Bicycles and scooters, both pedal and electric, are being widely embraced by Australians to move around our cities and transport is a key ingredient of a liveable city. While cycling benefits health, and both cycling and e-scooters benefit traffic congestion and decrease carbon emissions, the increase in these micro-mobility modes brings new risks and challenges to Australia’s transport mix.
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Recent events in Melbourne highlight the rise (and fall) of e-scooters. Based on an exponential increase in e-scooter related injuries and bad rider behaviours, the City of Melbourne has recently terminated share scheme contracts with operator Lime. There have been similar terminations of contracts by the Sunshine Coast Council, which removed approximately 400 e-scooters in August, ultimately ending its e-scooter hire scheme. Brisbane and Auckland followed, terminating their contract with Beem over safety issues and replacing its fleet with safer alternatives.
Only weeks later, both Councils in Melbourne’s Inner North and Regional Victoria vow to support the e-scooters kicked out of the CBD.
While safety and behaviour concerns must be addressed wherever e-scooters are ridden, e-scooters are here to stay. If you are scooting (or riding) around town, here are the top 5 things you should know about e-scooters and the law:
1. e-scooters don’t fit easily into existing road safety regulations
E-scooters are a common and popular mode of transport for pedestrians. While e-scooters are defined in road rules (and road safety laws) in similar terms, rules can apply to them based on characteristics that differ between makes and models. To date, there is no Australian design standard to inform manufacturers about design features to suit Australian roads and paths. E-scooters available for purchase vary widely in their power output and maximum speed. In some jurisdictions, road rules apply to e-scooters based on these characteristics so that they are regulated similarly to either motor vehicles, bicycles, or pedestrian leisure devices. This can make it more difficult for riders to understand which rules apply to them.
2. e-scooters are grouped with bicycles in the Road Rules – and special rules apply Road rules generally accommodate e-scooters by grouping them with bicycles, even though they have very different characteristics. Specific road rules exist for bicycles and e-scooters that direct riders about where to position themselves when riding on roads, carrying passengers, staying in control of the bicycle or e-scooter, minimum rider age, and wearing helmets. In Victoria, bicycles and/or e-scooters are not generally permitted to be ridden on footpaths. However, this varies from state to state (see Point #5). Specific give way rules apply between vehicles and e-scooters and bicycles: vehicles give way to e-scooters and bicycles when moving within or changing lanes. However, if a vehicle is both indicating and turning left at an intersection, then the e-scooter or bicycle rider becomes the road user who must give way. This also occurs when a vehicle is in the process of leaving a roundabout.
3. e-scooters should use bicycle infrastructure, but how does this work?
Road rules state that e-scooter riders should use bicycle infrastructure (e.g. bike lanes) in certain situations – but this can be mandatory or optional:
- bicycle lanes are designated with signs or road markings, although also appear as concrete barriers and kerbs. Road rules define bicycle lanes by a combination of these features. Where bicycle lanes exist, e-scooters and bicycle riders must ride in them, and vehicle drivers are only permitted to enter them to park or change lanes after giving way to riders (if required).
- bicycle traffic lights are used to start or stop riders separately from vehicles to assist in traffic flow. Bicycle lights appear next to traditional traffic lights, showing a bicycle symbol lit green, amber, or red.
- advisory road markings are used to guide riders at hazardous locations or offer preferred riding routes. For example, sharrows that consist of a bicycle symbol below two upwards-pointing arrows indicate a shared environment for bicycles and motor vehicles and encourage riding in the centre of the lane to improve visibility at intersections or known hazards. “Wayfinding” markings that consist of a bicycle symbol below a left/right turning arrow indicate a preferred riding route. As neither sharrows nor way-finding markings are identified or defined in the road rules, it is difficult for riders to know how to behave in these locations.
4. e-scooter riders must not ride while using a mobile phone or while intoxicated
Road safety laws and road rules use inclusive language. The terms “drivers” and “vehicles” are defined as referring to both drivers of cars and trucks, as well as “riders” of motorbikes, bicycles, and e-scooters. Accordingly, important road safety laws that prohibit dangerous driving, driving while intoxicated, or driving while using a mobile phone apply to riders of e-scooters and bicycles as to drivers or motor vehicles (unless stated otherwise).
5. road rules for e-scooters can vary from state to state
While Australia’s road network connects seamlessly between States, the law may not. E-scooters and bicycles are regulated by national, state, and local government legal frameworks. While a national set of Australian Road Rules was adopted in 1999, these are model rules that State and Territory governments copy into their own state laws that make these rules binding. While many laws directly reflect the model rules, sometimes States use slightly different terminology or concepts that can change how the road rules apply or include additional rules to address local conditions (e.g. trams and road trains). State Road Authorities such as VicRoads, Transport NSW, And Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads publish updates on road rules, including rules that apply to e-scooters.
As our roads become more busy and complex places to travel, it is critical that all types of road users – drivers of motor vehicles, motorbikes, bicycles, and e-scooters alike –understand what behaviour is expected of them on our roads, paths, and footpaths.