E-scooter Gold Coast: Speed limit changes planned in major shake-up
E-scooter riders will be limited to 12km/h on footpaths and targeted by a safety campaign to help them avoid injuring themselves or others under a major shake-up.
Gold Coast
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Speed limits for e-scooters will be slashed by more than half on footpaths – from 25km/h to 12km/h – and riders will be targeted by a safety campaign to help them avoid injuring themselves or others.
Under a State Government plan announced on Sunday, clearer signage and the green light for e-scooters in bikeways will also be introduced in response to rocketing uptake of the battery-powered vehicles.
New police powers to tackle speeding, and legislation targeting high-risk offences like drink and drug driving, will also be “further explored”.
The lower speed limit is still to be gazetted into a formal road rule, a process which could take three to six months.
Gold Coast University Hospital’s emergency department saw a record 126 patients with e-scooter injuries in 2021 - 21 in December alone.
There have been multiple serious accidents on the vehicles in the past three months, including a rider hit by a car at Burleigh Heads and another male rider hit by a car in Coomera.
The vehicles are causing havoc across the country, with three people, including two teenage boys, suffering “serious, life-threatening injuries” after a horrific night of crashes on Perth roads on Saturday night.
The proposed reforms come after the Gold Coast Bulletin revealed those who recklessly ride electric scooters from hire companies are likely not covered by insurance if their actions injure, kill or cause property damage.
Residents have spoken about being too scared to walk along the Surfers Paradise Esplanade out of fear “someone will end up dead”, saying accidents involving users injuring themselves or pedestrians had occurred daily.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the moves would help e-scooter riders, cyclists, motorists and pedestrians to safely share spaces.
“The rising popularity of e-scooters is a clear sign they aren’t going to disappear,” he said.
“We know that people are going to keep using them so the key is making sure that shared spaces like footpaths and bike lanes are as safe as they can be.”
Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek said the reduced speed limit was long overdue.
“I welcome it, I have had a lot of concerns and I’ve seen the risk of injury with children just walking along the esplanade, or reckless tourists who don’t think there are any rules here,” he said.
“I’ll be interested to see what the practical implications will end up being and how long it takes.“Halving the speed limit had to happen, but the question is whether the police will have the resources to actually chase it up.”
The immediate rule change applies only to vehicles classified as “personal mobility devices”, which excludes electric bikes and mopeds.A government spokeswoman said other electric vehicles would be considered as part of the wider reforms.
The Government’s announcement said immediate action would include the rollout of a safety campaign telling riders how to wear a helmet, ride safely, overtake pedestrians and park their scooters responsibly.
“We are seeing far too many injuries in e-scooter users that are the result of speeding and many pedestrians feeling unsafe on footpaths,” Mr Bailey said.
“For e-scooters to use footpaths less, they need more safe routes to use as an alternative.
“We’ll examine further whether on road bike lanes are appropriate with all stakeholders, with extensive consultation with local government associations and councils to come.”
Mayor Tom Tate welcomed the reforms and said the Gold Coast City Council would work closely with the government to improve safety measures but ruled out approving any further expansion of e-scooters.
Police Minister Mark Ryan welcomed the move.
“We know many people do the right thing and our officers do a great job at policing dangerous behaviour already,” he said.
“But with new rules and regulations we will be better equipped to keep the public safe.”
Mr Bailey said more information on the safety reforms would be made available “in the coming months, as engagement with industry and stakeholders progressed”.
Dangerous e-scooter riders could be forced to pay up
THOSE who recklessly ride electric scooters from hire companies are likely not covered by insurance if their actions injure, kill or cause property damage.
Surfers Paradise Escoot Hire owner Catharine Sullivan said riders who hired e-scooters from her business signed a contract accepting responsibility for any damage caused from reckless use of the vehicles.
The Bulletin contacted the Gold Coast’s major e-scooter hire businesses to confirm their insurance arrangements, but did not hear back from them.
Surfers Paradise residents have called on authorities to take action against the dangerous use of electric scooters.
Ms Sullivan said she backed the residents’ push for the Gold Coast City Council to create separate lanes for pedestrians and scooter riders on busy footpaths.
“They are wide enough to do that,” she said.
“Ninety per cent of riders just want to have a look around. It’s when they get into groups of four or five and they are too close together that it becomes a problem.
“But Surfers Paradise is what it is. If you want something different, go somewhere else.
“People come here because they love going out at night, riding bikes and having a look around. I’m very worried if we don’t acknowledge that Surfers Paradise is a place to have fun.”
Mayor Tom Tate said it was up to police to monitor footpath use.
“We build the footpaths but we don’t monitor it,” he said.
Cr Tate suggested all electric scooters and bikes should be registered and increasing the cost of this would “kill them off”.
A police spokesman said there were a number of complaints about e-scooters and skateboards.
He said police regularly monitored high-use areas, conducted targeted operations in safe-night precincts and engaged with stakeholders to improve education.
‘Totally out of control’: Footpath hoons torment pedestrians
January 25, 2022
Residents too scared to walk along the Surfers Paradise Esplanade out of fear “someone will end up dead” are calling on authorities to take action against electric scooters and bikes.
They said accidents involving users injuring themselves or pedestrians had occurred daily.
Resident Telly Karadimos urged the council to create separate lanes for pedestrians and scooter riders on busy footpaths.
“We feel as pedestrians that we have to get out of the way for them,” Mr Karadimos said.
“I think something needs to be done.”
Jess Pickering said she no longer felt safe walking her young daughter and dog along the esplanade out of “constant fear” they would be hit by a scooter or bike whizzing past.
“It will end up killing someone one day,” Mrs Pickering said.
“If my four year old takes one wrong step and an idiot is going past on a scooter, it would absolutely take her out.
“I don’t think they should be allowed on footpaths at all.”
Michael Keegan said paramedics were permanently stationed at the esplanade treating people who had been injured by e-scooters and bikes.
“The problem with them is that a lot of them ride in packs – a whole family will ride together – then you have got eight scooters coming down the road towards you,” Mr Keegan said.
“Someone will end up dead from this.
“It’s ridiculous that as a resident, I’m scared to walk around where I live.”
Mr Keegan said he recently copped a spray from parents after he told their children to slow down while using the scooters.
In another incident, a seven-year-old boy riding a scooter narrowly missed a woman walking a baby in a pram and smashed into the window of a business.
“He was totally out of control. His parents just laughed about it,” Mr Keegan said.
“They should be restricted to a 10km/h speed limit.
“There has got to be better legislation against this. It’s just open slather at the moment.”
A council spokeswoman said the city did not plan to introduce split pathway designs to its existing path network.
“The introduction of this type of design would be subject to numerous considerations, including analysis of high demand areas, appropriate width of existing footpaths and the safety of all path users,” she said.
“On the Gold Coast, pedestrians and cyclists can use any path, unless otherwise signed. Shared path users must comply with the Queensland road rules to ensure safe use.”
Police said operations targeting speed were regularly conducted in Surfers Paradise.
Division 10 Councillor Darren Taylor was contacted for comment, but did not respond by deadline.
Dozens of residents have thrown their support behind the call for split pathways.
More than 90 per cent of respondents to a Bulletin survey said they supported the idea.
Analysis of e-scooter incidents reported by Queensland Ambulance Service found Gold Coast suburbs, including Surfers Paradise, had some of the highest crash rates in the state.
Earlier this month, a scooter rider was critically injured after they were struck by a car in Tugun.
The 45-year-old scooter rider, a Tugun man, was transported to the Gold Coast University Hospital for critical head injuries, a Queensland Police spokesman said.
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