A few weeks back I raised concern that the surge in e-scooter and e-bike sales in the last few years was an accident waiting to happen. Quite simply that the regulations governing their use had not kept pace with their rapid use and that there was real community concern that there would be a serious pedestrian accident in the not-to-distant future.

The N.S.W. Government will shortly consider a report from a parliamentary inquiry into e-scooter including a recommendation to legalise both private and shared hire-e-scooter and allowing them to be used on footpaths. At present children under the age of 16 are prohibited from riding e-scooters on the footpath.

Confirming that the concerns raised were legitimate were recent comments from the head of trauma at Westmead Children’s Hospital Dr Soundappen who said he was shocked at the number of children being admitted for injuries from e-scooters and e-bikes, up 400 per cent in just 12 months. Dr Soundappen said that most of the injuries came from e-scooters and nearly two thirds of the children were not wearing a helmet.


E-microbility involving the use of electric powered lightweight vehicles like e-scooters, e-bikes and other mobility devices including Segways has seen a significant rise in use in recent years. In 2022 research showed 3.6 million people used an e-scooter in Australia, with their economic impact contributing $728 million to the economy. This included direct spending on e-scooter rentals and purchases as well as the indirect benefits such as patronage of local businesses.

However, whilst its obvious their introduction has brought significant benefits they have also presented significant safety challenges. E-scooters have become increasingly popular where they are legal such as Brisbane, Canberra, and some parts of Western Australia. In September last year the City of Melbourne banned e-scooters for hire in its municipality joining other cities globally such as Paris, Rome, Montreal, and Toronto.

Between 2017-18 and 2022-23 there were 2778 emergency department presentations in Victoria, 1680 were e-scooter injuries, 534 e-bikes injuries and 564 from self-balancing devices. Injuries were more common in males than females with the highest injury rates in adolescents and young adults between 15 and 24 years of age.

The most common type of injury was a fracture accounting for one-third of e-scooter and e-bike injuries. Head neck and face injuries were also prominent constituting 23 per cent of e-scooter and 15 percent of e-bike injuries and underscoring the importance of wearing a helmet. Alcohol was also a contributing factor in 71 percent of patients admitted for e-scooter injury.