E-Scooters: are they a road safety issue?

Electric scooters (e-scooters) have suddenly arrived on roads and footpaths in many cities across the world. There has been huge media coverage and jurisdictions have scrambled to respond to the regulatory challenges they pose. Our observational study in central Brisbane found more than 90% compliance with the requirement to ride on the footpath, although helmet use was low for shared, but not private, e-scooters. These observations suggest that e-scooters are technically not a significant road safety issue according to current road crash definitions and regulations for riding in Queensland and confirm concerns about the injury risks associated with their use.