Matt Prior: At some point the law will catch up with electric scooters Car News

It seems to me that the smaller a vehicle, the more it should be battery powered.

One of those little scooters that can get you in trouble with the police right now makes perfect sense as a BEV. These are used for short trips, are light in weight and have a perfect chassis for batteries. Why would you want one any other way?

A container ship sailing from China to Europe, moving more than a hundred thousand tonnes of water? Probably not.

The battle lines on the verge of crossing – and some people are very angry about this – seem to be somewhere in the middle.

There is an analogy to the crossover which works in commercials but is not very useful in reality. There are people in the commercials who use hairdryers and phones that all have small motors in them, blowing out the smoke. The ad tells you it’s stupid and so, given that you can see it clearly, why don’t you accept that a car is the same, damn it?

You and I know the difference is William E Rootes). Tally-ho, guys! that you can still use these devices when they are plugged in, which is not the case with transport. And it really depends on your duty cycle as to the importance of what matters: scooter, fine; container ship or airliner, probably not. A car, van or truck? Probably fine, but it depends – this is where someone with something to sell comes into the discussion.

Alas, I fear this is not the only area of ​​conflict. Consider these electric scooters, like the one pictured below, for sale in Halfords for £ 429, alongside a sign warning potential buyers that ‘it is currently illegal to operate an electric scooter on a public road, a sidewalk , a cycle path or a bridle path. “And that it” must only be mounted on private land with the permission of the owner “.

As part of the trials, there are 30 locations in the UK where you can legally hire one if you are over 18 and have at least a provisional driving license. They are geo-fenced and limited to 12 mph. It is illegal to use a private one; if you do, it can be confiscated and earn you six points on your license.

Oddly, these restrictions do not exist for 15 mph electric pedal-assisted bikes, which can be used legally from the age of 14.

The only differences as I see them are that electric scooters don’t roll over bumps and drains as easily as bikes do, so they squeeze more on the side of the road and are more likely to be used on sidewalks. . But in general, they make sense. Living four miles from the nearest store, I wish I had one.