‘Safety has to come first’: E-scooters banned in Brisbane party districts in six-month trial

Shared e-scooters will be locked from midnight to 5am on weekends in Brisbane’s party precincts in a six-month safety trial from December 1 in a bid to stop ‘pointless, alcohol-fuelled’ injuries.

Shared e-scooters will be locked from midnight to 5am on weekends in Brisbane’s CBD and Fortitude Valley in a six-month safety trial from December 1.

The shutdown means e-scooter users won’t be able to start new trips in the Brisbane CBD safe night precinct area on Friday and Saturday nights but will be able to end a trip in those zones.

Brisbane Councillor Ryan Murphy, who posted the announcement on Facebook, said “safety has to come first.”

“The vast majority of e-scooter users do the right thing, but too many pointless rider injuries happen after midnight in the CBD and Valley, often fuelled by alcohol,” he said

Cr Ryan Murphy has announced an overnight ban of e-scooters in Brisbane party precincts. File picture: Josh Woning)

“From 1 December, e-scooters inside these precincts will lockout between 12am and 5am on Friday and Saturday nights, as part of a six-month trial to improve safety for users.”

Cr Murphy said a 15km/h speed limit will also apply to Beam and Neuron shared e-scooters during these hours.

An analysis of overnight e-scooter incidents reported by Queensland Ambulance Service each day this year has revealed Fortitude Valley and Brisbane City have the highest crash rate where riders need medical attention.

Paramedics have been called to at least one crash a week in 2021 and this month has been the worst yet with 12 overnight incidents reported, including seven in the past week.

Emergency Department specialist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Dr Gary Mitchell said the number of injured e-scooter riders presenting at emergency departments was actually much higher with almost three to four at his hospital alone each day.

Emergency services at the scene of an accident involving and e-scooter in Fortitude Valley on November 9. Picture: David Clark

The Jamieson Trauma Institute researcher who instigated a review of the incidence and nature of injuries across Brisbane said there had been a gradual increase across the Royal Brisbane, Mater and Princess Alexandra hospitals.

Dr Mitchell believes the higher number of overnight crashes at Fortitude Valley and in the city could be linked to alcohol consumption.

“In one of the publications we released, a quarter of the patients presented had alcohol on board and over half of them weren’t wearing helmets,” he said.

“The spikes in presentations are on the weekends and in the evenings from 6pm to midnight.”