Child hurt in scooter hit
Parent calls for ban after boy hospitalised in collision
A COLLISION that broke the arm of a Far North boy and left him “covered in bruises” has led to a call for e-scooters to be banned from footpaths.
Clifton Beach mother Rebecca Hannaford was horrified to learn her son was wiped out by an e-scooter on his bike ride home from school.
He was riding in a schoolrun bike pack of about 25 children, with the principal and a teacher riding with them — both of whom were wearing high visability vests.
“It was a head-on collision, (my son) has broken his arm and nearly knocked out his front tooth. it caused a lot of bruising and skin off,” she said.
“The guy came around the corner at around 40km/h.
“The guy told the teachers off ... he was between 16 and 18 and abused Byron who was on the ground bleeding. He rode off.”
Feeling helpless Ms Hannaford went to the police who told her: “What do you want us to do about it?”
With nothing being done and her son still shaken up, Ms Hannaford said she was furious.
She said another Cairns mum reached out to her on social media, recounting a similar incident where her child was run down by an escooter.
“They shouldn’t be on the footpath … they could kill somebody,” she said.
“The e-scooters don’t have a speedometer on them, they’re just guessing, you can’t regulate something that doesn’t have the technology.”
The calls come after a statewide crackdown on escooters came into action on November 1, with laws introduced to penalise e-scooter speed on footpaths, riding while on the phone, and drink riding.
While Ms Hannaford said the laws “aren’t going to do much” in making the public safe, Minister of Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey confirmed in October further legislation addressing harsher penalties for e-scooter riders will be introduced in 2023.
“TMR is currently investigating options to crack down on drink and drug riding. Once this review has been completed, further announcements will be made,” the department’s spokesman said in early November.
And to add to Ms Hannaford’s nightmare, e-scooter company Beam will add another 150 e-scooters to Cairns after bypassing council and mayor objections last week.
“(People) are not given any education,” Ms Hannaford said.
Queensland Police were contacted for comment.