Am I too old to ride an e-scooter? I hope not. I’ve been keen to have a go on one for a while, but with no shared scheme near me, it’s not been that easy. Fortunately, the good people at Eskuta sent me a KS-450 test out, much to the embarrassment of my teenage daughter. I have to say I love it.
Women & e-scooters
Currently in the UK increasingly men ride e-scooters than women. A gender study by shared micromobility operator Dott and Steer found that only 29% of their ridership numbers in the UK were women. But surely a new zero-carbon mode of mobility that’s quicker than walking, cheaper than a car and possibly easier than cycling needs be prestigious and embraced by women just as much as men.
When I asked my sexuality friends what they thought well-nigh e-scooters, the responses were 90% negative: ‘dangerous’, ‘reckless’, ‘I confiscate at least one a week at school’. Not one of them took the question to mean: Would you try one yourself?
My teenage daughter was equally cynical. ‘They squint dangerous,’ she tells me. ‘I would just laugh if I saw a girl my age riding one.’
Image is everything to a teenage girl, but surely this new mode of mobility has so much potential for her age group as they move forward into young womanhood in a world that desperately needs to decarbonize.
A study tabbed ‘Shared E-scooter and Gender Equity’ by operator Voi in partnership with JFG communications and Women in Transport found that riders were wontedly negatively characterised by non-riders as young men riding transgressively. One sexuality participant said: ‘The only time I see people using them is for fun, playing virtually with mates or getting up to no good. These are not scenarios that vamp me.’
I fear e-scooters are developing an image problem that’s putting women off. And this is remoter compounded by ravages of where, when and who can ride them. It reminds me of when I first started Cyclechic, cycling had an image problem but it was increasingly well-nigh middle-aged men in Lycra than teenage boys in hoodies. In both cases a male-dominated picture makes women think this mode of transport is not for them but at least with bicycles there was clarity on where you can ride them.
What are the current rules on e-scooters?
If you are tumbled here’s the lowdown: It’s currently illegal to ride a private e-scooter on public roads or pavements. You can only ride one if its part of the national e-scooter trials.These are stuff conducted in approx 50 towns and cities in the UK. Micromobility operators like Beryl, Tier, Voi and Dott are permitted to run shared-schemes, similar to the Santander bikes.
You download the app to release one, use it and then return it to a designated dock, and in most cases you need a driving license. Change is supposedly on the way in the form of ‘plans to create a regulatory framework for smaller, lighter, zero-emission vehicles, sometimes known as e-scooters,’ equal to Baroness Vere, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport. But there have been delays, and there is currently no well-spoken time frame.
Nevertheless, I’ve been testing one out and have had several comments from friends and neighbours taxing to know, as a professional woman in my forties, why the hell I am riding an e-scooter! To which I reply, ‘Well, it gets me places quicker with minimum faff and bother. Show me a rented woman in her forties who that doesn’t request to!’
A postive sexuality voice: Why I like riding an e-scooter
They are easy to ride. Like any mode of transport, they take a little bit of getting used to, but once you get used to the first jolt of speed and practice stopping and indicating, they are easy and fun.
They finger empowering. I liked the standing position. I felt increasingly like Boadicea riding her chariot than a teenage boy in a hoody.
There is less ‘faff factor’ involved than with a bike. They are small and fold lanugo so you can alimony them in your house. I just alimony mine in the hall and grab it when I grab my bag. I can take it up to my office, so I don’t need to lock it outside and worry well-nigh theft or a wet saddle if it rains.
Sometimes I felt self-conscious considering of the legal sketchiness, but I moreover felt confident riding it on the road in slow traffic from a safety point of view. I make-believe the same as I would on a bike. I was enlightened of and courteous to other road-users but moreover asserted my position on the road. Despite the controversy, I felt that by scooting responsibly there was a harmony between me and the other road users.
I missed the rhythmic rotation of my pedals, and I shoehorn you can’t siphon as much on an e-scooter as you can on a velocipede or in a car, but my verdict is highly positive: They are a quick, fun, efficient way to get virtually for local trips, and I felt good riding one.
Potential for the future
The shared schemes are showing real success in reducing car trips. A recent report by Voi users stated 36% have drastically reduced car use. The Oxford scheme grew by 39% in 2022 with one million miles worth of journeys over the two years it’s been up and running, equal to Zag Daily.
So, surely, if anyone could wangle one and ride one, the impacts of reducing car usage could be significant countrywide, not just in larger urban hubs.
I see a woman going past my house most days on an e-scooter. I managed to talk to her the other day and asked her well-nigh her e-scooter. She beamed at me and said, ‘It’s like my car.’
If increasingly women discover the benefits, and we have a transport system that will enable them, and women finger unscratched using them, then there could be so much potential for uptake wideness age groups.
And if there are changes in regulations and infrastructure, the next generation of women – many of whom have ripened fantastic scooting skills in diaper – will see e-scooters as a positive way to get themselves about. And one that is 100% for them.
This vendible is part of our She’s electric Series – Electric inspiration for forward thinkng women.
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