There's not really ok on the roads either, I can tell you!

According to the law, it is OK.

Motorised scooters are treated the same as e-bikes.

This

The law says e-scooters should be considered as bicycles. In theory, OK for 20-50 km/h streets.

However, crash and insurance statistics say it's not OK

You posted at 5.47 am- so at what time were you out with your child illegally riding a scooter x2. I am puzzled.

but not with another person on, in this case, a child.

May be because they are accustomed to being treated with respect in their own countries. Instead of being yelled at by a moron with HS diploma for little to no reason.

'little to no reason' is a bit of an overstatement- he was possibly breaking the law X 2 - 2 on a scooter, on pavement/sidewalk.

Yes but my response was to the response to the text "Motorized scooters are not OK on the sidewalk."

There's a good summary of all the rules here:

https://www.astra.admin.ch/dam/astra...1.02.2019).pdf

Whether two riders is allowed is not entirely clear. It does give specific examples when it is allowed for bikes, for example if it has two sets of pedals - since in principle both people on a scooter can "scoot", is that equivalent?

No reason? The clarity of the OP leaves much to the imagination, but chances are the Police was trying to give them a warning for doing something silly on a scooter.
It looks like they took insult at not understanding the language, and that a police officer scolded them in front of their child. Imagine their indignation if they were arrested in front of their child?

As others have posted, ignorance does not mean immunity. If the incident is the way I see it, the police gave a warning, not exactly fined and racially discriminated against.

A policeman shouting for someone to obey the law is not them being a moron, they are doing their job. And you have no idea what qualifications the policeman had, you are just being insulting for no reason.

Cultural differences are normal - Swiss authorities bark at people, British ones apologise first, in the US they point a gun first, and so on. ()

I'm also pretty sure Korean police do not always just politely talk to people breaking the law, but then the OP is obviously biased.

Indeed cultural differences are normal, the police at home would have attempted extortion in a situation like this one

I don't know about BoredToDeath, but around where I live, police officers are often on a second career. (E.g. former primary school teachers who are tired of not being armed ).

Being local, properly helps as you know a bit better what law can be bend a bit and which laws should be better followed to the dot as the consequences can be quite severe.

Having a basic grasp of the local language also helps to understand what is being "barked":

I am inclined to think that it felt as if the officer barked at the OP because of this. The OP is located in Biel/Bienne and probably understands some French but no German. Added to the aggressive sounding nature of the said language, the existence of a mask (I am discounting a 'blingfold' as it sounds like the officer was in a car although he might only be on the passenger seat so might be blindfolded without endangering traffic) implies that the officer was trying to make themselves heard, as is the mention of a 'window' which tells us that both the officer's vehicle and the OP's scooter were in motion, hence the need to 'shout' to make oneself heard.

There is still a likelihood that the officer indeed barked at the OP (not my experience with police officers in CH unlike with ordinary citizens) but it is hard to know if the OP did anything to deserve such an extreme reaction as we are still not sure if it was a scooter bike which many here says allows a child to ride together with an adult or a ride-on scooter which apparently does not.

Still, it sounds like the OP was upset enough to post this at an ungodly hour (for a second I thought they might be JustintheExpat but seems unlikely as the OP's only other post is from 2019 and seems legit) and I can fully understand how it sometimes hurts so much when people seem to be rude at you as you feel helpless being a foreigner who does not understand the language.

Really? You seem to have a large beat...

I must say that threw me off a bit as well. Was it a translation mishap? Is the OP an ex-Korean cop turned engineer? So many unknowns in that first post.

As I found this story a bit difficult to understand, I paraphrased it, adding a few details which seemed to fit. OP, if I've misunderstood some part, please correct me.

I am a friendly Korean policeman.
My profile says I live in Biel/Bienne.

Today - 1st December 2020, some time earlier than my post at 05h47, when the temperature was around 1 to 2 degrees Centigrade - I was driving my child on an electric scooter.

As we passed the police station (or a police car) the policeman looked out through the window and shouted at me. He was wearing a blindfold. (Perhaps this means a face-mask?)
He shouted with a blindfold in front of my child.
He was like a teacher scolding a child.

If I'm breaking a law, he should have kindly told me the problem.
Of course I am ready to follow the law.
Are all the people of Switzerland memorizing all the laws?
Most light offenders may be caused by not knowing the law.

Actually, I don't speak German. So I don't know what the police were yelling at.
However, I was very offended and angry.

I have met the police 3 times in Switzerland so far, and all 3 are disappointed by their very unpleasant attitude.
It was like experiencing racism.
I think they need to be kinder to their citizens.

Dear Korean policeman,
I am surprised by your report.
I am surprised that, before 6 a.m., you were outdoors with your child, transporting him or her on an electric scooter, while the temperature was so low that with just a slight drop, or in a dip, one could reckon with ice on the ground.

I agree with the others who have posted that this behaviour could potentially be a safety risk to yourself and to your child (and to anyone else who could be involved in an accident with you).

If I were a policeman, and if I had seen you, I think I would have told you to stop doing that.
Even if I were not a policeman, I might have tried to stop you, for your own safety and because the child should not be endangered, and to try to keep others safe.

If you were driving past my window, and I wanted to try warn you not to do something that is potentially dangerous, I think it is very likely that I would have spoken loudly. I think I would have shouted out, to try to get your attention.

In such cold weather, it is very likely (at least I hope so) that you and your child were warmly dressed: winter cap, thick scarf, jacket, long trousers, strong shoes and gloves. In other words, a policeman at his window would have, as you passed, been able to see very little of your skin and hair, at all. It would have taken particularly high observations skill to have noticed, within the flash of a few seconds as you drove by, which race you were.

In the story as you have told it, I really see no connection, at all, with racism.

You were doing something that was potentially dangerous, and probably against the law. That doesn't seem wise or reasonable.
A policeman reprimanded or warned you. That seams reasonable.

Why were you offended?
Whey were you angry?

If you imagine the roles reversed, how would you, as a friendly Korean policeman, have handled this situation, in a friendlier way?

Link to the law, please.

Tom

In case of doubt, look for replies of aSwissInTheUS with a link to the laws
https://www.englishforum.ch/transpor...ter-rules.html

So, it's clear that:

• No riding on sidewalks
• No children under 14 YO allowed to use electric scooters.
• Only scooters homologated for road use: brakes on both wheels, front and rear lights, red rear reflector, and a bike bell.

On that thread John_H also posted a link from the Vaud police. Quite clear, no young under 14 YO should be on an electric scooter https://votrepolice.ch/regles-de-cir...-ou-et-comment

No specific law against about two people riding the same scooter, but considering the ban under 14 YO, that's already enough law breaking