The rise and fall of e-scooters in Melbourne E-scooters have officially been banned from operating in Melbourne’s CBD. Hundreds of e-scooters have been removed from the CBD after the City of Melbourne decided to tear up its contracts with providers Lime and Neuron in August. The removal of scooters marks the end of a rollout in the CBD that caused a spate of dangerous driving, hospitalisations and dumped scooters. Arnold Thomas & Becker lawyer Allanah Goodwin said that while e-scooters offer many benefits including a convenient and cost-effective mode of transport for short distance travel, there are also some concerning problems with allowing them in such tightly built-up and populated spaces. “Despite the advantages, there have also been several challenges associated with e-scooter use; the primary concern being safety. Whilst in use, e-scooters pose a safety risk to riders, pedestrians, and other road users. Parked e-scooters can significantly obstruct footpaths which then increases the risk of tripping for pedestrians, and this is particularly prevalent in built-up areas like the CBD.” “At Arnold Thomas & Becker we see ordinary Melbournians suffer significant injuries, including through no fault of their own, because of e-scooter injuries. Since their introduction into Melbourne we saw the number of e-scooter injured clients increasing, which is a concerning trend.” Our client’s story On a dark evening in Melbourne, our client, Anna (not her real name), walked outside her apartment to collect her bin from the kerb. She didn’t notice the e-scooter which had been haphazardly discarded against a tree – combined with the low light, the vehicle was obscured by the foliage – and Anna tripped over it. Her fall resulted in a broken hand requiring surgery for the placement of eight screws. Anna is now taking legal action to pursue compensation for her pain and suffering and to recoup the medical expenses from an injury that could have been prevented with tighter regulations and better options for ‘parking’ e-scooters when users are finished with them. What happens if you are injured in an e-scooter accident? In Victoria, e-scooters are not covered by TAC insurance unless the accident involves a motor vehicle. The TAC will also not cover pedestrians who are injured by e-scooters. E-scooter companies have very limited “no fault” third party insurance to cover. However, these policies are extremely limited especially when considering some injuries have resulted in significant time off work and costly out of pocket medical expenses. For example, if you suffer from life altering injury as a result of an accident involving a Neuron e-scooter, under their insurance scheme, you can get up to $500 per week for up to 26 weeks off work. In comparison, for those same injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident in Victoria, under the TAC scheme an injured person can get approximately $1,500 per week for up to 3 years. Contact us If you are injured as a result of an e-scooter in Melbourne we encourage you to seek the advice of our lawyers especially in circumstances where you have permanent injuries that will impact upon your earning capacity and activities of daily life. To speak to a lawyer today call us on 1300 333 300.