E-Scooters have been the talk of the state over the past week, with national plans to halve the speed limit for the transport devices on footpaths, and Whitsunday Regional Council had their own say on local Whitsunday laws at last week’s council meeting.
Councillors came to the decision to limit rental e-scooters speed to six kilometres per hour in well-populated areas and up to a maximum of 12 kilometres per hour in other areas, although this does not apply to privately owned scooters.
Four Whitsunday businesses applied to continue the use of their commercial electronic scooters: Whitsunday Fun, Ocean Dynamics, Le Shack Whitsunday Adventure and Whitsunday Segway Tours.
Three of those businesses were involved in a trial period of six months from April to October 2021 to operate the commercial e-vehicles on footpaths, cycle ways, the foreshore, and boardwalks.
The businesses were successful in their applications to continue operating the E-vehicles, but under new stipulations such as the speed limiting and Geo-Fencing, meaning the vehicles will shut off if they go out of regulated areas.
The applications came at a tenuous time for e-scooters, which under current state law are classed as ‘mobility scooters,’ meaning they can operate everywhere accessible by pedestrians. They also only fall under road laws whilst operating on the road, meaning an individual can operate an e-scooter whilst intoxicated if they remain on the sidewalk.
Police in Brisbane recently issued 84 traffic infringements in just 12 hours of targeting e-scooters in the CBD, and Whitsunday councillors voiced their concerns that the vehicles were dangerous, leading to the limiting of commercial vehicles speed.
“They are an ever-increasing problem, particularly around the Airlie Beach area,” Councillor Jan Clifford told council.
“They’re uncontrolled, nine out of ten times they haven’t got a helmet on.”
The councillors believed that the new conditions would address these issues, at least in the case of hire e-scooters and vehicles.
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