Aussie council's $50,000 move prompts worried dad to scour roadsides for weeks
An Aussie dad has spent the last few weeks scouring every roadside in his suburb in dreaded anticipation of a new arrival — e-scooters.
Matthew Zammit is fighting to keep the controversial mode of transportation off the streets of north Melbourne after the Darebin City Council revealed a $50,000 trial of share hire e-scooters and e-bikes would kick off in June. The decision caused waves when it was announced late last year, just a week after the City of Melbourne voted to ditch the electronic two-wheelers following a string of complaints.
At the time, Darebin's then-mayor Susanne Newton told the ABC that despite safety concerns, she believed the benefits of the trial would outweigh the risks, and that she was 'pretty comfortable' with the technology hire companies have in place.
However, Zammit disagrees, arguing residents will undoubtedly 'get hurt'. 'You hit a pothole on [an e-scooter] and all the weight is up the back, so it becomes like a lever and just catapults you forward, headfirst into whatever's in front of you,' he told 9News.
Since their introduction in Australia in 2018, e-scooters have become a hotly-contested subject due to soaring rates of serious injuries and fatal collisions, including a Perth dad who was recently hit by one as he walked to pick up dinner. He died several days later, on June 3, in hospital.
From January, 2020 to April this year, there have been 30 fatalities nationwide, with more than 10 of them being children. Staggering research from the University of Melbourne revealed that one in three e-scooter deaths in the last five years have been children, prompting a plea to parents not to buy the electric scooters for their kids.
'They end up with lots of soft tissue and facial fractures, sometimes half or all of their teeth missing, and unfortunately sometimes really significant head injuries,' Dr Sarah Whitelaw from the Royal Melbourne Hospital said.
Earlier this week, Yahoo News published heart-stopping dashcam footage of a Queensland child's very close call after she suddenly swerved in front of a car while riding an e-scooter without a helmet. Driver Emma Ogilvie said the incident left her feeling 'so shaken'.
'She's just lucky I pay attention when I drive and I saw her. It could've been a lot worse, and although it would't have been my fault, I couldn't live with myself if anything else happened,' she told Yahoo.
Zammit, a survivor of road trauma, has created a Change.org petition to urge Darebin City Council to reverse what he says is an 'expensive and harmful' decision.
'As a result of this road trauma I live with significant disabilities, including an acquired brain injury,' he wrote on the website. 'It has changed the course of my life, and I am startled by the level of brain injury being inflicted on others due to shared e-scooters.'
Speaking to 9News, Zammit said the last thing he wants is to see someone else be severely injured or killed while riding an e-scooter on his local streets. 'You see statistics of people seriously injured on roads and you can very easily just see a number, but each one of those serious injuries is a long journey of recovery,' he said.
'And in many cases, you're not going back to what you were. You're not getting back what you had... your life has changed forever.'
🚘 Dashcam captures driver's 'heart attack' e-scooter moment in front of car
🧒 Urgent plea to Aussie parents over deadly e-scooter trend
👀 Little-known road rule could see you lose your licence
Darebin's new mayor Kristin Olaris has insisted the council is 'putting safety and accessibility at the centre' of its impending trial, according to 9News.
Peter McLean, CEO of Bicycle NSW, told Yahoo there are multiple factors that contribute to e-scooter and e-bike safety, including government regulations, police enforcement and parental responsibility.
'E-scooter sales have been significantly increasing over time and tens of thousands of them are being sold each and every year across Australia,' he said. 'They do provide a significant improvement in autonomous transport and transportation, which is very, very positive. However, we do have to be very, very careful how we use them.
'If you're not riding them correctly then they are extremely dangerous and will undoubtedly injure the user and of course, other road users as well.'
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