Diana Reed calls on Adelaide City Council to be held accountable after an e-scooter crash left her living in pain

A woman is living a life of pain after a teen girl smoking a cigarette ran over her foot with e-scooter – now she says the City Council must be held accountable.

A woman suffering from ongoing trauma after she was struck by an e-scooter while walking on a busy city footpath says Adelaide City Council “need to be held accountable”.

Diana Reed struggles to move around the house pain-free after a 15-year-old girl – who was smoking a cigarette while riding a Beam scooter illegally – ran over her foot when she was walking along Pulteney Street in February.

Ms Reed said she suffered serious damage to the ligaments and tendons in her foot.

“I’ve had MRIs, X-rays and seen several doctors, but I haven’t been able to walk properly since,” she said.

Diana Reed’s foot was injured when a girl ran over it on a busy city street. Picture Dean Martin

“My quality of life has diminished – I can no longer walk to work, I can’t walk on the beach, I just have to live with a certain amount of pain in my ankle.”

After realising the extent of her injuries Ms Reed said she explored a number of avenues to have the incident addressed.

“Beam took 11 days to respond, which was bad enough, but it is written into their terms and conditions that as soon as someone is breaking the law they aren’t liable,” Ms Reed said.

“Police were also limited because there were no laws they could apply to the incident.”

She then turned to Adelaide City Council, even attending one of their meetings to share her story.

Diana Reed's foot remained swollen and bruised for months after the incident. Picture: Supplied

“My goal has been to ensure what happened to me doesn’t happen to other people, so I spoke at the ACC to try and enact change in regards to pedestrian safety,” she said.

“There should be speed limits in more populated areas. The irony of all this is where it happened is just metres from Rundle Mall where scooters can’t be used.”

She said her appeal fell on deaf ears.

“It’s just not good enough for councillors to murmur about making change and then not do anything,” she said.

“I understand making new state laws takes time, but the council has approved these scooters to whiz along the footpaths at high speed with the potential for injury at any moment, so they need to be held accountable in the absence of those laws.”

City council Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said she had flagged potential changes with the state government.

“I acknowledge that Diana has had an awful experience and that is not something we want repeated,” she said.

“I have also written to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure to ask that the state government consider allowing e-scooters to be ridden on bike lanes and roads instead of footpaths, similar to other capital cities.”

The e-scooter trial is due to cease at the end of October, but Ms Verschoor said they were a “great and sustainable way to move through the city”.

“I thank Diana for coming in and talking to council about her experience and her desire to look for an appropriate balance between those who enjoy e-scooters and the safety of pedestrians in the city,” she said.

Beam has been contacted for comment.

Adelaide University lecturer Dr Julia Miller revealed she was exploring legal options after she was hit and severely injured by an e-scooter rider in Melbourne.