A series of alarming accidents involving electric scooters and electric bikes has resulted in eleven people being injured across Queensland in a single night, stretching emergency services thin. The Queensland Ambulance Service reported a distressing list of incidents from Friday evening into the early hours of Saturday morning.
A Statewide Night of Trauma for Paramedics
The horror run for paramedics began around 6pm on Friday when a teenage boy riding an e-scooter collided with a car on Laguna Ave in Palm Beach. He was transported to hospital with a significant foot injury. The incidents continued rapidly across the state.
In Crestmead, a woman in her 30s suffered a serious leg injury after falling from an e-scooter on Browns Plains Rd. Around the same time in Warwick, a primary school-aged boy was rushed to hospital after a fall from an e-scooter on Horseman Rd.
The evening progressed with a woman in her 40s sustaining a shoulder injury from a fall in Biloela just after 8:30pm. Shortly after, two teenage girls were hospitalised with arm and head injuries following an e-scooter incident in Eli Waters.
City Crashes and Early Morning Incidents
The crisis moved into Brisbane's urban core as Friday night wore on. Within a ten-minute span just after 9:30pm, a woman and a man, both in their 30s, were taken to hospital with head and neck injuries after separate e-scooter crashes in Brisbane City and Kangaroo Point. An hour later, a man in his 40s was also hospitalised after a crash in the city.
As the clock passed midnight, a man in his 30s crashed his e-bike in Norman Park, suffering head injuries. Over an hour later in Auchenflower, another man in his 30s was hospitalised with a shoulder injury from an e-scooter incident. The final recorded crash occurred just before 4:30am in Hervey Bay, where a man in his 20s suffered minor injuries in an e-bike accident.
Mounting Pressure for Safety Reforms
This devastating night of injuries follows a tragic year for electric bike and scooter users in Queensland. Twelve deaths have been linked to the devices in the past twelve months, including several children.
In late October, a 15-year-old boy died after an e-bike crash in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast. Just three days prior, an 8-year-old boy died following a head-on collision with another e-bike on the Sunshine Coast. In September, a 17-year-old boy was killed when the e-bike he was riding collided with a car on the Gold Coast.
In response to growing public concern, State Premier David Crisafulli has stated that "change is coming". However, he has opted to await the findings of a parliamentary committee inquiry into e-scooters and e-bikes, due by March next year, rather than enact immediate reforms. The government faces mounting pressure to improve safety regulations in the wake of these fatal accidents.
