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The way I read the law, right on red requires a car to stop behind the stop line, and to not proceed beyond the stop line unless the drivers is sure it is safe to proceed. If the driver can't see, that's not permission to go beyond the stop line to look - they should be staying put until the can know it's safe to proceed.Quote:
Originally Posted by peterw_diy
In my experience with the law as enforced, if you're in a car and want to turn right you can do any damn thing you want because car.Quote:
Originally Posted by dasgeh
Yes, because those doing the enforcing are almost always in cars.Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Which would mean that at many intersections with mere stop signs it would often not be legal to proceed due to poor sight lines. Shoot, there are intersections where even on a bike, without six feet of hood and dashboard in front of the rider, it's difficult to check cross traffic from behind the stop line. It's absurd to expect people to follow such laws.Quote:
Originally Posted by dasgeh
Ken, thanks for the details. Yes, failing to respect the stop lines and crosswalks without RTOR is deplorable. And I'd like to see more intersections ban RTOR especially where sight lines are poor. The only reason I much like RTOR is that it allows cars with internal combustion engines to move sooner and burn less fuel, but hopefully electrics and hybrids will neutralize concerns about fuel waste when idling.
Dockless scooters though, they just suck. There are too many physical and economic challenges for those to ever be a decent option.
Why can't the car wait instead?Quote:
Originally Posted by peterw_diyOr wait. Radical suggestion, I know.Quote:
Originally Posted by lordofthemark
Quote:
Originally Posted by peterw_diy
I believe all the externalities of scooters can be remedied. In many cases the remedies are already available it's just a matter of will. Far easier than remedies for the automobile. As for scooter company finances, that's on the companies and their investors. Maybe they will work out, maybe they won't. But meanwhile I will advocate for remedies, especially ones like bike lanes and parking corrals that daylight intersections that have other benefits. And I will oppose unfair criticism of scooters that appear to to criticize them for things we accept in autos.
As for stop sign only intersections they are different, as waiting for the green is not an option. Where visibility is poor, and there are conflicts between peds and right turning cars due to volumes of both, that argues for signaling precisely to solve that. King and Beauregard has a very large number of right turning vehicles and, for the west end, a high number of pedestrians.
As for the fuel usage justification, almost no other country has found that persuasive.
From Critical Rider Hamburg Facebook page:
Elektro Roller für Alle! GEIL!
Finde ich total klasse, ist genau die richtige Initiative für Hamburg. Die reiche Hansetorte kauft sich einfach ein bisschen Elektro-Image ein. Ich hör' schon panisch "Roooobert!", wenn lauffaule Mitbürger mit dem Gleichgewichtssinn einer Chipstüte durch den urbanen Orbit summen. Problem-Bären auf Tretrollern. Die sollten dann lieber Moja fahren. Mit 20km/h auf einem Tretroller - mein Schulkumpel Werner musste für sein 25 km/h-Kreidler-Mofa noch einen kompletten Führerschein machen!!! Oh my Flow!
Erst Umwelthauptstadt, dann Fahrradstadt, jetzt E-Roller-City? Ein weiterer, riesiger Berg Elektro-Sondermüllschrott - das ist nur doof, überhaupt nicht nachhaltig und ökologisch vertretbar. Einfach auf Krampf, irgendwie mitreden wollen und cool sein wollen. Das ist das Hamburg, dass ich überhaupt nicht ausstehen kann!
Hamburg Mama, schwing Deinen Hintern auf ein Fahrrad, fahre nur so schnell, wie es Deine Muckis und dein FlowKopf zulassen - tue wirklich etwas nachhaltig Gutes für Deine Gesundheit, für die Gesundheit Deiner Kinder, für die Gesundheit Deiner Stadt, statt auf einem E-Roller wertvolle Energie zu verschwenden und eine neue Spalte in der Unfallstatistik zu generieren!
Und echt jetzt: warum überhaupt bewegen? "Alexa bring‘ Pizza!" Geht doch.
Electric Scooter for everyone! Awesome!
If I find total class, it's exactly the right initiative for Hamburg. The rich hanse cake is just buying a bit of electric image. I'm already panicking " Robert!", when run lazy fellow citizens buzzing through urban orbit with the balance of a bag. Problem Bears on tretrollern. They should rather drive moja. With 20 km / h on a kickbike - my school buddy Werner had to make a complete driving license for his 25 km / H-Kreidler-moped!!! Oh my flow!
First Environmental Capital, then drive radstadt, now e-Roller City? Another huge mountain of electric waste scrap - that's just stupid, not sustainable and ecologically justifiable at all. Just on cramp, somehow want to talk and want to be cool. This is the Hamburg that I can't stand at all!
Hamburg mom, swing your butt on a bike, drive only as fast as it allows your brawns and your flow head - do really something sustainable good for your health, for the health of your children, for the health of your city, instead of on an e - to waste scooters valuable energy and generate a new column in the statistics!
And real now: why move at all? " Alexa bring ' pizza!" go.
I don't think it's absurd for RTOR. Just wait.Quote:
Originally Posted by peterw_diy
There's an "improperly Parked" e-scooter thread on my Del Ray, Nextdoor app right now. All kinds of people advocating to saw it in half or throw it in the street or set it on fire or call the police... Only a few useful suggestions like move it 3 feet so it's not in your way. I had to mention that at least it was a dockless scooter and not a dockless car blocking the sidewalk because you actually can move the scooter.Quote:
Originally Posted by lordofthemark
It's off topic, so I have refrained from advocating setting improperly parked dockless cars on fire but most commentors seem to think the e-scooters are the absolute devil. There also seems to be an illegitimate fear that e-scooters are universally ridden by unruly teenagers and once you get a few in your neighborhood the TPing, lighting poo on fire, and bricks through windows is sure to follow. WTF.
EDIT: I should mention that the initial question was probably innocent from someone who's legitimately not sure - Like, "How is the city handling this? Should I I report it or not?" The replies have mostly been useless.
Note on Next Door people in nearby neighborhoods can see the thread too - so you are probably getting the Old Town crowd as well - quite a few of those folks are on the warpath about escooters.Quote:
Originally Posted by creadinger
In my experience there was always someone on the warpath about something on nextdoor, my solution was to leave.Quote:
Originally Posted by lordofthemark
I came for the classifieds, stayed for the package theft videosQuote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Oh its not just nextdoor, its on the FB pages of the Mayor and all the hyper local new sites, it's at Council meetings, etc.
BTW, last night as I was walking home, the crosswalk was blocked by a car at North Hampton and Strutfield - not parked, the driver was there - but not waiting to turn - I think he was an Uber driver checking his phone. No better place to do that than right across the crosswalk I guess.
Except I was referencing complaints I've seen on this forum about hooligans who don't park their dockless bikeshares where we want them to.Quote:
Originally Posted by dasgeh
Some of the "Two wheels good, but only a certain type of two wheels and if it doesn't fit my definition of the 'right' two wheels then they're The Devil" comments I've seen on this forum over the years just amaze me.
In case you don't read all the posts and double posts, we'll talk about escooters (and ebikes and bike parking and Army Navy Drive) at the June 3, 2019 Arlington BAC meeting.
One can only hope that news of a scooter catching fire in DC, and causing minor damage to a nearby wall, tempered your neighbors' alarmist comments.Quote:
Originally Posted by creadinger
https://www.washingtonpost.com/trans...=.52b0a0b9e2da
Good to see that the Army Navy Drive plans are at 30% design.Quote:
Originally Posted by dasgeh
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I absolutely love e-scooters. As a cyclist, I am finally not the most-hated mode user. People really seem to enjoy complaining about them.
Ha! Just wait for the pogo sticks!!Quote:
Originally Posted by huskerdont
https://thenextweb.com/tech/2019/05/...y-isnt-a-hoax/
Or you can just walk.Quote:
Originally Posted by secstate
My kids have one, and to say they have a high learning curve would be an understatement.
When you have to insist that your company isn't a hoax, you might have gone a niche too far.
My idea: e-stilts.
Rollerblading can be so hard! I'm thinking this could be the next great shared-transport opportunity ripe for some "disruption" -- imagine if you had some powered boost when you needed it (hey, you can control the amount thrust while using an app on your phone; you don't really need to watch the road ahead; we'll build in some obstacle-avoiding tech!) and perhaps add some micro suspension for those buckled bits of trail pavement... When your done, just tie the laces together and toss them over the nearest power lines for the next user!Quote:
Originally Posted by huskerdont
What could possiblie go wrong?Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristoB50
Attachment 20123
https://tinyurl.com/y4svd4g9
old news--that's already a thingQuote:
Originally Posted by ChristoB50
Well, it finally happened: I crashed into an e-scooter parked near the edge of a bike/ped path, on the pavement. I was crossing the Key Bridge into Rosslyn last night. The block in front of the Marriott hotel is not well lit, and I was using my back-up light (the better light having been stolen recently, and just replaced by a new light that was at home, charging.) I didn't even see the thing. Luckily, I was going very slowly, so there was minimal damage to my body and none I could see to the bike. A passerby (walker) stopped to help me. Next time I see a scooter parked smack dab in a walkway or path, I'm going to throw it on the grass, or over the bridge if it's on one of the bridges.
Glad you were okay-ish. I concur with tossing on the grass. I realize you're likely just venting, but please to not be letting your worser instincts get the best of you re throwing off a bridge. Pollution, and you might just hit a sculler or someone else.Quote:
Originally Posted by ltierstein
Leslie – very sorry to hear about this crash.
E-scooters were the main topic of our Bicycle Advisory Committee this week. The representatives from Bolt and Lyme took part in the meeting and seemed genuinely concerned about making things safer. Do you have any idea which company the e-scooter was from? It’s worth giving them a call – they say they’re trying to be data-driven and to develop solutions and incentives to increase car-free transportation in a safe way. The numbers are on the Arlington Shared Mobility website, and you’ll also see a link to the survey that Arlington is doing on Shared Mobility Devices. Your input will be valuable.
https://transportation.arlingtonva.u...ess-bikeshare/
Sending hugs,
w&w
Glad it wasn't worse.
If I could require scooter companies to do three things, they would be:
1) Make the scooters reflective/easily seen at night (i.e. not all black)
2) More substantial kickstands, so these things don't fall.
3) Sweep the trails every [day/week] to get scooters whose batteries have died -- it makes sense that this sweep would grab all of the scooters, and not be single-company based.
As w&w notes, it was an informative meeting. Minor correction: the representatives were from Lyft and Bolt. Lime was not there.Quote:
Originally Posted by wheels&wings
The Post has an article up showing that, according to a poll, 1 in 6 D.C. residents ride e-scooters. So, while they may be unpopular to many who don't ride them, 16.66% seem to be having fun.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.f1eff3c68adb
I'd probably try one myself except I have bikes so don't need to.
As I've suggested to ArlCo, require the scooter companies to charge the last user of a scooter a fee ($25 or higher) if the scooter is picked up from a location that presents a non-minimal safety threat to others. I've often had almost the same encounter as Leslie with abandoned scooters in that area and others.
so if a kid moves your scooter you get a $25 bill?Quote:
Originally Posted by sjclaeys
Exactly. This is one of the big problems with dockless - it's virtually impossible to hold anyone accountable for bad parking or vandalism of the devices. Thus the obstructions and short service life.Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Or even if it's just knocked over by a raccoon. Totally reasonable.Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Hi. I have joined the party late...but do have a question about governors and max speeds on all these dockless scooters. My understanding is that the dockless ones are capped at a certain speed? I ask because I came across a young man on an e-scooter going SE on Maine Ave. a few nights ago. I am enroute to Ft. McNair to pick up Sue, running with traffic which is doing 30 (in a 25) and I am passed on driver's right by this scooter at speed. He pulls away, probably doing 35 or more, with a big lean as Maine bears left and becomes M St. What little I could see of his ride in the dark- definitely not a rental- had to be his own. A little larger, with a larger and beefier wheelset. No protective gear... and a truly burly Guardian Angel watchin' over him?
The brushless motor controllers in the rental scooters are sophisticated and programmable by the company for capping top speed, acceleration, setting a charge rate to the battery management board, setting degree of regenerative braking and when it engages, whether the scooter needs to be rolling (and how fast) before the motor will engage, and more.
There are high end e-scooters like the Nanrobot LS7 or RS11-11 that have huge range and go startlingly fast, at a premium price. That may be what you saw.
Rip out ALL the circuitry on a 36v, 300W rental bike, wire in extra cells to boost the battery to 52V, put in your own BMS and generic 48V, 300 watt controller, and you can make the thing move pretty fast for under $30. Not that I would endorse doing such a thing! And it would be primitive, throttle-only... you would no longer have all the refinements, like regenerative braking. Plus you would be driving the motor pretty hard. It could reduce the service life of the hub motor.
He is probably using something like this open source control circuitry and software called VESC, which can be used to develop or test anything that use brushless motors(E-Scooter, E-Bike, etc.). You can buy it from Amazon here, it costs $90, but cheaper if you make it on your own, probably $20 to $50, but requires a huge learning curve, or hiring an engineering firm. The software talks to the hardware using USB, and can configure many parameters, and show realtime response, scroll down for screenshots.Quote:
Originally Posted by phog
They can geofence some areas, but that is limited by the accuracy of GPS.Quote:
Originally Posted by peterw_diy