Forum Topic

E-Scooters: Fire on Tube prompts call for London Transport Ban

It happened at Parsons Green and passengers were evacuated off a train.  E-scooter battery overheated and e-scooter caught fire.  Evidently there has been an incident too, at a lost property office.What if you are living in a block of flats and an e-scooter battery starts a fire?

Martine Guy ● 1320d31 Comments

It is amazing how there do appear to be so many of these  privately owned scooters catching fire.  It looks as though they may need serious reappraisal and redesign.  But please still check out the Fire Brigade info for safe homes and use of electrical and battery items.  Also plan your exit route for you and your family just in case of fire.

Philippa Bond ● 1276d

Not sure I agree with their assumptions:"The ban will include all e-scooters and e-unicycles, but does not include mobility scooters that are permitted on the network or foldable e-bikes. E-bikes are generally subject to better manufacturing standards and the batteries are usually positioned in a place where they are less likely to be damaged, and so are less of a fire risk. Non-foldable e-bikes will continue to be allowed on some parts of the network at certain times of the day. More information can be found here:"https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycles-on-public-transport

Ed Robinson ● 1279d

Gabriel, I don’t think you have posted on the Forum before.   After you posted using only the name Gabriel, I think the moderators deleted one of your 3 posts and then your surname was added to the other 2.  When I got over myself, lol, I checked on 192.com and couldn’t find anyone with your name, but the only Gabriel Thorne I could find was a Spartan-IV Supersoldier who is a member of the UNSC Infinity Spartan contingent?  Whatever that is? Apologies if you really are Gabriel Thorne!

Martine Guy ● 1279d

Unfortunately it isn't just cladding that has been proved to be a problem but all sorts of other construction problems in buildings where building regulations have not been followed, or regulations reduced so as to make it cheaper to build with often more changes made post design just to make construction even cheaper. Then there are all the makeover changes that are made eg replacement of front doors and lobby doors which should be fire-rated and which should be kept closed for the safety of all the residents.  Without inspections and understanding - fire doors may not fit, fire door closers may not close the doors properly, closers may have been removed, with intumescent seals missing or painted over so they will not expand to fill gaps to seal the space between door and frame in a fire or will expand so as to actually push the door open instead. Fire doors that have been left propped open with flammable items left in the smoke lobbies, letterboxes that don't fit properly and fire alarms that don't work all add to the hazards. Poisonous smoke is likely to reach you before the fire.  And remember that the 24-storey Grenfell Tower had just the one staircase. A lot of these things are something that we should all be aware of when we think of making changes to our dream homes - and are not something you hear anything about in makeover programmes.You can ask the London Fire Brigade to come and give you advice on how safe your home is. Find out more here and you can also check out their extra information at the bottom of the article.https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-home/home-fire-safety-visits/Don't forget smoke and heat alarms and checking that they are working regularly!

Philippa Bond ● 1279d

So long as they’re foldable, if not then you can’t during peak hours or without good reason. I’ve cycled into town and found my tires deflated. Since the Buses are a straight no, explained to the tube staff, they’re happy to let me in.

Thomas Jones ● 1280d

Ed. Are you allowed to take bikes - whether of pedal or e varieties on the deep tubes?

Michael Ixer ● 1280d

Logically they would ban e-bikes too - if it's based on battery type and size. Otherwise it is a bit like banning cigarettes but allowing cigars.

Ed Robinson ● 1280d

I suspect a fire on a crowded train in a deep tube is going to be a far worse major disaster. If building regulations are followed a white goods fire in a flat should be contained in the unit it occurs. I realise that we now know blocks have been compromised with flammable cladding but I think the fire risk on a tube is still greater as there is NO escape route in a deep tunnel.

Michael Ixer ● 1281d

Gabriel has a point.  There are many fires caused by white goods.  Mobile phone batteries and laptop batteries can be a problem too.  As we have found out many buildings are not as safe as they should be so we all need to err on the side of caution.

Philippa Bond ● 1281d

What if you live in a Block of Flats and someone has a Fridge in their property... Seriously, get over yourself.

Gabriel Thorne ● 1283d

I understand e-scooters will be banned from London public transport, as from Monday.

Martine Guy ● 1284d

They don't always comply with the strict safety standards we are used to.  Cheaper can cost you dearly. https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/12/amazon-com-ebay-and-wish-found-selling-dangerous-recalled-products/And of course it is not just online.

Philippa Bond ● 1319d

They're Daytime Running Lights brought in by the EU in 2011 because they make vehicles more visible and help reduce accidents:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/daytime-running-lights/daytime-running-lights
https://www.powerbulbs.com/blog/2019/12/are-daytime-running-lights-compulsory

Michael Ixer ● 1319d

Matt, there on all the time, even in the summer.  Was a few years ago I was in car sales. Just curious, when you walk down the road look at the large cars, they are on all the time.

Barbara Stevens ● 1319d

Is that not just because many turn on automatically in dim light?

Matt Palmer ● 1319d

Andy, well that's good, has only cost you £40 a year so far, lets hope they continue for that price.  Hope there in a shed at the end of the garden.Does anybody know? Why are cars made now with lights on in the daytime, we have noticed headlights on now for ages. Also now on my other half's van is this for a reason. As they run off LED Batteries.

Barbara Stevens ● 1319d

I'll say one thing Barbara Lithium batteries are not cheap. The one for my golf trolley was over £200 and in 5 years never had a problem.

Andy Pike ● 1319d

Laptops, tablets and phones all have lithium batteries. Ban them all! Don't let them on the tube or in your house!

Michael Winstanley ● 1320d

Rereading that, I meant nuclear fission - although, of course, one can make a big ban with hydrogen fusion! 

Michael Ixer ● 1320d

Let's not forget how combustible petrol is.Hydrogen is likely to be used as part of our energy mix in the near future. Apparently it can be mixed with natural gas 20% to 80% natural gas without impacting boilers etc.As some things get safer new dangers are introduced. I guess that's life.

Ed Robinson ● 1320d

I agree Michael.  A Tesla car caught fire and it took 40,000 gallons of water to put out...Buildings have collapsed (until very recently) due to gas explosions.I think we should all keep things into perspective.

Ivonne Holliday ● 1320d

Let's be honest, energy is dangerous: electricity, gas, oil, nuclear fusion etc create heat - sometimes it leads to fires, explosions - or meltdowns ... :-/

Michael Ixer ● 1320d

Well if batteries are a problem perhaps they should be. My son was an electronics engineer and he always said don't buy cheap batteries.

Barbara Stevens ● 1320d

People's homes have also burnt down because of mobile phone batteries exploding.Should we ban those also?

Matt Palmer ● 1320d

Michael, this was a e-scooter but it could have been a e-fold up bike.Barbara - BYD & Telsa (Standard cars) are moving away from these kind of batteries to Lithium iron phosphate (LFP battery) which are cheaper and safer. I will be surprised if if Tesla do not switch to LFP for their trucks too.

Ed Robinson ● 1320d

It would appear that nolaw was broken her interns of riding the scooter - it was just being transported on the tube; as far as I'm aware that's not illegal?  We need to know more about the incident. At the moment we don't know the provenance of the e-scooter, perhaps they should be banned from being transported on the tube, but should we know more; was this an approved model, have similar issues occurred in countries were these were legal? Has UK's legislation meant substandard models are being imported because of legislative restrictions on approved models?

Michael Ixer ● 1320d

Just seen the BBC local news report.  The e-scooter caught fire in the carriage and was thrown onto the platform, so imagine what could have happened in a tunnel rather than at an overground station like Parsons Green.

Martine Guy ● 1320d

HelloAs you all know, e-scooters are still illegal in Wandsworth, but obviously not in Hammersmith and Fulham, or indeed Kensington and Chelsea.  This incident points to how very dangerous these scooters are. Confiscate them, fine the riders, and get them off the roads before somebody gets hurt or indeed,killed!

Carole Tanner ● 1320d

I find the report on the BBC website a bit confusing.  It says the e-scooter’s battery “exploded” at Parsons Green station.  But I can’t understand if this happened on the platform, where a film clip shows the scooter in flames on the platform, or did it happen in a carriage, and then the e-scooter was taken onto the platform to burn, because BBC report some passengers were “seen coughing on the platform as smoke billowed from several carriages”. Thankfully, no-one hurt but it could have been different if the incident had happened in a tunnel. They will be repeating the report on BBC local news in a few minutes.

Martine Guy ● 1320d

Just googled Martine, said the lithium battery was to blame. So how worrying is this with all the batteries in Electric cars.

Barbara Stevens ● 1320d

I heard about the incident on the tube train at Parsons Green on the lunchtime local news, so guess it will be repeated this evening.I hadn’t realised there have already been several incidents in flats.  Plenty to read about this on-line.  

Martine Guy ● 1320d