Everything has benefits and risks. When something new is created or introduced, people will always find a way to use it to hurt themselves. And the roll-out of e-scooters in Canberra is no exception.
E-scooters are now being trialled or are legal in many of Australia’s states. While some people own their e-scooters outright, companies renting out e-scooters is becoming an increasingly popular way to use the vehicles to get around city areas.
In August this year, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) allowed two companies to start renting out e-scooters to the public.
As part of the scheme, the e-scooters were limited to just a few parts of Canberra using geofencing, restrictions on where they could park, speed-limited and with compulsory helmets.
And despite all this, people still keep crashing the dang things and hurting themselves.
In the three months since the Canberra e-scooters scheme started, 57 people had presented to Canberra’s two hospitals with scooter-related injuries, according to Region Media.
These accidents have left riders with broken wrists, ankles, fingers and tibia.
One rider, Dan, told Region Media that he fractured his wrists when a car reversed out of a fast food drive-through and hit him while he was riding.
He’s still a e-scooter user, but acknowledged that the design of the device also influenced the accident.
“Because the scooters don’t have a great centre of gravity, I fell straight onto the road and landed hard on both wrists,” he said.
Another rider went to Canberra Hospital after an e-scooter accident and was told that scooter-related injuries were becoming “all too common.”
A big part about using e-scooters isn’t just the vehicle, but how users choose to use them, and how everyone else adapts to its use.
Many accidents happen because people aren’t comfortable with e-scooters, whether they’re the ones driving them or if they’re sharing the roads with them.
Given their increasing popularity in both Canberra and worldwide, it looks like e-scooters are here to stay.