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Queenslanders fear electric scooters are a threat to pedestrians

Survey results show what Queenslanders fear about newly legalised electric scooters and who they think should be held liable after a crash that damages property or injures a pedestrian.

Lime Scooters are available to hire around Brisbane.
Lime Scooters are available to hire around Brisbane.

MORE than 50 per cent of pedestrians do not trust authorities to enforce laws for electric scooters and 70 per cent are scared of sharing the footpath with riders travelling at 25km/h, according to a survey.

GC COUNCIL DECLARES WAR ON SCOOTERS

The survey of 1000 Queenslanders taken in the five days before Christmas by insurer Budget Direct found that only 50 per cent of people were confident they would know all the rules if they rode an electric scooter.

Mayank Mittal, Vinicius Machado Campos and Mitchell Price, at Brisbane Botanical Gardens, launched Lime electric scooters in Brisbane. Picture: AAP/Claudia Baxter
Mayank Mittal, Vinicius Machado Campos and Mitchell Price, at Brisbane Botanical Gardens, launched Lime electric scooters in Brisbane. Picture: AAP/Claudia Baxter

The State Government legalised electric scooters in December last year just after US company Lime Scooters launched a trial of the machines around inner-Brisbane.

The Government regulations limited the maximum speed to 25km/h and banned their use on roads.

Daniel Follett suffered multiple injuries in a scooter accident in Brisbane recently. Picture: AAP/David Clark
Daniel Follett suffered multiple injuries in a scooter accident in Brisbane recently. Picture: AAP/David Clark

The company has come under fire over injuries and scooters left littering footpaths.

It was forced to abandon a second trial on the Gold Coast after council officers seized dozens of scooters from the streets.

Brisbane residents Daniel Follett and Julia Kent both spent time in hospital last month after coming a cropper on Lime Scooters.

Between the two of them injuries included a fractured pelvis and fibula, a tibia that broke into six pieces, a cracked femur and a shattered ankle.

Lime Scooters have been seen abandoned around Brisbane. Picture: AAP/John Gass
Lime Scooters have been seen abandoned around Brisbane. Picture: AAP/John Gass

More than 52 per cent of ­respondents thought electric scooters posed the greatest threat to pedestrians, while 21 per cent thought riders were at most risk.

More than three-quarters of respondents wanted riders to be liable if they damaged property or injured another person.

Australia's first electric scooter

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queenslanders-fear-electric-scooters-are-a-threat-to-pedestrians/news-story/9f005691a52eced67e7e848e8f481dff