German Esk8 Laws

Wish you all the best that the fine won´t be too high. Guess we have to establish a fund for busted German esk8ers :confused:

Instead of commuting all day you could look for a nice lonely spot like a large industrial area on sundays where you can take at least one ride a week. Of course riding there is also illegal but the chance of getting caught is by far smaller as in everyday commuting.

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What about organizing events

  • into Berlin / Amsterdam / Brussels
  • inviting all local and foreign supporters for a demonstration
  • plus all the big names making money from boards (evolve, boosted, etc.)
  • to hand over a petition to the related minister / officer / board to let them handle the situation on EU / country level?

It would also help to have not only some references listed but related laws attached (e.g. from where it is already controlled and has adoptable rules).

I’m pretty sure fighting for it individually won’t solve this in short/mid-term.

R, J.

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Of course that’s an option, but if you experienced the freedom of riding everywhere it’s boring in a small area. It was just epic to grab the board and have a nice ride to some friends and that was what made an e-skate so valuable for me. Of course I love skating, but how long would it be funny to ride in an industrial area? Typically those areas are flat without hills and turns. My lawyer suggested me to go on a go-cart track and I might do that if I find somebody in my area to join. Maybe its fun but where is the point to go by car to a go-cart track to ride there when I could do it in front of my door with infinite road?

Anyway! Right know I’m just pissed and angry when I see all the e-skate stuff I bought, because I planned to extend this epic hobby. It’s be far the best thing I had in the last couple of years and for now its on ice. I hope that I can enjoy riding on the streets legal at some point, but for now I just want to save my own arse. Right now I don’t know if I will ride illegal in future, but when I decide against I have a lot of parts to sell :smiley:

@kovjanos Sounds great and if someone sets something up I’ll be there!

I’m curious about the people who make money with it as well. I mentioned earlier that it should be in there interest to make the product legal in the EU. Evolve and Boosted should have the financial background to do it, because that’s all you need for a law. MONEY! The Segway is the greatest example of all time because they paid a shit load of money for a new vehicle category where the vehicle is called “Segway.” Nice move because the marked is blocked for me too products. So in long-term you may get your money back if you have the exclusive right. Time for the big players to create a monopoly and fuck the DIY community.

Do you have an example?

Greetings out of Amsterdam. I have been driving in Berlin for the past two weeks and had no problem yet. I saw 2 guys with a selfmade eskate today in Amsterdam but couldnt stop them and ask whether they are on the eskate forum too lol Back in Berlin I ride on the “Tempelhofer Feld (Flughafen)” without any problems with the police. Id love to organize a meeting. @tarzan could ride there too without any issues with da police :slight_smile:

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eSk8 law: isn’t it CA who has some kind of state law for it?

A good example is the international study about transforming city designs for more cycle friendly roads. Lazy politicians in many big cities from different countries already re-used those study results…

R, J.

I have been to Tempelhof and it was kinda cool because it’s that huge! I would go there to beat the high-speed record on an electric, although the pavement is a bit on the rough side. If you have ridden a nice twisty mountain road at speed you get addicted to turns :smiley: Carving is cool no doubt, but I prefer some hills.

EDIT: Of course I would join a meet up there!

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Yeah on insane days it takes me 30-45 mins to burn the raptor battery. Just non stop 40kmh+ Let us wait for more interested people and find a good date

Edit: where did you live again? Id love a mate to drive with in Berlin

riding without a motor isnt too bad anyway, mayby try pumping setups or something super versatile like the icarus!

or keep on working on super stealth setups and only ride 20kph tops! i found that if you set up your board to be really turny, even 20kph can be fun with carving! :slight_smile:

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CA’s law in a nushell

  • Okay to ride on bikeways, trails
  • Okay to ride on roads with up to 35mph speed limit
  • Need to wear helmet, regardless of age.
  • 15mph speed limit anywhere.
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Yeah but nobody cares about the specifics of the esk8 law for California where I live they just know that it’s legal. Every time I go past a cop in my neighborhood (usually around 15-20mph) they are more curious than skeptical.

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I go 30mph all the time, just saying what the letter of the law actually says.

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Very close to Hagen but I have some relatives in Berlin. So a visit will happen but it takes four hours with the train. I will let you know when I’m in Berlin next time.

@whitepony I’m building a compact one with hubs right know to make it more stealthy. I have a set of Jacobs so they shouldn’t be to fast. In my region aren’t a lot of flat areas for carving and pumping. The motor especially the brake feature make the electric skateboard so valuable for me. Hills are a pain when you are on Flintstone mode. My daily ride had + 400 meters elevation compared to my start.

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Well I just got busted by a guy from the Campus security services. I am not allowed to use it on campus and next time he sees me again using it he will take the board and take me to the university presidium office.

This basically means that I have no longer a place to lightheartedly ride this thing in Germany. The equipment for my second build already arrived (2 VESCs and Jacob Hub motors) and I probably have to think about selling it. Anybody interested? :cry:

Man, for a country so well known for loving efficiency, your “law enforcement” seems to love being a buzz kill :confused:

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That really sucks! Here in Portugal I think no one will bother me if they see me riding an electric longboard. A few weeks ago I passed by a motorcicle accident with several cops around. While I was riding in the bike lane only one looked at me just checking what it was that I was riding.

The polititians here have more important or not so important things to think about. No one will care about electric longboards if they can make a tax over it and for now there aren’t that many electric longboards in Portugal. I only know about mine and saw one E-Go a few months ago.

Couldn’t out run him?

They are illegal here in AUS too because a guy on a motorbike killed a lady last year. Yeah, that makes sense…

He was in a car behind me and I did not see him. You will never be able to constantly check your surroundings - so this was just a matter of time. At least I did not get fined because it was private property, but it sucks nonetheless. Especially knowing that the laws will not change in the near future it makes me so angry that Germany is wasting such a potential for cleaner cities and easier commutes.

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But there are never any police roaming around where I live in AUS. People are just like holy shit, how sick is that!

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A guy in germany riding a Trampa actually got an official insurance and license plate for his board :astonished:

More information in the legal thread on the german esk8 forum:

Edit: @lox897 is posting a picture with a license plate ok or not? I just directly linked his image but feel weird posting it without editing the license plate Edit2: just to be safe I removed the picture

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