Decision to Make E-Scooters Legal in South Australia

AyjeofSpades on 11/04/2023 - 19:01
Last edited 11/04/2023 - 19:06

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport is seeking feedback from the community on whether people want the South Australian Government to enable ongoing use of electric scooters (e‑scooters), electric skateboards (e‑skateboards) and other personal mobility devices (PMDs) on the road network in South Australia.

There have been many deals on Ozbargain for e-scooters, and many of us have been disappointed to hear they are not legal in South Australia for use on pathways and bike-lanes etc. For anyone interested, please see the following page where you can submit your opinion and influence the government decision in making these legal and in what capacity.

yoursay.sa.gov.au - Personal mobility device use in South Australia.

There is an online survey to complete where you can have your say, with specific questions on where they should be legalised, speed limits, weights, sizes, registration requirements etc.

Edit: 'Travel' doesn't seem to be the correct forum category, but I can't change it now.

Travel Electric Scooter

Comments

  • Bafranz on 11/04/2023 - 19:04
    +10

    Scooter, are you ready?!

    • brendanm on 11/04/2023 - 21:06

      I wish I had ozbargain platinum so I could give you more upvotes for this.

    • TheMindsetTraveller on 12/04/2023 - 00:12

      love the throwback

    • hasher22 on 12/04/2023 - 00:21

      Omg…. i had to listen to this song now! Thank you for a banger!

    • Deridas on 13/04/2023 - 17:41

      Brings back good memories…

  • SnowDragon on 11/04/2023 - 19:20
    +5

    On my trip to Adelaide last year I only saw people using e-scooters recklessly (doubling up, no helmets, intoxicated etc).
    That being said, I think that happens everywhere where the scooters are legal anyway.

    It's the people with personal e-scooters who do the right thing. It's rare to see those on rentable e-scooters abiding by the rules.

  • Benoffie on 11/04/2023 - 20:00
    +9

    I say ban the rentals and make personal ones require registration.

    I can never understand how something can be a road user but have zero requirement to hold appropriate insurance and be accountable for road behaviour.

    • RR88 on 11/04/2023 - 20:25
      +9

      and what of the thousands of cyclists in and around adelaide

      • jv on 11/04/2023 - 20:28

        Ban them too…

      • Benoffie on 11/04/2023 - 20:46

        They should be registered and insured. They go on about how they are road users as well, so they should be treated the same as other road users.

    • bobbified on 11/04/2023 - 22:44
      +1

      I say ban the rentals…

      As usual, people don't care about other people's property.
      I think people would look after their own scooters much better and hopefully not be so reckless.

  • jv on 11/04/2023 - 20:26
    -4

    Thanks for posting.

    I voted ban them completely in SA.

    • Nugs on 11/04/2023 - 21:04

      How about the prison bars?
      .

      • bobbified on 12/04/2023 - 09:44

        prison bars?

        Are you talking about prison soap bars?

  • xtremehell on 11/04/2023 - 21:05
    -1

    Overall, I think the "issue" is a bit of a red herring (bikeshedding if you will) — something the opposition is latching onto as a point of difference — when placed within the context of the transformation that's happened/happening in terms of intersection/road widening and some upgrades to train/bus infrastructure in the metro area.

    I mean the way these developments impact alternative transit modes to cars (walking, cycling, public) has often been taken for granted, e.g. the big intersections make walking a more dangerous / less relaxing experience. And it's within this bigger picture that private escooters will exist.

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 11/04/2023 - 21:20
    +1

    I think e scooters are a problem due to a major design flaw, that is the wheel size is too small to cope with road & footpath irregularities. This pretty clear here: https://www.facebook.com/9NewsDarwin/videos/scooter-stacks-i…

    • Clear on 12/04/2023 - 07:37
      +1

      The same could happen with a bike if you hit a gutter.

      • bargaino on 12/04/2023 - 09:48

        Data and logic show that bikes are much safer. Hitting the kerb like that (drunk and not looking) on a bike can throw you off, but it will bounce over the kerb rather than stopping and face-planting. A bike with front shocks will just keep on going.

        Hospitals are seeing a huge and increasing number of serious injuries from drunks on e-scooters. (bikes far less so)

        • Clear on 12/04/2023 - 09:51

          Sometimes it will bounce but not always. The 11" tyres on my scooter handle kerbs much easier than say the 8" tyres on some.

          I also work in my state's largest hospital. Over a year after escooters were legalised the number of injuries are on the decline.

          • bargaino on 12/04/2023 - 09:55

            @Clear: Bigger is better, for sure. I've gone over the handlebars on a 20" folding bike, in a way that would not have happened on a regular bike.

      • DashCam AKA Rolts on 12/04/2023 - 09:49

        This video was a simple example, and bikes tend to travel parallel to gutters.
        But wheel size relative to potholes and lumps in the pavement definitely make a difference. The inherently small size of a scooter's wheels means that they are most suited to a very smooth surface, not the uneven edge of the roads usually assigned to bike lanes. Bumps that will be noticed but not impact a cyclist will be sufficient to dislodge a scooter rider.
        Having pushed a conventional wheelchair with regular bike sized wheels and a transit chair, that has scooter sized wheels through the CBD area, along footpaths and cross roads, I know which size wheels had the most difficulty with irregular surfaces.

        • Clear on 12/04/2023 - 09:53

          Indeed. Fortunately most private riders know how to ride properly. It was no different back when oBike's were a thing.

    • GordonD on 12/04/2023 - 09:52

      I think e scooters are a problem due to a major design flaw

      Yes, you can't turn a pigs ear into a silk purse. Scooters are toys with tiny little wheels. Same with the one wheeled ones. Same with the self-balancing two wheeled ones. You can't legislate the fundamental flaws in the physics of how the operate out of existence. They can't handle bumps safely. They can't brake quickly so they can't deal with emergency situations. Whether they are made legal or not, they are and will forever remain toys pretending to be transportation. There is a place for them. For children to play on. But not to be used on roads where there are much larger vehicles travelling at much higher speeds.

      • Clear on 12/04/2023 - 09:54

        A 16" or 18" EUC on the other hand is more than capable of the hoverboards and toys you speak of.

  • sane on 11/04/2023 - 23:39
    +1

    Can't see any justification to treat these any differently to a bike. Keep them on the roads or cycleways, 50kph maximum speed, helmet etc., no insurance needed, and the council liable if poor road maintenance means you end up under the wheels of some truck.

    If you want more intrusive rules, then they have to be applied to cyclists too.

    Engineering commuter routes so people can use them instead of a vehicle would be a smart move - we know what are the common commuter routes. Ability to take them onto buses, trains and trams makes sense in this sense.

    • bargaino on 12/04/2023 - 09:51
      -1

      Your inability to see does not trump real-world data.

      And 50km/hr is a moped, very different to an eBike. Should be registered, licensed and properly designed. Not a bike with a motor bolted on, and mandatory prison if used on footpaths or cycleways.

      50km/hr electric motorbikes are not a bad idea. They should be cheap to register/insure, easy to get a license if you already have a car license. But on road only, noit dual-use paths.

      • sane on 12/04/2023 - 10:07
        +1

        50kph is the maximum speed of a bike - a pedal bike.

        If you aren't regulating them, you have no justification to regulate an escooter more harshly.

        Of course, personally I think you SHOULD regulate pedal bikes a bit more, but I also recognise that 'mandatory prison' might be a bit extreme for when they clatter into pedestrians, and then blame the pedestrians. And yes, cycleways are the obviously the right place for escooters..

  • USER DC on 12/04/2023 - 00:16

    Absolutely they should be legalized and given a framework for minimum safety requirements, (like how cars have seat belts), scooters should have some requirements too, like display clearly weight limits, and attempt to not allow people riding when drunk etc. and allowed speed should definitely not be more than 60 Kmph, they should also be banned in certain places like highways, freeways etc.

    Whether gov wants riders to have insurance/registration is for them to decide. Both scenarios have ups and downs

  • saltypete on 12/04/2023 - 08:40
    -1

    Given the rise in house fires from charging cheap lithium batteries and using poorly specked chargers there needs to be some standards here.

    • No on 12/04/2023 - 10:46

      hey, got any news links sources etc? Lithium batteries have been used for a while now and the reputable scooter brands generally come with Samsung etc batteries. Not a whole lot different than what is in your mobile phone / telsa.

      • saltypete on 14/04/2023 - 10:02

        This one turned up pretty quickly…

        https://www.npr.org/2023/03/11/1162732820/e-bike-scooter-lit…

        It seems to me that buying a scooter/bike with a well supported battery brand and only using dealer supplied charger may be the key. At least if they have a problem they will report and follow up.
        I have been in the habit of shoving any battery in any charger that will do the job, and just leaving it on for days - but clearly this needs to change.

  • shaybisc on 12/04/2023 - 09:00
    +2

    They look incompatible with pedestrians to me but I don't care if they go and play in the traffic.

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 12/04/2023 - 09:53

      So long as you're not the poor driver close to a scooter rider coming off. (See my comment about wheel size and uneven surfaces, above.)

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