Electric scooter company Lime needs to “step up to the plate” and make sure it is providing enough helmets for riders on Brisbane streets, lord mayor Graham Quirk says.
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Under questioning from the Labor opposition in council’s Tuesday meeting about the council’s potential liability for injuries on Lime’s popular scooters, Cr Quirk said the regulation of helmet use and speed were state government issues.
However, he said Lime needed to work harder to encourage scooter users to wear helmets, with about one person a day presenting at the Mater Hospital for scooter injuries.
“We are continuing to bring Lime scooters to account, it’s fair to say that, as their responsibilities as an operator,” Cr Quirk said.
However, he said the council had little control over the electric scooter company’s regulation and the use of helmets by riders on Brisbane streets.
“We don’t have the absolute up-to-date statistics on [accidents] because they are, again, held by the medical institutions under state jurisdictions,” Cr Quirk said.
“But we’re conscious as everyone is that there have been accidents in the city.
“We will absolutely continue to monitor that trial, we are also conscious that Lime scooters have been very popular in this city.”
Cr Quirk said the two key issues triggering those accidents were generally speed and helmets, with accidents happening where the speed limit for the scooters was ignored or the rider was not wearing a helmet.
Cr Quirk questioned Labor’s position on whether they supported the scooter trial or not.
Labor councillor Jared Cassidy said the opposition did support the scooter trial.
In late January, Queensland Police arrested a man for drink-driving a scooter in South Brisbane, with a blood-alcohol reading more than three times the legal limit.
That month paramedics also warned of the safety risks riding scooters.
Deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said in his opinion the issue was not with council regulation, but with state and police enforcement.
Cr Schrinner said the regulation around the Lime scooters was a matter for the state government, including speed and helmet use.
“We understand, like any new emerging mobility technology, there are going to be challenges,” Cr Schrinner said.
“If they’re lawful and they’re used lawfully they should generally be safe.
“The issue is where people are not abiding by the law and not using helmets, they’re riding where they shouldn’t be riding, they’re not … giving way to pedestrians.”
Cr Schrinner said in his opinion Labor should put its questions not to the council but to the Queensland Police Service and the Police Minister Mark Bailey.
“We see all too few incidents of police enforcement,” he said.
“Ultimately, if it is their responsibility to enforce, then the community has a reasonable expectation that enforcement will occur.”
The trial period for Lime’s scooters was extended until the end of February.
