Electric scooter riders have welcomed the lifting of a ban on private e-scooters on Victorian roads as part of a major shake-up in a state government trial.
The changes include an extension to hire scooter trials in four council areas in Ballarat and inner Melbourne.
Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne said the trials have been an "enormous success".
"In Ballarat, there have been more than 200,000 short trips that have been taken during the course of this trial, and predominantly they've been used for economic purposes, like to get to the shops, to get to a venue," she said.
Ms Horne said extending the trial to private e-scooters was an important step to recognise how these vehicles were already being used, and develop new road rules to accommodate them.
"We know that there are more than 100,000 private e-scooters out there on the network, so being able to look at how they're being used, and get the appropriate regulatory settings in place over the next six months," she said.
Jay Boston has used e-scooters on Melbourne streets for the past four years and said enthusiast groups were thrilled to see the ban on private e-scooters lifted.
"There's a lot of commentary happening since we found out about this only yesterday, and we're looking forward to April 5 when we can do it without getting in trouble," he said.
Until now private e-scooters were considered an unregistered vehicle and riding them on public roads could attract a fine of $925.
More than 1,000 fines were issued to e-scooter riders in the past two years by Victoria Police, however, the majority were for offences such as failing to wear a helmet or carrying more than one person on an e-scooter.
Safety, education a high priority
Ms Horne said there would also be an increased emphasis on rider safety and understanding the road rules.
"This is a really new way of getting around the transport network and certain cohorts are loving it, so it's about how do we get that education campaign in place so that young people know the road rules," she said.
"There's a real opportunity to refine that over the next six months."
Privately owned e-scooters will be banned on footpaths, but permitted on roads with speed limits below 60 kph. Age restrictions will also be dropped from 18 to 16.
Mr Boston said experienced riders had a good sense of safety, however, users unfamiliar with rideshare schemes sometimes ignored the rules.
"You do see the occasional person out on these rental scooters with the helmets still [attached to the scooter], not on people's heads," he said.
"I guess people think that's cool, but that's not cool when you have a big accident too."
Scooters causing 'nasty, life-changing injuries'
Royal Melbourne Hospital director of emergency Associate Professor Mark Putland said e-scooter injury presentations had surged alongside their growing popularity.
"We're seeing probably between 40 and 50 a month, these are significant injuries. So significant life-changing brain injuries, really nasty, nasty, permanent facial injuries, bilateral limb injuries, you know, broken wrists on both sides, broken hands, that sort of thing," Dr Putland said.
He said accepting e-scooters were growing in popularity and making them safer would help tackle the growing number of injuries.
"We need to think hard about how we make this thing safe; it doesn't look like they're going away," Dr Putland said.
"We've had to work hard to make cars and so forth safe, and we've done an extraordinarily good job making them safer and safer over the years."
