‘Bolt’ Scooters seen in Funchal

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

The urban scooter rental platform and TVDE service ‘Bolt’, seems to be committed to strengthening its presence in the Region.

Today, a scooter of this platform was seen to be transported, in Funchal, on Rua do Bom Jesus.

The departure of Uber – competing TVDE platform – from Madeira, scheduled for May 6th, may justify Bolt’s biggest opportunity. At the moment, green scooters only circulate in Lisbon.

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Tobi Hughes

39 Responses

  2. We have VOO electric scooters all over Northamptonshire UK now and they are proving to be a big pain in the backside. Underaged users, dangerous misuse and careless parking being the worst offences. Hopefully they will be a lot better managed in Madeira

  4. They are rife in the Canary Islands,I do not know how they are licenced.
    Very young teenagers run amoke in very populated areas.
    A few years back my then very young grandson just missed sustaining a serious injury due to the
    quick action of my son-law who managed to grab him to safety when a young lad crashed and was thrown from the scooter into our seating area.
    I just hope the authorities have strict regulations on the use of them,otherwise we will be spending the entire holiday dodging them.

  5. Theres not enough room for pedestrians on the few pavements let alone these things,
    This is a disaster waiting to happen, as if not enough damage to tourism without this mad idea.

  6. Are these people talking about that little green scooter in the photo or a new weapon of mass destruction? ??

  8. These things can travel at incredible speeds and are causing havoc on both roads and pavements and believe me have been responsible for quite a number of deaths and serious injuries. Do research.

    1. Let me see if I can help. Just imagine, if you can, that you are walking along a pavement in Funchal, you turn a corner and without warning a five foot, plus, 12/13 Stone idiot, travelling at 15 MPH plus, faster than you can run, body smashes you. I guarantee your first thoughts will not be, that was one of those little green scooters they’re all going on about. Your first thought will be Christ, that was painful, your second, I think somethings broken, your third, I hope he’s insured. The last thing you will be thinking of is, What smart ass comment can I post.

  11. Surely these should be forbidden from use on pavements although I can see how useful they would be for travelling up the many steep hills in Funchal, especially the one from the port entrance up to the Carlton Hotel. It could be quite interesting going down that hill in one though….

  12. The extreme Anish 8s a Riov RD 90 at top speed 75 miles per hour a lot do around 50MPH and most do 30MPH so your bits are really not safe at all. Where they are being trialled in UK they are causing real issues. Dont we have enough issues here with bikes in packs when cruise ships are in!!! But what do I know!!!!

  14. Thank you, Tobi. It seems that BOLT replaces UBER on the island. I wonder why… Anyway, we enjoyed the convenience and good experience with Uber. And we look forward to riding BOLT taxi in July on the island.☺️

  17. Googled Bolt scooter problems UK and can’t find a single problem reported. Only problem I have found was the autocorrection from dangly to fancy in my earlier comment…..

    1. Strangely it seems Husain Bolt does not appear to have publicised any problems with his scooters in the UK, one reason maybe that at their launch, April 2020 they were illegal. Whether they are now, I don’t know but neither are stocked by Argos or Halfords, two leading retailers. This maybe why you haven’t found a single problem reported.

      Quote from the Halfords Web Site.
      Where can electric scooters be used?
      It’s illegal to use them on public roads, on pavements, in cycle lanes and in pedestrian-only areas. The reason for this is that electric scooters are currently classed as ‘powered transporters’ by the government and fall under the same laws and regulations that apply to all motor vehicles. This makes their use on pavements, in cycle lanes and in pedestrian-only areas illegal straightaway and use on public roads would only be legal if electric scooters could meet the same requirements as motor vehicles (e.g. in terms of insurance, tax, license, registration), which they can’t.
      Do you need insurance for an electric scooter?
      No, you don’t currently need insurance (and can’t actually get it) because it’s not legal to ride electric scooters on public roads.
      Government trials are being held in the UK but only in certain designated areas.Riders can only use hired scooters.
      In short you can ride them in your garden.

  18. Thank you for your very informative research George Nabbs.
    Your comments never fail.

  19. I thank you as well, some people just shout off and don’t want to listen, its been a serious issue for some time, blind people etc have issues with these things and deaf people due to silent running. Here you have the added problem of very few pavements so you already have a dangerous mix of pedestrians and motor vehicles without electric scooters in the mix and yes including cyclists all should have insurance.

  20. Ok. So they cannot be driven in UK except in a private garden. Yet they are really dangerous to the public on footpaths and lots of problems have been reported. ‘Do research’. Done research. No problems found. What do you know? Not a lot….

  21. They are being used illegally, there is a lot of concern about them. Read the other blogs, don’t get yourself upset because your view is not accepted, they will be badly used here, as lots of things are ignored when it comes to H and S the island has a very poor track record.

  22. Please do not be concerned for me OBE. I think your misinformation is unhelpful, not upsetting. Don’t worry….

    1. I think Harrys “misinformation” is a little better than your lack of information. You ought to polish up your search skills. If you had put in Electric Scooters, Incidents, just like me, within 45 seconds you would have come across this article from the Lancashire Evening Post.
      Police reveal hundreds of incidents involving ‘menace’ e-scooters
      Electric scooters are being used in hundreds of offences including assaults, burglaries and anti-social behaviour, according to police data.
      By Iain Lynn
      Monday, 26th April 2021, 4:42 pm
      Trials of e-scooter hire schemes have been permitted in cities across Britain since July last year, but most crimes are believed to involve private e-scooters, which can only legally be used in the UK on private land but are a common sight on roads and pavements.
      Incidents involving the scooters have been disclosed by forces in response to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests.
      In a reply seen by the PA news agency, Norfolk Constabulary listed details of 120 reports.
      They included “suspects on electric scooters” following an assault, a male on an e-scooter who carried out a burglary, and a person who “made off from police” using an e-scooter.
      A number of traffic offences were also outlined by the force, such as an e-scooter pulling a trailer on a 60mph road, and an “intoxicated male” who left a supermarket car park on an e-scooter following an altercation.There was also a “minor injury” when an e-scooter was “ridden into side of a car”, the force said.
      Cleveland Police said that between January and November last year, incidents involving e-scooters included anti-social behaviour (23), suspicious behaviour (six), transport (four) and robbery (two).
      The force did not provide details of individual cases, but disclosed that two people were “knocked down by someone on an e-scooter”.
      The Daily Mail received responses from other forces, including London’s Metropolitan Police (more than 200 incidents in 2020) and Merseyside Police (more than 100 incidents in 2020).
      Derbyshire Constabulary recorded 27, while the total for Staffordshire Police was 23, according to the newspaper.
      Chris Theobald, senior campaigns manager at charity Guide Dogs, said: “Legalising e-scooters would have a dramatic and irreversible effect on our streets.
      “We have one chance to make sure that people with sight loss and other disabilities do not lose out as a result.
      “We are concerned that as e-scooter use grows, more people with sight loss will be forced to change their route or avoid independent travel altogether.
      “We need action now to make e-scooters safer, tackle dangerous and anti-social behaviour by e-scooter drivers and to stop sales of high-speed e-scooters.
      David Davies, director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, told the Daily Mail the police figures demonstrate that e-scooters are “a bloody menace”.
      He went on: “We have an interim situation where the Department for Transport is monitoring trials, meanwhile people are buying them hand over fist in shops and clearly using them, and we don’t feel retailers are necessarily being responsible.
      “The restrictions are not tough enough on sale as there’s no regulation at all.”
      Riders who take part in the trials need a valid driving licence, while the e-scooters have a maximum speed of 15.5mph.
      David Davies, director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, told the Daily Mail the police figures demonstrate that e-scooters are “a bloody menace”.
      He went on: “We have an interim situation where the Department for Transport is monitoring trials, meanwhile people are buying them hand over fist in shops and clearly using them, and we don’t feel retailers are necessarily being responsible.
      I think an apology to Harry, might be in order.

  23. I’m not, i’m worried for others if your approach of its not going to be an issue is taken, my OBE was given for caring about others not myself, something I still do.

  25. George thank you.( I did read this about a week ago)
    Erin I do.
    I worked in a job that required a great degree of H and S method statements and risk assessment involvement so its part of me to look into the broader picture, but what I find more helps than anything else is common sense approaches when analysing risk. It isn’t common sence to mix these things with pedestrians or road vehicles, so if that is an accepted fact, the TONGUE in cheek comment about only able to use in back garden is all your left with!!
    The latest mishap arrived on my phone this morning google 3 year old Milosz Gleda and see what we have been aligning too.

  26. Ok, apologies if I have offended anyone’s sense of self-importance. Should have realised Brits are much better informed about these things than their Madeiran hosts. In which case maybe more effective to complain to the authorities than on here. Or perhaps not. Because what do they know?

  28. In my post I commented on a very personal experience.
    My grandson who was six at the time escaped serious injury when we were seated outdoors.
    We also spent the entire holiday dodging such scooters that are hired out to irresponsible users.

    Perhaps taking the time to read other forums might just enlighten some folks about the danger and havoc they can cause.

    We are all entitled to share our thoughts and experiences on blogs or forums is that not the purpose of them.?

  29. Anish
    You are conceited arrogant and don’t want to listen to the other more informed arguments your apology is not required or accepted as its thrown not given. You were the one who put forewqrd counter arguments based on nothing and when you don’t like the informed replies you don’t accept with good grace that you acted on impusle you try and put forward more arguments but then based on nothing at all that aligns to the initial blog. Or the fact that others have added weight to the concerns and copied recent media concerns about these things.
    Its also obvious that these concerns are getting to the right people as if YOU READ what George put forward they are being brought to the commons in UK

  30. OBE. This blog is about life in Madeira. What has the House of Commons got to do with the subject matter here? And it is bad manners to shout in posts. No need for that.

  31. I live here, and my manners are not in question.
    You belittled what people were aligning to about this, so who’s manners are in question.

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