“She was a bright, beautiful girl,” he tells SBS News.

Michael Seculovic’s daughter Ava was 13 years old when she died from severe head injuries sustained in an accident on her e-scooter. Source: Supplied / Michael Seculovic

“She was very friendly; it didn’t matter who it was, when anyone came up to her and said ‘hello, how are you?’ she always replied with ‘good, thank you. How are you?’

“But also, no one else was wearing a helmet, and like many girls, they are worried about their hair.”

Seculovic has spent the past year reflecting on the regulations around e-scooters. He admits he wasn’t fully aware of the legalities before his daughter’s death.

But as the devices have become more and more popular in Australia, so has debate over how to regulate them.

Are e-bikes and e-scooters safe?

“The rates of injuries and deaths are increasing, and a big part of that is exposure [in traffic and public spaces], because these e-rideables are becoming popular, of course we’re going to see increased numbers of injuries,” she says.

During the same period, e-scooter injury rates increased from 0.3 to 14.9 per 100,000 people, says Oxley, adding that the rate would likely have increased with the growth of e-scooter use over the past two years.

“These figures likely underestimate the true toll, as not all Queensland hospitals contribute data, and not all injured individuals seek treatment.”

As more people use e-scooters, the incidents related to riding them have increased. Source: AAP / Luka Coch

The submission noted that common injuries include fractures, dislocations and head trauma.

While laws in WA ban those under 16 from riding e-scooters on roads in Australia, it is not uncommon to see children in their early teens out and about in the suburbs of Perth on e-scooters.

Growing popularity of e-rideables

The increasing affordability of e-scooters in recent years has also fuelled growth in the number of Australians using them.

While it is illegal to travel on an e-scooter with more than one person, it has become common practice to do so in some parts of Australia. Source: Getty / Steve Waters

While some high-end models may set you back around $5,000, a new e-scooter can cost as little as $500.

Oxley says while e-rideables are largely used by people commuting to and from work or study, gig-economy workers, such as food and mail delivery drivers, also rely heavily on them.

Around one in five Australians used an e-scooter in 2022. Source: SBS News

Estimates compiled by University of Sydney professor of transport management Stephen Greaves indicate that Australians own about 400,000 personal e-scooters and mobility devices.

“These are some of the most accessible and affordable electric vehicles in the world, and they take up a fraction of the space of a car,” he says.

The group asked the inquiry to consider the benefits of e-mobility devices and their potential to replace the “second or third family car”, which would “have significant environmental benefits, both in terms of day-to-day emissions and pollution, but also reduced demand for road space and parking…”

Inconsistent regulation

When e-scooters first entered the Australian market around 20 years ago, they fell into grey regulatory territory, he explains, as their integration into transport systems and roads had not been planned for.

“For example, in NSW, we’re not sure where scooters belong — some people consider them a kid’s toy, others think of them as more of a moped. But, of course, they are not roadworthy as a motorcycle, so are illegal.”

In WA and Victoria, riders must be at least 16 years of age to use an e-scooter in public spaces.

In some states, the maximum speed for e-scooters in public areas is 20km/h; elsewhere, it is capped at 25km/h.

Riding context and speed

“Outside of the CBD, I think they should be allowed on footpaths. You go out into the suburbs and you might see two people walking on a footpath, [so] you’ve got this perfect infrastructure for e-scooters; let’s use it for e-scooters and make it a shared path.”

Transport management professor Stephen Greaves says the local context needs to be considered when it comes to e-scooter regulations. Source: Supplied

He says local governments should be engaged to help determine safe and appropriate contexts for e-rideables — but also speeds.

“It’s very easy to override that,” he says.

But Jennie Oxley from Monash points out that is the increased speed of e-scooters over walking as well as the slower interactions with traffic that add to the risk of injury.

Compliance of e-mobility devices

About 85 per cent of those were related to helmets, and about 5 per cent were in relation to speeding.

Laws around the use of e-scooters and other e-rideables differ from state to state. Source: Getty / BJP7images

A WA Police spokesperson told SBS News: “As with any vehicle, speed, drug and alcohol use and a lack of helmet use are contributing factors to the causes of serious injury or death involving ERDs [e-rideable devices].

While e-bikes and e-motorbikes are categorised differently from e-scooters, there have been calls to mandate their registration and to legalise their use on roads.

“There are a number of considerations to take into account, but such measures could potentially encourage more responsible ownership and riding,” he says.

‘It really sucks’

Despite his personal grief over his daughter’s death, Seculovic says banning scooters outright is not realistic.

“It really sucks, it’s the worst thing in the world, but it’s reality, and that’s a hard thing.”