrians that cross that bridge
It is all but impossible to get injured due to this vandalism. If the brake cables are cut, you will be unable to even mount the scooter. It's the same UX as on a bicycle: The rider must (unconsciously) press the brake lever to keep the bike in place while getting on it.
You'll know right away if the cable is cut--before you even start your ride.
I don't think thats how most people mount a bicycle. You can easily get on it without touching the brakes. After all while you are still touching the ground you are breaking it.
When you find yourself posting in every comment thread of a single submission to grind your axe, it's probably time to look for a new submission to participate in or take a break from HN.
