Why dont more people use mopeds/scooters?

I agree the throttle rule is stupid - a lot of eBikes come with a "walk assist" feature that's technically illegal as it's a "throttle". My wife has an eBike and if she has to stop on a hill, finds it difficult to get restarted, a throttle would be useful in those circumstances, but it's not allowed. Similarly the ban on seats on eScooters - why? Why is it ok to sit on an eBike but not on an eScooter? It should just be limit on speed, power and weight.

For what its worth OP, I have two motorcycles (not Scooters/Mopeds obviously)
I used neither for commuting because:

1: Bike will get stolen if left on the street
2a: Again you get all you gear on, get the bike out of the shed, drive into town, park the bike and get changed in work clothes it's nearly as fast to use the DART/Luas
2b: Poor traffic management, road design means it's getting more and more difficult to filter, hence using two wheels is not as fast it should be.
3: Irish people in general are crap drivers (I've driven all over Europe and Irish and Italian are by the far the worst), you're gonna get knocked off.

All in all DCC have done a very poor job with traffic management and road design. They've made them narrower to accommodate cycle lanes (which is fine, I suppose) but it means the most efficient mode of transport (by far) has to take a back seat.

No, I'm not doing anything. You can attach any worthy cause to a situation and make yourself look like a white knight, however electrically propelled vehicles for people with disabilities may be another thread.

Schiebehilfe/Walk Assist is legal on pedelecs in Germany so long as it goes no faster than 6 kmph

Thanks for the gaslighting.

I'm not terrified of anything. General I don't make a distinction between pedal-only bicycles and other two wheelers: with rapid technology change, the distinctions between types of two wheels are betting blurrier. And they're getting faster, which is a source of stress for many.

But I do have a realistic understanding of the risks I face, and the likely consequences of being injured by an insured-driver vs an uninsured-cyclist.

On Sunday, I had to duck behind the bus shelter to make room for the bicycle-user who continued at the same speed while he undertook a bus that was letting off passengers. I didn't have to do similar to avoid any cars. That's one specific experience, but typical other others I've had, and observed.

There are more accidents involving cars, for sure. But that's because there are a lot more kilometers travelled by cars. The only meaningful comparisons are weighted to control for both numbers of car vs bicycle users, and distances travelled. I've not seen this anywhere.

Can't imagine anyone who can't manage an pedal assist bike being able to manage a throttle bike.

I think you can make your point without fringe cases. It quite obvious to spot a bike when someone isn't pedalling. I assume that's the reason for it.

That said it's mostly not being enforced, I can't see that changing.

Normal bicycles themselves are popular with people with limited mobility.

"...misperception. A Transport for London (2016) study found that 76 percent of people with disabilities could ride a bike, and approximately 15 percent sometimes used a bike to get around. Another study found that nearly-three-quarters of disabled cyclists (72 percent) used their bikes as mobility-assistive devices (Wheels for Wellbeing, 2018). Older people and those with disabilities often described cycling as easier than walking or propelling a wheelchair and viewed it as a main form of physical activity (Inckle, 2020, Wheels for Wellbeing., 2018). Furthermore, e-bikes enable older adults and people with physical or other health constraints that are not classified as a disability to engage in daily physical activity or bike more often (Johnson and Rose, 2015, Spencer et al., 2019)...."

Freewheeling lol. That literally only goes so far and so fast. Someone maintaining 30kph for any length of time without pedalling is very obvious.

I have no problem with the idea you might get more people out of cars if they could just use a slow eMoped. But are we really trying to get people out of cars. It feels like every mobility initiative is done with massive reluctance.

What you need is to find or create stats that prove your assertion that throttle ebike are not any more dangerous.