What you cant do on the towpath

[ditchcrawler]

Well I don't know what difference this will make to our towpaths from the Telegraph   E-scooters banned from all UK canal towpaths (msn.com)

[LadyG]

Is it a new law?

[Tonka]

who is going to police it

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

CaRT will do nothing to enforce this. Like they do nothing to stop electric bikes from speeding and also other cyclist. Why ban Escooters when electric bikes are just as dangerous on the Towpath? I can see why you can ban Escooters on the road and not electric bikes, but on a towpath speeding Escooters, Ebikes and cyclists all pose a danger to pedestrians.

Edited August 25, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[ditchcrawler]

It probably a get out of jail card for CRT when someone gets hurt by one. 

[Rob-M]

It was listed in the newly updated towpath code of conduct which I am sure all the local scrotes read before hitting the towpaths.

[Tonka]

2 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

It was listed in the newly updated towpath code of conduct which I am sure all the local scrotes read before hitting the towpaths.

along with the highway code not

[MtB]

38 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

It probably a get out of jail card for CRT when someone gets hurt by one. 

 

Hopefully they will ban bikes too for the same reason.

 

 

[wandering]

As a cyclist, the towpath seems to be the last place you'd want to use a bike or scooter. It's muddy, uneven, full of stones, branches, roots and pedestrians. One wrong move and you might end up in the drink as well... Glad they've banned the use of scooters but highly doubt this will be enforced at all. Just feels like a PR move tbh.

Edited August 25, 2023 by wandering

[Rob-M]

I've seen a few boaters using escooters for lock wheeling.

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

I've seen a few boaters using escooters for lock wheeling.

 

I think escooters are far more suitable for towpaths than bikes, if only because the tiny wheels mean slow speed. 

 

Although I also think we need to differentiate between the traditional thin muddy track most of us think of as a towpath, and the smooth, tarmaced, 8ft wide cycling raceways being installed along so many miles of canals in more popular spots.

 

These are not towpaths, they are something else. We need a new name for them, but what?

 

 

[PaulD]

Was moored at Fazeley on Sunday opposite the old BW office. Motorbike passed twice at 30 mph in a cloud of dust. An idiot on a motor scooter then went past several times at 15  - 20 mph. We have a photo of this idiot. There were kids playing on the towpath and the usual dog walkers. Mindless.

 

 

[Tonka]

44 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I think escooters are far more suitable for towpaths than bikes, if only because the tiny wheels mean slow speed. 

 

Although I also think we need to differentiate between the traditional thin muddy track most of us think of as a towpath, and the smooth, tarmaced, 8ft wide cycling raceways being installed along so many miles of canals in more popular spots.

 

These are not towpaths, they are something else. We need a new name for them, but what?

 

 

Cycle path

[Arthur Marshall]

I think you'll find their use is illegal anyway, so banning them will have about as much effect as it has on their use on pavements. I believe it's also illegal to ride motorbikes on the towpath... and, of course for under 16 year old to ride motorbikes in the first place. As none of these laws can be policed without policemen, they're a bit silly, really.

[ditchcrawler]

A lady came off her bike, I think it was one of the electrically assisted ones right beside out boat Wednesday, we were moored in the pound by the Dog and Doublet B&F where the large proud metal mooring rings are in the brick surround, I wondered why people try to bike down that bit. 

[RichM]

They have been demonised when they could be regulated in such a way to enable society to benefit from them while mitigating any negative impact they may have. Typically they're inconspicuous, capable of excessive speeds and often used by individuals who lack training or awareness/adherence of the the highway code.

If they were properly regulated and limited to ~10 mph they would be much less of a risk. The government could go further and perhaps enforce annual safety checks, a £15-£20 road fund licence, a requirement for proper lighting/reflectors and perhaps even some sort of compulsory training for e-scooter users. - Much like we have for conventional motor scooters. (CBT) Perhaps some of these ideas would not be feasible or practical, but simply banning their use on the grounds of some archaic legislation without considering their potential benefits in modern society is a real shame imo. 

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

9 minutes ago, RichM said:

They have been demonised when they could be regulated in such a way to enable people to benefit from them while mitigating any negative impact they have on society. At present they're often not very conspicuous, they're capable of excessive speeds and often used by individuals who lack training or knowledge/adherence to the the highway code. If they were properly regulated and limited to 10 mph they would be much less of a risk. The government could perhaps enforce annual safety checks, a small road fund licence, requirement for proper lighting/reflectors and perhaps even some sort of compulsory training for e-scooter users. - Much like we have for conventional motor scooters. (CBT) Perhaps some of these ideas would not be feasible, but simply banning their use on the basis of some archaic legislation without considering their potential/benefits in society is a real shame imo.

 

 

The problem is that they, like ebikes, simply cannot be regulated. There is no control over their import or sale and if one was introduced, there's nobody to do the regulation. There are plenty of untaxed and unlicensed cars on the road, and that's been sorted for years. For that matter, there are one or two unlicensed boats about, and it seems not a lot can be done about that either.

Technology now moves too fast for our archaic system of lawmaking, even when there's a government that has any interest in it, or, for that matter, in the legality of its own actions. Slowly but surely, the anarchists are winning.

[john.k]

Would you believe my next door neighbour has bought his four year old son a motorbike?.......I sort of questioned the idea,and he says ...Oh ,he'll get a bigger bike when he s learned to ride this one.............Did you see the incredible news item this week of hundreds  of young  kids on motorbikes buzzing a cop car ..........when the cops manage to pull one down ,the others are buzzing the cops with wheelies and dirt sprays .

[Jon57]

10 hours ago, Rob-M said:

I've seen a few boaters using escooters for lock wheeling.

And a CRT lockie (not a volunteer) on the Tinsley flight. Like everything in life if used sensibly I don’t see a problem. Only a problem in the hands of the brain dead.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Escooters are illegal on public footpaths and highways, except if it is a hire one from a recognised hire scheme. Sounds like CaRT are just bringing their rules more in to line with the highway laws for something that barely existed only a few years ago. I don't know if any of the towns with legal hire escooters also has towpaths and can't be bothered to research.

The extra danger from escooters on both towpath and roads are the tiny wheels. Any minor pothole will trap a front wheel and throw the rider. Much more prone to this than larger wheeled push and ebikes.

This thread seems to conflate escooters, regular push bikes, ebikes motorbikes and emotorbikes as being the same thing. They are not. Some are currently allowed on the towpath, pushbikes and ebikes and some are not escooters, motorbikes and emotorbikes. Some are allowed on the public highway, pushbikes, ebikes and hired escooters in certain towns. Some are not, escooters. Some are only allowed on the highway if taxed, insured and licensed, motorbikes and emotorbikes.

Some are ridden by inconsiderate idiots in places where they are legal to ride, some are ridden by inconsiderate idiots in places they are not legal to ride. There is little to no enforcement of either the idiot ridding, or the thing being ridden. That applies to both the King's Highway and CaRT's Towpaths.

[Sea Dog]

Of more concern, I'd suggest, are the one wheel electric wotdyacallums. They're pretty damned quick on a smooth towpath, but how do they do an emergency stop without going over the handlebars they don't have? 

[MtB]

22 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Of more concern, I'd suggest, are the one wheel electric wotdyacallums. They're pretty damned quick on a smooth towpath, but how do they do an emergency stop without going over the handlebars they don't have? 

 

I often wonder about this too. How DO they stop in a hurry? The device might be able to stop but the vertical human bean on top will just continue.

 

I guess there is a possibility that with skill, the rider could lean way backwards whilst applying the emergency brake and still slow down rapidly. 

 

 

 

 

[PaulD]

PETROL SCOOTERS

Designed and manufactured using state of the art techniques, making them superior to all others on the market, get the need for speed with a petrol scooter. Leave the competition in the background as you fly by, no one will see you coming with one of these bad boys! Great for adults & older children.

 

From the FUN:BIKES website.

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Escooters are illegal on public footpaths and highways, except if it is a hire one from a recognised hire scheme. Sounds like CaRT are just bringing their rules more in to line with the highway laws for something that barely existed only a few years ago. I don't know if any of the towns with legal hire escooters also has towpaths and can't be bothered to research.

The extra danger from escooters on both towpath and roads are the tiny wheels. Any minor pothole will trap a front wheel and throw the rider. Much more prone to this than larger wheeled push and ebikes.

This thread seems to conflate escooters, regular push bikes, ebikes motorbikes and emotorbikes as being the same thing. They are not. Some are currently allowed on the towpath, pushbikes and ebikes and some are not escooters, motorbikes and emotorbikes. Some are allowed on the public highway, pushbikes, ebikes and hired escooters in certain towns. Some are not, escooters. Some are only allowed on the highway if taxed, insured and licensed, motorbikes and emotorbikes.

Some are ridden by inconsiderate idiots in places where they are legal to ride, some are ridden by inconsiderate idiots in places they are not legal to ride. There is little to no enforcement of either the idiot ridding, or the thing being ridden. That applies to both the King's Highway and CaRT's Towpaths.

The danger from tiny wheels is to the rider, and maybe the deaths or injuries of a few kids will encourage some enforcement... except it won't, it'll just bring out the numpties on social media blaming everyone except those responsible ie the riders and their idiot parents.

I think it's fair to conflate all these electric wheeled things, as they are all, without exception, ridden carelessly and illegally and are a danger to pedestrians, whether they are technically legal or not. It is, as usual, another perfect example of technological improvement making life worse for everyone.

[MtB]

What we actually need alongside these high speed cycleways being installed is a conventional muddy towpath, for all the pedestrians to trudge along in single file, just like we used to have.