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Electric Scooter Trials on Bicycle Paths

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  1. #41

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    you can that about many things... and people of various physiques and health conditions don't belong on the pavement too... Electrick wheelchairs doing 20km/hr plus, with a pasenger being towed behind.

    Pedestrians are today inconvenienced in many ways because of the road and pavement planning is "car first in HK"... Most of the transportation solutions out there, bring so many problems that they aren't worth considering between efficient and safety. HK has many walkability problems because it tends to concentrate a lot of pedestrians in crossing and then there are few ways to cross the road for another 500 meters. Eg junction on Pedder Street crossing DesVoux... Unicycles allow pedestrians to become riders and not care about all the flaws and problems that there are in this town... there is a price to pay....

    In the past 18 months I have done about 6000Km on electric unicycles, and commute from wan chai my to mostly central, TST, Kowloon, Hung hom. Kwai Hing, Sai Wan ho, Sham Shui Po etc. A great part of these 6000km have been done among the crowds. When needed merge into pedestrian flow and behave like a pedestrianI also avoid congested pavements and generally find non optimal paths that pedestrians won't take so I can ride a higher average speeds. When you are riding you don't care if you are adding a few hundred meters on the path if you can avoid pedestrians and traffic lights I There are lots of pavements that are totally unused where riders could be allowed to ride without having to invest in bike lanes.

    I've not had any collisions with pedestrians, or only 2 or 3 people tell me I surprised them. Overall it is pretty trouble free even if there are 4 of riding behind each other. on crowded pavements.

    Only in the past 2 months I've had problems after the TVB program on with the Kowloon walking stick rider. We now have "justice crusaders" that come and take out their anger and issues on you. "Its not legal", "Do you have a license" . Recent events have caused a lot mentally health problems in people now in HK. I think people feel powerless so they look for something they thing thay can go after and unleash all their anger. These guys will get histerical and start threatening you and try to get physical even if you are just stopped drinking water and havent ssaid much. This week a taxi driver decided he was going to stop an electric bike rider and got into a big punch up on the middle of the road...

    The key issue is not about legality or safety, the key issue how do we train riders not to be nuisance to pedestrians.

    How do you teach riders; that pedestrians have equal or more rights, to be courteous, to give way to pedestrians, to dismount when it is too busy and they are going to impact pedestrian flow, to stop when anyone shows fear and let them go past, that if you are getting near a pedestrian to slow down so the speed differential is minimal and they won't actually notice you until maybe they have looked up from their phones... Also a system that if you are jerk and people report the number (sticker) on you wheel, you get 3 strikes and then you lose the license...

    I have called the TD, we emailed them etc, and no response... Today is the deadline to register.. we don't qualify..

  2. #42

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    Original Post Deleted
    To continue @Fenix2 comment...

    Pedestrians with headphones/earphones in that make them oblivious to others don't belong on pavements

    Joggers don't belong on pavements.

    Pedestrians looking at their phones all the the time don't belong on pavements.

    One could go on.
    Fenix2 likes this.

  3. #43

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    I use to think like you, thought HK public transport was great, and then I got on this wheel and have seem maybe maybe 10 times more HK than I had seen the previous 24 years. You start to understand that many places you can only get on foot, and unicycle. Bikes cars etc cant reach effectively, many places there is no public transport and also if you work during night you will find yourself stranded in places with no taxis etc...

    I use to actually think that walking around this place was not that bad, when you walk around you dont notice it, it is strange... When you get on a wheel you suddenly start seeing the total hassles you overcome, how you get from A to be promptly in a determinitic manner, you start realsing firstly how small HK is, also how we have these mental barriers on distance. I suffered from mobility laziness, and anything that was not near MTR station or within operating hours was out of the question.... Another think you will notice is that MTR coverage is pretty crap too.....

    Now when someone calls you at say 11pm "fancy going to see the porcupines at Aberdeen Reservioir trail now?". Never mind getting to within HK and Kownloon... Distances are now irrelevant. Without a unicycle, I will be worried, will I find a taxi? Is the MTR going to stop running?

    I ride around and see many people stranded stuck in places, waiting for a pubilic transport a taxi..... I see thousands of people stuck in traffic every rush hour, wasting time, where ever they are going to Kowloon from HK is quite likely I will get there before them.

    As for being able to ensure that people can ride the safely, in the point of a driving testing, licensing test etc... if they can't do certain things they are danger and they should not be allowed people. All the people in cars before didn't know how to drive and were danger to other people until they were trained and given a license...

  4. #44

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    firstly you are colliding you will be colliiding the body of a rider mostly as we are riding leaning forward, our hands are free to stop the impact, the front. If maybe the uniccyle hits you it will be a shin/leg height, and they are made of plastic and mine have foam at the front... There is a reason why they try to limit them to 20kg because 20kg x 25Km is around the KN impact of braking bones.... the idea is were are below that...

    Having said there was and idiot riding a Z10 through Hoi Ting road a few months ago hit and old lady and put her into hospita as he injured he legs. that unicycle weight 27kg is massive, can't turn, should never be licensed in HK. It has super wide tire and almost stands up by itself.

    When I was massively obsese women and old ladies bumped into me and they ended up on the floor, often. I was a bigger danger then than now.... Some guy pushed me and when I came out of restaurant fell and broke a finger.... Fat people should be allowed on pavements? :-)

    It is very very rare I will even brush someone.

  5. #45

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    To me the biggest issue I have with these contraptions is having them around with a bunch of people that don't know how to use them and no framework. You write from the point of view of an experienced rider, they are rarely the problem. I've seen how clueless people are on bike paths and giving them toys that go too fast, too easily for their abilities makes me uncomfortable.

    Knowing how things are here, I can see young teenagers getting on any of these electric contraptions and wreaking havoc. I have seen e scooters in some of the european cities which are not half as crowded as here and I find them a real nuisance. It's unfortunate because the concept is fantastic in the hands of the right people.

    So much has been done in recent years to lengthen and alter the process of young drivers getting behind the wheel to make it safer for everyone. Go out and give them electric vehicles without a proper framework is less than ideal in my opinion. Riding a bike fast if you are drunk for example is not easy, getting on an e scooter is a lot easier and dangerous for everyone. I do hope that one day, they can replace a lot of the cars but there will be growing pains.


  6. #46

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    I used to see a uni cycle rider around Hang Hau when I was walking to work. He was never an problem to pedestrians and moved around quite carefully. However, of course that might not be the case if there were lots of them.

    Also I feel that uni cycles being that little bit more difficult to ride/control make the riders more careful and I tend to think they are never likely to become as popular as e ecooters.


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