Gold Coast police and council prepare for crackdown on electronic scooter hoons
Gold Coast police and council are readying themselves to duke it out with hoons terrorising pedestrians on electronic scooters and motorised skateboards.
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GOLD Coast police and council are readying themselves to duke it out with hoons terrorising pedestrians on electronic scooters and motorised skateboards.
Authorities say they are fed up after more than a year of mounting complaints and will take the fight to the rogue riders who are riding manically on the Oceanway and footpaths.
Police are preparing a new operation targeting those flouting the rules, while council is awaiting a report which will determine how it can respond to the two-wheel hoons.
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Superintendent Dave Cuskelly said Gold Coast police were in the early stages of planning a three pronged approach to crack down on dangerous operators, while trying not to be the fun police.
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“There will be a couple of stages to it, it will be about understanding the legislation, because there has been some changes, but there will be also some education which will be in conjunction with the Council and Queensland Transport and then there will be an enforcement arm,” Supt Cuskelly said.
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“We are aware of the issues and we’re working with our partner agencies, the council and TMR to come up with a sustainable solution, in the backdrop of a tourism driven economic background, we don’t want to be the fun police.
“We need to be reasonable as well, but the bottom line is, somebody is going to get cleaned up and seriously injured.
“It’s about safety for the community and the people who come and visit and play in our city.”
Police and Gold Coast councillors have been inundated with complaints over the increasing number of motorised riders using the path.
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Council rapidly commissioned a report analysis the need for safety management on the Oceanway after a spike in complaints from pedestrians.
Coolangatta councillor Gail O’Neill warned that city hall would consider implementing a new local law allowing riders to be fined.
“If you go back a year we hardly had any scooters or complains but now we are trying to play catch-up and manage this stuff,” she said.
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“I have had reports of people being hit by those who are not taking care or abiding by the signs and there are plenty of those to let people know the right way of using the path.
“It just a simple case of etiquette — give way to pedestrians and keep left when using the path.
“The Oceanway is wide enough for pedestrians and cyclists, although we have also had cases of cyclists travelling way too fast and narrowly avoiding accidents.
“If the problem persists we may look at local laws which could result in issuing fines to offenders.”
Scooters have been an ongoing issue along the city’s foreshore for several years, with calls from Mayor Tom Tate and Gary Baildon for them to be banned entirely from footpaths.
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Among those who have witnessed issues on the Oceanway is Friends of Currumbin president Barry Robinson.
“I have heard about it and I have seen it and they are a worry,” he said.
“Those scooters are a worry because of how fast they go and they scare the bejesus out of some people.”
Councillors in late 2017 asked council officers to investigate what powers were available to ban the motorised bikes on beaches and boardwalks after being bombarded with complaints.
Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek last month told parliament that local residents feared someone will need to die before electric scooters are banned from the boardwalk.
Yesterday he urged for action to be taken.
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