Victoria approves the use of privately owned electric scooters in public spaces: Key regulations and challenges.
Unpacking Victoria’s Approval for Public Use of Electric Scooters
By Stephen Coulter, Co-Founder of Zipidi and CREDZ
Victoria has approved the use of privately owned electric scooters in public spaces from April 5th, 2023. The announcement was made as part of the six-month extension in shared e-scooter trials in Melbourne and Ballarat.
The key regulations announced are:
- Riders must be at least 16 years old.
- The maximum speed limit is 20 kph.
- Scooters must be speed limited to 25 kph.
- Helmets are required.
- Driving under the influence is illegal, as it is for motor vehicle drivers.
- Use on footpaths is banned.
- Riding is permitted on shared-use paths, bicycle paths, roads with a maximum speed limit of 60 kph, and bicycle lanes on these roads.
Zipidi welcomes this decision by Victoria, as it will allow legal use by over 100,000 Victorian e-scooter owners and will enable public education on safe riding rules and vehicle standards. Previously, every scooter was illegal, and the focus was on their illegality rather than education for safe riding and vehicles.
The approval was part of the six-month extension to Victoria’s shared e-scooter trials in Ballarat and Melbourne. The next six months will allow the government to see how the legal use of private scooters works across Victoria, with or without shared e-scooters.
The announcement has been contentious, and we unpack some of the issues here:
1. Why e-scooters and not ePMDs?
Electric scooters are part of a category known as electric personal mobility devices. There is a wide and increasing range of devices, including electric skateboards, electric unicycles, one-wheels, electric trikes, and more. In parts of Europe, this category also includes e-bikes, which makes for simpler regulation.
Other Australian states that have approved electric scooters have approved the overall ePMD category, and all types of compliant ePMDs are legal in Queensland, ACT, Tasmania, and Western Australia. Similarly, most countries worldwide allow all types of ePMDs to be ridden.
The broad category encourages innovation and caters to more use cases and, ultimately, more active transport. We expect Victoria to review this broader category and extend approval within 12 months.
2. Should e-scooters be registered?
Millions of push bikes, hundreds of thousands of e-bikes, kick scooters, and other forms of active transport share public space.
It makes no sense to require registration for only one form of active transport when many more exist.
No Australian state requires any registration of bikes or other forms of active transport, including e-bikes. Mopeds are the smallest vehicles requiring registration, which also require riders to have driving licences.
If a state decided to introduce some form of registration, we would favour certification over registration. Certification focuses on ensuring the vehicle’s specifications and its key components meet the minimum standards set by the state and/or country.
It ensures quality vehicle components, design within the government’s limits, speed-limited devices, and compliance with key components like lithium-ion batteries.
Certification can be applied at the serial number level. Certification will likely be a better and more efficient route if Victoria (or other states) decides that some compliance regime is required. Initial certification of all forms of electric bikes and electric personal mobility devices would seem a clear delineator from purely foot/pedal-powered vehicles.
3. Why increase permitted road use to streets with speed limits of 60 kph?
Victoria’s recent decision to allow electric scooters on roads with speed limits of up to 60 kph was surprising because it goes against the global trend of limiting such devices to 50 kph on streets.
The decision could increase the risk of accidents and severe injuries as faster speed limits are typically linked to higher accident rates.
However, Victoria’s fact sheet suggests that the increase in speed limit is aimed at removing limitations on where riders can travel. This may be an admission of the lack of bike lanes and safer, slower speed limit roads that connect and enable end-to-end journeys.
It is hoped that Victoria will follow global trends and invest in more bike lanes while adjusting speed limits to 50 kph and 30 kph to ensure safer riding and harmonize with Australia and the world.
Certification can be done securely online to keep costs low — not requiring formal vehicle inspections at government locations. CREDZ, which Zipidi developed with the Australian technology company, Laava, uses patented CSIRO technology to enable certification and other services for electric micromobility and other product categories.
4. Should third-party insurance be required?
Victoria and other Australian states have compulsory third-party insurance for registered motor vehicles. This insurance covers accidents involving third parties, including pedestrians and active transport users. However, no third-party insurance coverage is provided in accidents involving two active transport users.
To encourage the use of active transport over cars, a compulsory third-party insurance program may be beneficial.
Optional third-party insurance is inefficient since few people elect to take it, which results in higher premiums, with risks often skewed towards riskier riders. Currently, third-party bicycle insurance is available in Australia, but take-up rates are exceptionally low, estimated to be below 5% of riders, likely to be active road cyclists who get insurance as part of their cycling club memberships.
For third-party insurance to be affordable for the masses, it must be compulsory to achieve economies of scale and risk distribution.
Victoria is uniquely positioned as the only Australian state with a government insurance provider, the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), through which all compulsory third-party motor vehicle insurance is provided.
The TAC is a well-run organisation that receives around $2 billion in annual premium income and has total assets of around $18 billion. In its most recent reported year, it made an after-tax profit of $1.5 billion.
A starting point for active travel third-party insurance would be to make it compulsory for owners of eBikes and ePMDs, including electric scooters.
Currently, the smallest vehicles insured by the TAC are less than 61cc mopeds, with a premium of $92.40 per year, including GST and duty. We expect a premium for eBikes, eScooters and ePMDs to be no more than this, probably lower, equivalent to around $7 to 8 per month.
This would be affordable and, with lite certification, ensure higher quality and safer devices with benefits to third parties should a crash occur.
In Conclusion
Zipidi supports a lite certification and low-cost compulsory third-party insurance for electric bikes, scooters, and other personal mobility devices.
A framework that uses devices speed-limited to less than 25 kph, whose certification standards are certified, will improve safety and increase the adoption of active transport. Vehicles that can exceed 25 kph should be regulated differently and require a license and registration. The table below shows a potential framework.
