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Chain reaction: Why are we always a step behind when it comes to scooter safety?

Fresh from pedalling his way down the iconic Champs Élysées in Paris, David Fagan has some words of advice for those responsible for Brisbane’s two-wheeled disruption.

Jan 09, 2023, updated Jan 09, 2023
Some of the world's great tourist cities have discovered how to live with e-scooters - so why is Brisbane a step behind. (Photo: Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse)

Some of the world's great tourist cities have discovered how to live with e-scooters - so why is Brisbane a step behind. (Photo: Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse)

Every action we take, every decision we make has consequences. And we’re now daily seeing the consequences of the out-of-the-blue decision to unleash rented electronic scooters onto Brisbane’s streets five years ago.

Hospitalisation from scooter accidents is chewing up precious emergency ward beds, footpaths are being turned into metallic refuse tips by lazy and careless riders who dump their scooters after they’ve finished with them and leisurely walks through public paths are now subject to greater risk of being mowed down.

The scooters make our attractive city look like a trash heap and it’s hard to see how no one foresaw the consequence of their random introduction in 2017.

Since then, we’ve seen a layering of rules. First, to impose helmets. Then, to restrict speeds, stop doubling of passengers and to actually enforce the rules.

Now, there’s discussion of enforcing the alcohol limit on riders. At the moment, it’s 0.15 on a footpath or bicycle path and the Transport Minister says he kinda feels that’s too high. No shit, Sherlock!

0.15 is three times the limit permitted for driving a car with braking and steering capacity vastly superior to a scooter and safety support that eclipses a vehicle with nothing between the rider and the hard earth. 0.05 seems a sensible solution. Or for young riders – the same as for cars – 0.0 will do, thanks very much.

The debate now rightly points to the responsibility of individual riders – to wear safety gear, to adhere to the rules and to behave with some common sense. But I also look to the responsibility of the legislators who have been too slow to see the consequence of the scooters and the larger micro mobility movement which is yet another subset of the technology disruption sweeping the planet.

I’ve spent the past few weeks in Paris where bicycles, and more recently scooters, have been part of the transport system for a long time. There are no helmets but being Paris, there probably are a few tipsy riders. But what is in place are wide, safe paths that can be shared by scooters and bicycles. On busy streets, like the Champs Élysées which I rode yesterday, they are physically separated from cars and buses – and, most importantly, from pedestrians.

These are the missing elements of Brisbane’s inner city. The joy of a morning walk around the Kangaroo Point side of Brisbane River has always been tempered by cyclists who should be on the roads, not the leisure path used by old people and families. The scooters add another annoyance.

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Now, let it be said (and my Lime account shows) that I have been a frequent scooter user, pretty well up to the point when I realised the risk of motoring through the Botanic Gardens on tiny wheels at 20k-plus an hour wasn’t worth it for me or anyone else I might encounter. At 10k, I’d rather leave home a little earlier and walk.

But I’d be even happier if I didn’t need to be constantly alert to admonitions to get out of the way from two-wheelers who shouldn’t be on the footpath.

So let’s get back to the issue of consequences. One consequence we haven’t heard much about yet is the impact on insurance costs of careless scooting. A scooter rider (and a bike rider if they choose) is uninsured so who bears the cost of an accident they are responsible for? If it’s a journey during or to or from work, this becomes a Workcover issue and yet another cost impost on business.

This is what happens with technology disruption. What looks like a change to one small part of life’s labyrinth has knock-on effects. At first, it’s often cheered but then the impact is seen as if we are all part of a live experiment.

We saw it with ridesharing which looked, at first, to be an economic saviour from exploitative taxi cartels but has since become just another cartel (and not very efficient, at that). Similarly with homesharing which is driving residents out of the heart of big cities and replacing them with tourists.

Paris has moved on homesharing. AirBnB operators are now limited to 120 nights rental a year. And scooters look like being next. At the least, there will be co-ordination tests after dark to check for drink drivers. But there’s serious talk of banning them all together – which may very well be the consequence in Queensland, too, of insufficient thought before action.

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