Electric Scooters: Do We Hate or Love Them?
I love you, I don’t…love you… Wait, what do you feel about — e-scooters?
These four essential facts about e-scooters render riders and pedestrians more aware of the impact of electric scooters in their lives.
In the final analysis, the realization will be much more straightforward: we can’t and will never outgrow them.
Fact 1. You don’t need a driver’s license to ride an e-scooter
Woo-hoo! You loved this idea. If you (the rider) do not violate laws, keep to your path or lane where you should be, wear a helmet, and ride at an allowable speed. There is no ‘problem’.
Fact 2. E-scooters are NOT dangerous. Period.
Oh yes! The fact of the matter is that electric scooters do not pose any danger at all to anyone. How can they? Unless they are possessed by a poltergeist or an unseen entity, out to wreak havoc and destruction on anyone indiscriminately, they will move helter-skelter. You see, electric scooters are inanimate things. In other words, they are lifeless.
Finding clarity in all of these, recklessness, total disregard for pedestrians and traffic rules, and not exercising caution towards incoming vehicles are why electric scooters become the brunt of many sanctions, grievances, and complaints. Guess who is to be held fully accountable? It’s the e-scooter rider or riders who continue to be irresponsible, rash, negligent, careless, and stubbornly refuse to comply with the law. They are to be held liable.
According to data collected from the Monash University’s Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit, which included Victorian public hospitals with 24-hour emergency departments, it showed a significant rise in hospitalizations due to injuries among e-scooter riders –jumping from 28 in 2019-20 to 128 in 2020-21, and 427 in 2022. Causes revealed include riding without a helmet, ignorance or total disregard for road rules, riding with a passenger, riding beyond the speed limit, and/or riding under the influence of drugs or liquor. Due to the spate of accidents and injuries, the city government is cracking down on out-of-control e-scooter riders after it’s proven that road rules and regulations weren’t followed or complied with.
Fact 3. Be safe when charging your electric scooter. Here’s how to be safe and avoid the battery from getting damaged:
• Buy an e-scooter from a reputable store – avoid buying from the black market where clones, fakes, unbranded, defective electric scooters are sold, as they sell parts that don’t fit, and they don’t have warranties in case of problems. For sure, there will be problems, along with headaches – yours.
• Don’t overcharge it
• Make sure you use a legitimate charger, and get the same brand as that of your electric scooter (Mearth’s robust, high performing el-scooters have hot-swappable batteries for your convenience)
• Don’t charge your e-scooter near flammable objects
• Always inspect your batteries for leakage, lousy smell, puffiness, bloating, or bulges
• Allow your e-scooter to rest for a while after riding before you charge it
These commonsense do’s and don’ts are intended for the owner to appreciate and take good care of his prized possession, not to be neglectful or abuse it. For more tips on how to care for one’s electric scooter, as well as how to charge your e-scooter battery, visit www.mearth.com.au properly
Fact 4. Ongoing electric scooter trials in different states in Australia in NSW
The drama further heightens the conflict that seems unending, as frustration among e-scooter riders and owners of private electric scooters mounts due to the exclusion of private electric scooters and focuses mainly on the merits and demerits of shared electric scooters.
Why are electric scooters banned on public roads and thoroughfares in Australia?
Although scooters are considered motor vehicles, they do not satisfy the Australian Design Rules and cannot be registered or insured. Rules regarding these popular devices vary from state to state in Australia, with some banning scooters while others enforcing a list of strict requirements on riders.
E-scooter riders can only use their personal mobility devices on private property. Shared roads, pavements, and cycleways are strictly off-limits. E-scooters under 200 watts can be ridden at a maximum speed of 10km/h in various public places in Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania.
Under the current laws, e-scooters are considered mechanically propelled vehicles, and their use is subject to the user’s having a license to use them. The government has been planning on regulating their use for some time now.
Protests clamoring for privately owned e-scooters are mounting and not ceasing. What does this mean? Electric scooters will not fade away like some crazy fad.
Amid the hardline issues hurled to discourage, put a stop to, and/or temper down the fondness of teens, adults, students, housewives, professionals, and yes, even seniors for electric scooters, the sentiment has grown even more substantial.
Hate? Yes. The red tape surrounding the legalization, partiality, limitations, and delays concerning privately owned e-scooters all over Australia are becoming a topic of ‘hate’ and aggravation for those lobbying for its legalization.
Love. Isn’t it obvious? The more the Establishment clamps down on people’s freedom of choice, the more private e-scooter supporters will become assertive in showing their hands of support and devotion in favor of an underdog, an unwitting target to the long-drawn-out debacle.
