A woman with a vision impairment was injured when she was struck by an e-scooter in Melbourne.
Disability worker Brittany Watson told 9News she was walking home with her guide dog when she was hit by an e-scooter.
“By the time you hear it, it’s already gone past you and really taken you out,” she said.
“The handlebars hit my wrist, bruising me to the point where I had the next day off work.”
Between 2019 and 2020, 27 people ended up in the emergency department with injuries related to e-scooters.
In the past financial year, the figure quadrupled to 124 – a jump of 359 per cent.
Men made up 73 per cent of admissions, with a third of those injured being aged 25 to 39.
Hospitalisations were also common among children aged 10 to 14.
E-scooters can be ridden along bike lanes, shared paths and lower speed roads up to 50km/h within the trial areas.
Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Glenn Weir said police wanted people to engage with the trial “sensibly”.
Who has right of way when the lanes merge?
“You will be breath tested, you can’t be over the limit – the same as a motor vehicle,” he said.
“As part of the trial, you can’t have a passenger, you must wear a helmet.”
“If people think they’re going to come in and hire a scooter and get on the gas and try and get away from the police well, we will absolutely do our best to safely enforce those rules.”