e-Scooters leave Darwin footpaths the new ‘wild west’ as ‘survival of the fittest prevails’, academic warns

The streets of Darwin have become the new ‘wild west’ for pedestrians, as potentially deadly e-scooters ‘drive at high speeds among vulnerable individuals’, new research has warned.

THE streets of Darwin have become the new “wild west” for pedestrians, as potentially deadly e-scooters “drive at high speeds among vulnerable individuals”, new research from Charles Darwin University has warned.

In a paper published in the Alternative Law Journal, CDU law lecturer Ciprian Radavoi concludes that the now ubiquitous scooters leave other footpath users “to essentially defend themselves against fast-moving (scooters), which can inflict serious or even fatal injury”.

“Allowing a piece of metal weighing tens of kilograms (and which could extend to 100 kgs or more, including the weight of the user) to run at 25km/h through pedestrians and wheelchair-bound individuals is stretching the definition of pedestrian beyond logic and common sense,” he writes.

In the paper, Dr Radavoi says policy decisions on introducing e-scooters “should have started with an examination of the role of the footpath”.

“Are they still a place where a pedestrian is welcome to look around, socialise and enjoy the architecture of buildings and passing scenery? Are they a place where a pedestrian should be able to engage in window shopping, undertake exercise such as jogging or walking their dog and simply enjoy a slow-paced time in an otherwise rushed life?” he asks.

“Or, to the contrary, are footpaths a place where survival of the fittest prevails and pedestrians need to stay permanently alert, ready to be able to jump away or move quickly when an object of, say, 100kg or more is barrelling towards them at speeds of 25km/h?”

An e-scooter waits for a rider at the Darwin Waterfront.

Instead, Dr Radavoi says the regulatory framework for e-scooters in Australia has been designed “almost exclusively with the e-scooter rider’s safety and comfort in mind”, leaving vulnerable people at risk because of “poor and unenforced rules around e-scooter use on footpaths”.

“Pedestrians, people in wheelchairs, or cultural and ethnic groups who traditionally socialise on footpaths have been largely ignored by the policymakers,” he said.

“I decided to do this research when noticing how the life of pedestrians, people who use wheelchairs, and Aboriginal groups in Darwin has become more difficult with the hundreds of e-scooters rushing on the footpath, often honking at other footpath users to clear the way.”

Dr Radavoi said there was “something wrong” with how the rules were made.

“There are problems from allowing heavy machines to drive at high speeds among vulnerable individuals, to allowing e-scooters to be abandoned randomly after use, hindering pedestrian and wheelchair traffic, and creating a risk of accidents,” he said.

Originally published as e-Scooters leave Darwin footpaths the new ‘wild west’ as ‘survival of the fittest prevails’, academic warns