Moment an e-scooter is filmed tearing along a busy London A-road at more than 50MPH… but critics say the car driver is the one in the wrong for filming him
- An e-scooter was filmed going at more than 50mph on a busy London A-road
- The rider was wearing a hi-vis as they sped along the outside lane of the A406
- But reactions on social media saw some criticise the driver who took the video
Astonishing video has emerged of an e-scooter rider whizzing along a three-lane London road at more than 50mph.
The eye-opening footage shows the hi-vis wearing rider hurtling along the outside lane of the A406, North Circular.
The speedy scooter can be seen easily overtaking cars in the left-hand lane and leaving a driver filming the incident struggling to keep up.
But the video has sparked a row among motorists, with some claiming that the actions of the driver filming the incident is more dangerous than those of the e-scooter rider.
The video was uploaded by a cab driver who insists he is not the person filming the incident.
He wrote: ‘Up the A12 (sic) over 50mph! But he does have an HiVi on. What have they let loose with these things?
Astonishing video shows the e-scooter rider whiz along a London road at more than 50mph
‘That’s not GREEN that’s DANGEROUS to him and anyone he hits. Can you imagine if he came off at this speed?’
He later added: ‘Just to clarify , this footage was sent to me, it is not a London cabbie taking the footage.
‘The reason I posted it was because of the k******d riding an e-scooter this fast on this road. It was builder who sent it. In a builders van.’
Some backed the driver, with one person saying: ‘With those small wheels the tiniest pothole can throw you off. They simply stop dead in a 6inch hole.’
The rider can be seen hurtling along the road, wearing a hi-vis jacket
Others described the incident as ‘absolutely crazy’.
But many hit back at the person posting the video, saying the danger was the driver filming the incident.
One wrote: ‘He’s not breaking the law, you are by filming though.’
Another wrote: ‘On the one hand we have a 3kg scooter illegally using a dual carriageway, but otherwise under good control.
‘On the other we have a driver in a 2tonne car weaving because they are trying to film so not under good control.
‘Which should the police prioritise…?’
In a follow up tweet, the user added: ‘While the answer is of course they should deal with both, the driver is SEVERAL orders of magnitude more dangerous, so should ALWAYS be dealt with FIRST…If you want to complain, the issue is lack of any traffic policing…’
As e-scooters increase in popularity, a growing amount of them have been advertised to reach higher speeds.
The fastest electric scooter is thought to be the Dualtron X; its advertised top speed is 62mph, but can go as quickly as 75mph, according to blog EScooter Nerds.
Last month e-scooters were been banned from London’s transport network after one exploded on a packed tube train.
Passengers in possession of the two-wheeled gadgets and e-unicycles are now not allowed on any Transport for London services.
The driver filming the incident, going at around 50mph, struggles to keep up with the e-scooter
The London Fire Brigade has backed the move after an e-scooter erupted into flames on a packed train in November last year.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at Parsons Green underground station, with one passenger suffering smoke inhalation.
It was one of many recent close calls which caused TfL to launch an urgent review, supported by evidence from the Brigade’s experts.
The LFB has attended more than 50 fires involving e-scooters and e-bikes up to December 2021 – more than double the amount seen in 2020.
They are often caused by faulty third-party batteries bought cheap off the internet which don’t meet safety standards.
The law on e-scooters in the capital
As of June 2021, e-scooters have been available to rent in several London boroughs.
Councils in the city have been running the trial in a ‘wider effort by TfL, London Councils, London boroughs and the UK Government to enable people to use new and greener forms of transport’.
The safety rules of the rental trial of e-scooters are:
- Riders must be 18 or over and hold at least a provisional driving license
- The speed limit of trial e-scooters is capped at 12.5mph – they will automatically reduce speed to 8mph in ‘go slow’ areas
- The trial e-scooters also come to a safe stop in ‘no-go’ zones to ensure they can be ridden safely
- All first time riders must to do mandatory training on how to ride safely in London
- The trial e-scooters are maintained to a high level and have large wheels to help navigate road surfaces more easily
- Lights at the front and rear of the vehicles are always on throughout any rental
Source: TfL
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