NSW Transport Minister Rob Stokes has announced a three-month trial of E-scooters in NSW. As he put it “E-scooters are an affordable, convenient and sustainable method of moving and it’s important we harness that and recognise their increasing popularity in a safe way.”

This really is a big call given the safety record and the experience from overseas and in Victoria.

Thankfully only shared commercial hire E-scooters will figure in the trial as in Victoria where they are speed regulated to 20 km/hour, must not ride on footpaths, must wear a helmet, and must ride only on bicycle lanes, shared paths, and lower speed roads up to 50km/hour.

Frankly, I believe it’s a recipe for disaster – we’ve already seen them being used here at high speed on footpaths with the riders observed to have taken a big dose of brave pills. I hope common sense prevails before we see a pedestrian death.

I’m David Berthon.

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