Make your voice heard to e-scooter inquiry
The Queensland Government has launched a Parliamentary Inquiry into Personal Mobility Devices such as e-scooters and e-bikes. We urge any member with a view to make a submission.
E-scooters and e-bikes have changed the way roads are used in many Queensland cities.
The brightly coloured devices stand visible on pavements – sometimes in herds, sometimes as lonely individuals – ready to be hired by anybody making a fast local trip.
E-scooters and e-bikes have been privately owned for years, but the prevalence of city-wide hire schemes in more recent times has propelled their popularity.
As much as they’ve been heralded for providing an affordable and convenient active transport option, the portable mobility devices (PMDs) have attracted their fair share of controversy.
Now the Queensland government has launched a Parliamentary Inquiry into personal e-mobility devices to improve safety and address community concerns.
This has come as welcome news to medical professionals, who have seen the results of too many tumbles and hits.
Between 2021 and 2024 there was a 112 per cent increase in injuries to riders, passengers and pedestrians.
Eight riders died in 2024 alone.
On Easter Saturday this year, 12-year-old Summah Richards died when the e-scooter she was riding was hit by a car in Laidley, west of Brisbane.
Clearly change is needed.
The parliamentary probe will investigate the benefits of PMDs, as well as safety issues surrounding their use, current regulatory frameworks and gaps between Commonwealth and Queensland laws that allow illegal devices to be imported and used.
It will also investigate the risks of PMD ownership, such as fire from incorrectly stored or disposed lithium batteries, and what communication and education about device requirements, rules, and consequences for unsafe use is needed.
Critically, it has called for broad stakeholder perspectives to understand the place of PMDs in our transport system. This includes road users, disability advocates, academia and the PMD industry – but the inquiry also wants to hear from health and trauma experts.
We highly recommend making a submission if this is an issue you’ve encountered in your practice, whether you’re an emergency doctor or specialist dealing with broken bones, head or internal injuries after a crash, or a GP patching up cuts and bruises from a minor fall.
With many of our members reporting riders not wearing legally-required helmets, or doubling two people on one e-scooter, we know there is a depth of expertise out there that would greatly benefit the inquiry’s work.
You can find details about the inquiry and how to make a submission here.
The State Development, Infrastructure and Works Committee will report back by March 30, 2026.
