A man riding an electric scooter has died in Perth after colliding with a cyclist early on Wednesday morning.
Police say about 2.25am on Wednesday, the 46-year-old man on the scooter crashed into a cyclist on a blind bend on the corner of Nicholson and Yale roads in Thornlie.
The rider of the e-scooter was rushed to Fiona Stanley hospital with critical injuries, where he later died.
The cyclist, a 52-year-old man, received minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
Road Safety commissioner Adrian Warner said there had been two deaths since new legislation on eRideable devices was introduced by the WA government in December.
The laws limited e-scooters to a maximum speed of 25 km/h on suburban roads and bike paths and 10km/h on footpaths. It is illegal to ride them on main roads.
“These deaths are a tragic reminder that all Western Australians need to mindful of people on eRideables, both on the road and on paths,” Warner said.
“Even when all safety precautions are taken, eRiders are vulnerable and the consequences of a crash can be devastating as we have seen with this incident.”
A spokesperson from the West Australian police force said whether the e-scooter rider was wearing a helmet would form part of their investigation.
Madison Bland, a PhD candidate at Griffith University’s Cities Research Institute, said e-scooters were increasing in popularity in urban centres as an alternative form of transport for short trips of 1-5km.
“They’re quick and efficient – with recent fuel shocks and price spikes they’re a lot more affordable, and the lithium battery provides emission-free travel,” he said.
“We’ve seen people from all age brackets upwards of 16 take to e-scooters within the private market, and now with the rollout of public sharing services … they’re nimble and efficient.”
E-bikes and scooters that comply to certain European standards are allowed on public roads in almost all Australian states under similar rules to bicycles.
Western Australia, Queensland, the ACT and Tasmania have the least prohibitive regulations.
Stirling was the first Perth council to launch a shared e-scooter scheme last February, when it implemented a 12 month e-scooter trial with the city’s approved operator Neuron Mobility.
The New South Wales government recently announced it would join the majority of states and territories and hold a 12 month e-scooter trial later this year, focusing on ensuring regulations were “sensible and appropriate”.
NSW is the only state where e-scooters are still prohibited in public.
Bland said despite regulations, the private market sold vehicles that could reach speeds in excess of 60 km/hr, and said councils and governments should consider dedicated infrastructure to cater to the new form of transport.
“There’s a concern for regulators to talk to these private suppliers and build into the system the need for safer vehicles so we can limit these conflicts,” he said.
“We also have to look to the infrastructure provision and how our urban areas cater to these vehicles … and have a serious discussion about dedicated, physically separated lanes to support micro-mobility.
“It’s a very new vehicle type, there’s a period of transition where all road users need to get accustomed but … it’s a self fulfilling prophecy – if you provide safe infrastructure, it will provide greater incentive to ride and so [you get] safety in numbers.”
An International Transport Forum report suggested riding e-scooters came with a comparable risk to cycling, ranging between 78 and 100 fatalities per billion trips.
According to the Royal Perth Hospital trauma registry, there were 32 admissions to the state trauma ward for e-scooter related injuries last year.
Royal Perth hospital figures provided to the West Australian showed 18 of 44 people admitted for injuries sustained in e-scooter crashes since 2019 were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash. Alcohol and/or drugs were a factor in 15 of the 44 cases.
In February, a 13-year-old boy died in hospital after an electric scooter crash in Perth’s north, prompting his father to issue an urgent plea for helmet safety.
