Police crack down Illegally Modified Electric Pedicab London

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dazzassj6

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Sydney, Australia
ok after watching this video i feel disgusted over the nanny state of london and how much the oil companies hate electric vehicles. Instead of fighting real crime these police crack down on people trying to make a living and have something environmentally friendly.

The media helps them blow the story out of proportion like it was some sort of terrorist attack. Quotes from media "it is so dangerous it can go up to 20mph!!!" "look what we found hiding under the seat, its powered by 4 car batteries, thats not only "CHEATING" but illegal"

Check out the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMc-BGBCSDw
 
Some clips:

They're endangering passengers lives...Council calls them deathtraps...electric rickshaws are an accident waiting to happen...unscrupulous...80% modified to run 20-MPH (I thought England was metric?)...Dangerously fast...hidden under the seat...(though one of them shown had a 20" front hub)

But then, a policeman and a competing pedi-cab business owner slip-up and tell the truth:
...Not paying for license, registration, or insurance...(AHA!! follow the money!)...competing pedi-cab owner: "we need to even the playing field"...(apparently tourists want to pay less than a car-cab, but want to get around faster than a manual pedi-cab?) The manual pedi-cabs were stated as averaging 5-MPH, and there was no comparison of how much the famous London (car) cab drivers charge per mile vs the electric pedi-cabs rate per mile.

edit: just saw locks post about this being 3 years old (I type slow)...I would support limiting the pedicabs to 10-MPH with random inspections, also requiring registration and insurance, as long as the pricess were scaled down to the reasonable costs of running the administration. If the car-cabs and manual pedi-cabs complain, tell them to lower their prices...
 
lol. how shit is that O_O
and the vocabulary, with dangerous, criminals...etc for..20 MPH
hey.. I loooooooooooooove medias ;)
Gruß,
H.
 
Things havn't settled down, I got a call from that pedicab owner recently, he had moved elsewherein europe and set up another fleet, but is facing similar problems all over again. The other pedicab owners are complaining that he's not legal. Really they are just jealous because his riders don't have to peddle as hard up hills!
 
Yeah, 5mph in the traffic lane with cars going by at 30mph is real safe..... :roll:

I"ve been in a pedicab twice. It felt like a torture test - how long until we get creamed by a drunk?
 
dazzassj6 said:
ok after watching this video i feel disgusted over the nanny state of london and how much the oil companies hate electric vehicles. Instead of fighting real crime these police crack down on people trying to make a living and have something environmentally friendly.
Check out the video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMc-BGBCSDw
Click to expand...

I suppose there has been a crack down on the video on the crack down. Got another source for it? Link? What was the official title/date of the show?
 
Not taking side with the crackdown but I have to agree that 20mph is VERY FAST & DANGEROUS for a 3 wheeled, non-suspension, high center of gravity, heavy pedicab. Anyone who has actually ridden a regular tricycle (not the low tadpole) would agree to this, I think.

I don't care if the pedicabs are electrified or not (they should be for practical purpose), but I think they should all be limited to a maximum of around 12mph (20kph).
 
Pedicabs do have rear suspension, massive hydraulic disk brakes on the rear axle and are extremely hard to flip over. Almost impossible to get one of the rear wheels off the ground if one person is in the back and just plain not gonna happen with more than one passenger. And that's trying like a bastard. But I'll rock side wheelies all day when I'm riding around empty.

The advantage of an electric assist would be huge for climbing hills when depending on the hill I'll be traveling somewhere between one and five mph. If it was limited to 15 top speed that is not that unreasonable, I go faster than that blasting down tremont street by the Boston commons or heading down the hill to Fenway park.

I've been on the trike almost four years now and I'll tell you, the biggest threat to the lives of the people on the streets whether it be a walker, cyclist or one of my passengers still remains to be the asshole drivers. By a huge margin. I'm hoping at some point they do allow electric assist here in Boston because then pedicabs could really become a viable alternative to taking cabs to get around the city. But as it sits now it's more of a entertainment thing as if you need to get to the other side of town I'm going to have to do some pretty mean hill climbing.
 
gestalt said:
Pedicabs do have rear suspension, massive hydraulic disk brakes on the rear axle and are extremely hard to flip over. Almost impossible to get one of the rear wheels off the ground if one person is in the back and just plain not gonna happen with more than one passenger.
Click to expand...
Ok. So some pedicab have rear suspension, but not all have it, correct? I don't think the following two have rear suspension, or am I wrong?
No suspension pedicab.JPG
No suspension pedicab 3.JPG
 
Those don't look like the do, but really any pedicab company worth it's salt uses "main street" pedicabs. There are also a couple other companies that make cabs that are similar in design, it's pretty much the industry standard.

A friend Of mine just bought his own, and we're throwing around the idea of modifying it to replace the mid drive with a hub motor.
 
gestalt said:
A friend Of mine just bought his own, and we're throwing around the idea of modifying it to replace the mid drive with a hub motor.
Click to expand...
That's great. Personally I would like to see all pedicabs electrified. It's just so "third-world" to see a human being transporting other human being(s) using his own power.

Anyway, a question for you: Do you have to get a special permit and pay some annual fee in order to operate an electric pedicab? If so, exactly what are they in Boston?
 
So far it's still a big no-no to electrify, and they strictly control the number of pedicabs in the city by means of issuing medallions. I also have to pay yearly for my hackney license, though it's not much.

My friend actually lives outside the city in sommerville, so we're hoping to get away with it and be ready when Boston loosens up. I have friends in city hall, with a little luck we can get our own small company started and have the trikes redesigned to be electrified.
 
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