More electric scooters set to storm Australian cities as experts warn riders about helmets, injuries
More electric scooters are about to hit NSW and Queensland, but one operator’s controversial move has sparked major concerns.
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More cashed-up foreign tech firms are expected to launch electric scooters on Australian streets imminently, with the zippy, low-cost “rideables” expected to appear in Sydney, Canberra, and some regional centres within weeks.
But with at least one e-scooter start-up planning to arrive without offering helmets to riders, experts have warned regulators to carefully consider the safety implications of changing laws and allowing new entrants.
The warning comes after the death of one rider in Brisbane this year, and a study that showed almost half of rented scooters were ridden illegally even when helmets were provided.
New players in Australia’s burgeoning electric scooter market include the $2.5 billion American scooter giant Bird, which advertised for someone to head up Australian operations this week, and Texas-based Frog, which told News Corp it was in negotiations with authorities in capital cities and regional centres to roll out the first “commercial grade” scooters in Australia.
But unlike other scooter operators, Frog territory manager Matt Hankin said the company would not supply helmets and would instead rely on “riders bringing their own helmets” on their daily commutes.
“We want people to wear them but we can’t find a viable way to actually include them on the scooters at this point,” he said.
“It’s really difficult to put helmets on scooters because they just get stolen. It’s hard to run a business when you’re losing $15 to $20 wholesale cost on a scooter every time someone rides one.”
But Lime Asia Pacific government strategy policy director Mitchell Price said Australia’s mandatory helmet laws were consistent across all states and new operators needed to address it.
“The rules are there and if you’re not going to abide by them then you probably shouldn’t come,” Mr Price said.
“You can’t just come to Australia and put bikes or scooters on the streets and walk away from them.”
Queensland University of Technology professor Narelle Haworth, from the university’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, said research showed getting scooter riders to wear helmets was difficult even when they were provided.
In a study of 785 e-scooter rides this year, Ms Haworth found almost half were illegal as riders went without a helmet, rode on the road, or carried a passenger.
“When we did our study, we found the helmet-wearing rate was high for privately owned scooters but nowhere near as high for the hire-scheme ones,” she warned.
“That suggests that people who are hiring scooters are potentially not going to be the type of people who bring their own helmets along.”
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Ms Haworth said a no-helmet policy could leave tourists and riders who wanted to rent a scooter on the “spur of the moment” at risk.
Mr Hankin said Frog’s scooters could help raise safety standards in Australia, however, as they featured heavier frames, inflated tyres, and more effective brakes.
“There are a lot of operators who are jumping on the bandwagon but we like to think we’re a bit different,” he said.
Frog is currently in discussions with regional centres weighing up the Brisbane scooter trial, he said, as well as working groups in Canberra and Sydney.
Electric scooters have skyrocketed in popularity since late 2017, with scooter-sharing firms now in more than 100 cities.
But their arrival has not been without controversy or injuries, with Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and Australasian Injury Prevention Network finding 134 people were treated for injuries on or by Lime scooters in Brisbane hospitals over just two months this year, including three with severe head injuries.
ELECTRIC SCOOTER LAWS ACROSS AUSTRALIA
QUEENSLAND: Competing firms Lime and Neuron rent scooters around Brisbane city following a trial last year. The state’s rewritten rules for “rideables” include a top speed of 25km/h, a working brake, no sharp protrusions, and a maximum weight of 60kg. Riders must wear a helmet, be supervised by an adult between 12 and 16 years, refrain from using a mobile phone, be under the blood alcohol limit, and have working lights. E-scooters can be ridden on footpaths but riders must give way to pedestrians, and riding on the road is restricted.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Two electric scooter companies, Beam and Ride, rent vehicles in Adelaide’s city streets with support from the local council. The trial is being contained to an 11-block area within the CBD, around but not including Rundle Mall. Riders must be at least 18 years old, wear an approved helmet, stow their mobile phone, be under the blood alcohol limit, and ride on footpaths under 15km/h. Private electric scooters are not allowed on public roads or paths.
NEW SOUTH WALES: A working group is developing an e-scooter trial in Sydney following the rollout of Lime electric bikes. Areas tipped for scooter trials include Manly, Bondi, and Newcastle. Currently, New South Wales residents cannot register electric scooters and they can only be used on private property.
VICTORIA: Two electric scooter trials have been held in Melbourne, with Lime scooters at Monash University’s Clayton campus and Australian company Ride operating in St Kilda. Victorian laws allow riders to travel at 10km/h on footpaths, and helmets are mandatory. Law reforms are currently being considered.
ACT: Electric scooters are currently not allowed on footpaths or roads, but talks are under way for an e-scooter trial.
WA: Lime is in talks to test e-scooter sharing in Perth, and to raise the current speed restriction from 10km/h to 15km/h.
TAS: Only scooters with a motor of 200 watts or less are allowed in Tasmania, and they are not allowed to travel faster than 10km/h.
Originally published as More electric scooters set to storm Australian cities as experts warn riders about helmets, injuries