Escooters for sale which are illegal to use

Qld and Brisbane in particular have been ‘living’ with E-Scooters in public since the first Lime trial in 2018?

One discussion is around responsible use and acceptable conditions. Australia and the States permit the import and sale of high powered E-scooters and e-bikes. These are purportedly for restricted private use only and where regulation does not apply.

The Qld Govt and the industry providing the e-scooters are now coming together of necessity. Representatives of the hire companies and retailers have been invited to the discussions. Per the ABC it’s not evident if more pedestrian members of the community will have a place at the discussions?

No one has yet mentioned registration and insurance requirements, although rider education was mentioned in the ABC report. Although rider education may be one as or the raised. There is a suggestion the roundtable should look at mobility and use into the next 5, 10+ years.

There are no further details of the Roundtable such as dates, attendees or scope provided.

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Interesting. Qld has those for mobility scooters, but not for e-scooters?

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I had a sojourn into the big smoke of Brisbane yesterday. I don’t recall seeing one mobility scooter in the 8 hours. While on the road or footpaths once every few minutes an E-scooter or rideable electric device was observed.

It has cemented a couple of new thoughts.
Brisbane City is hilly, with narrow crowded roadways and ever more expensive real estate. Most older Australian’s make affordability and lifestyle choices. A mobility scooter user is far more likely to be encountered in the cheaper outer burbs or coastal retirement strips. The inner city is expensive and crowded.

E-scooters and the other rideables frequenting our footpaths are very noticeable in inner city and high urban density areas. Should these users be mixing it with pedestrians on footpaths, especially inner city streets? The riders do not move at the same pace as those on foot, but often many times faster. When approached from behind, when stepping out of a shop doorway, when changing direction to walk past a slower pedestrian with a pram etc there is a risk of a collision. I saw all of these and several other situations that put both rider and pedestrians at risk.

Judging by the bulk, acceleration and speed of some of the rideable devices, both the rider behaviours and legal power were open to question. Perhaps one goes with the other?

Government can require registration of mobility scooters. Govt evidently has the ability to regulate and importantly enforce the use of all rideable devices. Hopefully there will be change for the better. Would registration resolve the use of rideables on public roads where there are bicycle lanes, and see them banned from footpaths. IE restrict there use to cycle ways. Something there are not enough of IMO.

P.S.
Outside the busy inner city and urban hubs, I’m more open minded about how these rideables are used. Perhaps the greater common enemy is the swooping magpie and butcher bird.

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Nope. And because I am a fuddy duddy, I think speeds should be capped, and riders made to wear helmets. Seems to me that around here, riders hit the roads and the walking paths but not footpaths where there are shops. Of course, they should not be riding anywhere except private property in NSW (crazy, but thats how it is)

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You kids get off my lawn! (Yes, speeds should definitely be capped.)

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Yes, but they should only be on some paths subject to conditions.

Similar to cars and trucks not being allowed within a certain distance of cyclists on roads, rules should apply to riders in pedestrian areas. For example, you could have a rule that riders need to dismount if with 3 metres of a pedestrian on certain paths.

It would also be good if riders were banned form paths used by pedestrians in busy areas.

I also recognise that any changes might be futile given that there is little, if any, enforcement relating to riders breaking other laws.

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I have no issue with selling scooters which exceed the notional speed limits. Other forms of transportation are sold where they can exceed speed limits and it is up to the driver/rider/user to ensure that they comply with the relevant speed limits.

However, scooters which have the potential to exceed limits or be a risk to other road users/the scooter riders should be treated no differently to those motorised vehicles which can exceed speed limits - that being they are road vehicles and must only be used on the road. Allowing them to compete with pedestrians or bicyclists on footpaths/designated pathways is a recipe for a disaster/tragedy.

It also exposes the scooter rider to liabilities should a claim arise from an incident caused by the scooter use - something they will not have any insurance or other protection for (state government compensation programs). Maybe scooters should be licensed and pay third party insurances to protect their riders from a crippling damages claim in the event of a incident.

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Hi, I am interested in any comments on what is the best type of E scooter to buy or what things you should consider / tips when buying an E Scooter ?

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Welcome to the Community @GAJ ,

I merged your query into this older topic because what is available on the market is not always legal to use, and many consumers are unaware.

Some other relevant topics on the Community include

There are also a few odd references in various topics you can find using the Community search tool.

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An update state by state.

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There outta be a law that consumers are at least warned the product could be illegal regardless of whether the specific model is, jurisdiction dependent. Nada (example).

A classic case of caveat emptor. A number of recent fatalities on scooters have been reported over the holidays but where there is profit to be had by businesses there are crickets from our ‘regulators’ and little interest from lawmakers. Not much prosecution reported by the media either.

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Can somebody tell me how the sale of these scooters is different from the sale of dirt bikes, quad bikes and other vehicles that are not street legal but are very popular on private property? Does anybody really think all those who buy scooters are unaware that they are not allowed on public roads and need a reminder? More likely it is the same as the unregistered dirt bikes that roar up my street - the riders are well aware they break the law but take the risk.

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Perhaps the purpose of the asterisks in the promotional header?

Or not!

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Same problem as seen from ‘another viewpoint’.

Based on the numbers riding scooters on the streets and paths many seem oblivious to legality and see them more as toys. Same (as above) goes for all the other variations of legal to import, legal to sell, and legal to own, but not legal to use off one’s property but no advice/warning needed by the seller.

Some will obviously fall into that category but does not excuse.

Off topic but next in the queue… many fatalities yet?

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Self answered.
All but the first mentioned e-scooters have an established purpose and need for use on private property. Or with permits or registration associated with.

For the e-scooter market, it’s difficult to suggest they serve any purpose on private property, if at all being practical other than in the public space. E-scooters are used as a plaything, for pleasure, or for mobility. Important considering their public use irrespective of registration (not possible) is restricted or not permitted on a state by state basis.

It’s a useful observation in just how weak and naive Australia’s regulations are in permitting their unrestricted importation and sale. Choice’s battle to get government, suppliers and retailers to act on button batteries and change how they are sold or used is a useful reference on the challenges of getting any action to control import or sales of a product.

There is always an option of proactively managing any new or potentially disruptive technology and enterprise initiatives. Too often it seems easier for those who can to put any action aside until ……

Are e-scooters becoming a greater issue with civil disobedience for some vs policing in the best interests of the community? An issue that would not arise if a number of prior actions had been taken. Including better controls over the importation/sale of e-scooters alongside better assessment of risks.

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I just get annoyed how they are allowed to fly past but as in previous comments so are dirt bikes riding on footpath. I can see why people use them help them get around.

They are popping up like mushrooms in my area. You never see a policeman around here anymore since the drug cookers got moved on, so you can imagine that nobody is paying attention. I’ve seen just 2 kids with appropriate safety gear, clearly the parents bought all for Christmas. The rest… scooting about with bare feet and no helmets. Temporary Australians.

The State government is wearing blinkers and just relying on Police to deal with the “problem” … I think that there needs to be a concerted effort to create a set of rules around escooters which would include safety gear and perhaps even licencing. May seem a little rough, but clearly something is needed! These scooters are not going away.