Dangerous e-scooter riders could be banned from renting vehicles under safety overhaul

Risky e-scooter riders who swerve, brake and drive where they shouldn’t face tough new bans banned under a safety shake-up.

Exclusive: E-scooter riders will be given safety ratings based on how dangerously they drive in public and the riskiest users will be banned from renting vehicles under a massive shake-up proposed by an up-and-coming scooter rental firm.

Superpedestrian, which is pitching for its LINK scooters to be introduced in trials around Australia, recently acquired sensor technology to detect erratic and illegal riding, and even if a user is riding on a footpath or bike path when not allowed.

The news comes after the tragic death of an e-scooter rider in Brisbane on July 19 and follows research that showed almost 800 people visited the city’s hospitals in 18 months with an injury sustained while using an “electric personal mobility device” — most of them rented e-scooters.

Superpedestrian Asia Pacific regional director Mitchell Price rides a LINK e-scooter. The company is pitching to bring its e-scooters to Australia with a new system that will rate riders for safety.

Superpedestrian Asia Pacific regional director Mitchell Price, who previously launched Lime scooters Down Under in 2018, said the two-wheeled vehicles had developed a bad reputation among some members of the community, fuelled by irresponsible riders who ignored safety rules.

“These things, if they’re not used correctly, can be dangerous,” he said.

“We’re the only company with an electric scooter that has this (safety) facility and if you aren’t careful you will be kicked off the platform.”

Mr Price said the Defence System, developed by Navmatic, would be added to LINK scooters to detect behaviour including aggressive swerving, repeated hard braking, riding on footpaths when not allowed, and riding the wrong way down one-way streets.

Riders would receive warnings on the e-scooters when bad behaviour was detected, and crashes would be recorded, allowing the scooter operator to share details with police.

In extreme cases, Mr Price said the system would also automatically slow or stop a ride to prevent injury.

“At the end of each ride, every rider will receive a safety rating and that will be used to deliver them in-app messages,” he said. “It’s like an Uber rating and we will ban them if they continue to be unsafe riders.”

Recent research from the Jamieson Trauma Institute found 797 people visited Brisbane hospitals after sustaining injuries on e-scooters, Segways and hoverboards in an 18-month period.

Regular e-scooter rider Nina Clarke commutes to work on her trusty, two-year-old vehicle. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

Almost 80 per cent of those injuries were suffered by people who had rented e-scooters.

Regular rider Nina Clarke, who uses her e-scooter to commute to work in Brisbane’s CBD, said she would welcome new safety measures for rental scooters, as there was often a big difference between people who borrowed and owned the vehicles.

“Whenever I come across someone on a rental scooter, they’re often swerving all over the place, whereas people on their own scooters are wearing helmets and just using them as transport,” she said.

“I would never be risky on my scooter. I don’t want to damage it!”

Mr Price said Boston-based Superpedestrian, which operates in 35 cities worldwide, had applied to introduce e-scooters in trials held in Hobart and Launceston in Tasmania and Rockhampton in Queensland.

The company would also seek to join e-scooter trials in Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide, he said, but would have to wait longer for a Sydney trial put on hold earlier this year.

But Mr Price said the mode of transport, while challenging, could help bring life back into Australian city centres.

“I see e-scooters as a critical part of getting people back into CBD’s after the pandemic,” he said. “This could get people back to restaurants and cafes and supporting local businesses and leaving their cars at home.”