I replied earlier today to a post about lessons learned during travels in Europe, but now discovered that many of the OP’s posts, all made in just the past two days, have been deleted, with Rick lying on the floor. Perhaps my reply’s going away, too, but it took some time to compose (yes, many of my entries are lengthy), so to justify the time involved, I’m reposting it here.
In addition to just more crowds in general, e-scooters and e-bikes seem to be exponentially increasing in major European cities. Personal experiences, and many near-misses, include London, Oslo, Copenhagen, Cagliari, Strasbourg, Warsaw, and …
In addition to the wonderful things that draw us all to Europe, increasingly, beware of fast but mostly silent vehicles on sidewalks, in crosswalks, and moving around on Plazas/Piazzas/Places/Platzen/Squares! One shouldn’t underestimate the potential hazards, especially if you’re looking at fascinating sights, when distractions could make the situation even more hazardous. In the last few years, there’s been a vast increase in bicycles and and stand-up scooters in big cities. The riders often seem to be oblivious to others.
Several years ago, I saw a well-dressed, middle-aged woman in Nice who was riding a Razor-type scooter on a narrow, uneven sidewalk that had lots of pedestrians on it, walking in each direction. She seemed silly, coasting on a kid’s toy, using her foot to occasionally push forward, boosting her speed. With the advent now of electric rental bikes and scooters, from Lime and other companies, with bicycle docking stations scattered throughout cities and scooters left willy-nilly on sidewalks, littering corners, crosswalk entrances, and doorways to shops and restaurants, they seem to be everywhere. Actually, people riding them seem to be everywhere in cities, sometimes riding the wrong way on streets, running red lights, appearing out of nowhere and buzzing people crossing the street, and zipping through crowds in plazas, often way too fast, without a clear indication that they’re overtaking someone or where they’re going as they weave to and fro.
I’ve witnessed a couple of collisions, but I’ve been told the number of injuries to people is increasing exponentially. To repeat an old saying in the U.S., originally referring to fellow motorists, but now applicable to many of these e-bike and e-scooter riders, is, “Watch out for the other guy.” That’s because they likely aren’t watching out for you!
There also seems to be an increase in strollers on sidewalks these days, and they almost all seem to be double-wides. Lots of families must be having twins, or two children close together. On a narrow sidewalk, there’s not a lot of room for them and others, and somebody’s going to have to step out into the street. If there’s a silent bicycle or scooter in that street, in addition to cars and trucks, that’s something else to watch out for.