E-scooter riders have been told to slow down after a Perth grandmother was hospitalised with broken bones following a crash that was captured by CCTV.
Key points:
- Authorities believe speed was a factor in the crash involving the woman
- It follows the deaths of two people in Perth recently due to e-scooter accidents
- Hospitals have seen an increase in serious injuries since 2019
The footage shows the 70-year-old woman take just a couple of steps before being wiped out by an e-scooter as she left a nail salon in East Victoria Park about 4pm on Wednesday.
It was the latest in a string of accidents in Perth in recent months that have resulted in two deaths and multiple injuries, with hospitals dealing with the aftermath of a "dramatic increase" in e-scooter crashes.
Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said it appeared that in this instance the e-scooter was going too fast.
"Whilst we have to wait for the police to do their investigation ... just looking at the footage it seems like the factors involved in that collision were a combination of speed and inattention, and as a consequence a lady is in hospital with serious injuries," he said.
"[It is] an avoidable incident if people abide by the rules.
"My message to riders of e-scooters and other devices like that [is]: When it comes to footpaths, firstly, slow down.
"Slow down, give way to pedestrians, understand there's a maximum of 10kph.
Mr Warner said it was riders' responsibility to ensure pedestrians were safe because they were far more vulnerable.
According to the most recent regulations, e-rideables are now classed as motor vehicles, meaning if there has been a crash, the individual riding the vehicle must report it to police.
E-rideables do not have a third-party insurance scheme like other motor vehicles.
Current WA laws only allow for e-scooters to be ridden at a maximum speed of 10kph on footpaths and 25kph on bicycle paths, shared paths and local roads.
'He would have been home in eight minutes'
Kim Rowe, 46, was riding along Yale Road in Thornlie about 2:30am on May 4 when he turned a blind corner and hit a bicycle.
He died a short time later in hospital.
His partner, Tara Jane McNally, has been left to bring up their three children, aged 4, 9 and 10, alone.
While she said police described it as a "freak accident", her advice to people is to not ride e-scooters at all.
"If they do, they should be really careful of their speed and be constantly alert," she said.
"I see people riding them all the time, including kids without helmets.
"All I know is I will never get my kids one of them."
Ms McNally said Mr Rowe had been on his way home from the bakery where he worked when the accident happened.
"He would have been home in eight minutes," she said.
"He was a good dad and a good partner. He was the nicest guy, he would help anyone out in the street.
"He was jut a nice, easy going guy.
Another person, Calym Gilbert, 13, was killed while riding an e-scooter after a collision with a ute in Butler on February 20. And there have been numerous other accidents resulting in serious injury.
Hospital seeing 'dramatic increase' in e-scooter injuries
Royal Perth Hospital head of general surgery doctor Dieter Weber said the hospital had started noticing an increase in e-scooter related injuries in 2019, and were now seeing them every day.
"We've seen a range of injuries from minor to … high-end traumatic injuries, where patients have been admitted not just to the ward but to intensive care and, sadly, dying from these injuries," he said.
"This is now a routine part of our practice now.
"This is an additional load, not just for the emergency department, but also for the rest of the hospital.
"We're looking after patients to the best of our ability but there's a serious rehabilitation burden to get these patients back into society and able to move on from their injuries."
Dr Webber said a significant number of e-scooter crash patients presented to hospital affected by alcohol or other drugs.
"The majority are people on the scooters, but we also seen a significant burden of people being hit by them," he said.
Regulation overhaul not on cards
Mr Warner said there were more e-scooters on Perth roads, which was leading to an increase in incidents, and there was evidence that if the rules were followed, then serious risk would be reasonably mitigated.
He said even though there had been an increase in serious incidents, the Road Safety Commission was not considering any major overhaul of regulations, but some tweaks were likely to be made.
"We've always said we would review the rules," he said.
He said public consultation would be done in the form of a survey to gauge what rules people thought were not working.
"We've already identified a couple of things we'd like to refine in technical aspects," he said.
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2022-07-15 08:19:40Z
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