Scooters in the gun
Council vows to get tough on footpath cowboys
SPARKS are about to fly as city hall escalates a war on irresponsible riders of electric scooters and skateboards.
Mayor Tom Tate has the backing of all councillors in organising an urgent meeting with Transport Minister Mark Bailey in a bid to pull the plug on the speedy – and silent – machines.
A debate at a full council meeting yesterday about safety on shared footpaths followed numerous posts on social media showing near misses involving teenage riders and older Gold Coasters.
Councillors with beachfront divisions, including Gary Baildon and Gail O’Neill, strongly urged the Mayor to take action.
Cr Tate told the Bulletin: “It’s for safety reasons. The definition of shared footpaths – we have to align ourselves with the state.
“That’s why I intend to meet with the Minister and get the state law and council law in synch. The main concern that I will be highlighting with the Minister – and I think he knows this – these scooters are getting more powerful. They are getting on the footpath.
“The electric ones, you can’t hear them. I don’t want (older) people getting knocked over.”
Cr Tate said he had been alerted to increased coverage on social media of near misses on the Coast in tourist hot spots like Surfers Paradise.
“We should take that as a warning,” he said.
“When this is occurring you have to accelerate the law and make sure the shared footpath issue is resolved.”
Cr Tate said he was confident that once laws were strengthened, policing of footpath hoons would increase.
But he said the council needed to ensure any potential new framing of laws did not impact adversely on disabled users and the elderly in wheelchairs.
“There’s a lot of variables we have to cover. Let’s get it right,” he said.
The council has been lobbying the Government since 2015 for a ban on electric scooters and bikes, suggesting Surfers Paradise could be made a separate precinct.
No law exists to ban electric bikes from footpaths but the Government previously has encouraged the council to consider drafting new rules on footpath use.