Authors: Richard J. Buning, Scott Lieske, and Richard Bean, The University of Queensland
E-scooter users are often portrayed as reckless, law-breaking, and accident-prone. This is how the media frequently depicts them, a perception that has fuelled public concern. Our latest research challenges these assumptions, showing that the vast majority of riders comply with speed limits, wear helmets, and follow location-based road rules.
But how law-abiding are e-scooter users, really? To find out, we conducted a two-year observational study in Brisbane, Queensland, analysing over 200 hours of traffic camera footage and more than 600,000 observations.
Separated infrastructure works! And, it directly leads to road rules compliance behaviours and strongly discourages footpath riding
We assessed three types of infrastructure scenarios, (1) a footpath (sidewalk) alongside a general traffic lane only, (2) a footpath alongside a bike lane, and (3) a footpath alongside a separated cycle track.
When riders only had the option of a footpath or riding with cars, 70% of e-scooter users rode on the footpath. With the addition of a bike lane, 49% of e-scooters chose the footpath, and when a separated cycle track was available, only 10% of e-scooter users rode on the footpath.
Separated cycling infrastructure also produced speed compliance as only 52% of e-scooter riders complied with the speed limit on footpaths (12 km/h), whereas 83% complied with the speed limit on bike lanes and separated paths. We did note that only 15% of riders exceeded 20 km/h on footpaths, so speeding here tended to be mild.
So, if you build, they will use it! And comply with the law!
E-scooter helmet use is on the rise and quite high!
Our work found overall a surprising 87% of e-scooter users wore helmets. Research from the Queensland University of Technology conducted in 2019 and 2021 reported overall helmet wearing at 68% and 76% respectively. So clearly helmet wearing is improving, likely partially due to an innovation that locks helmets to the vehicles using bluetooth released in early 2022. But helmet wearing varied based on where the user was riding (i.e. footpath, bike lane, cycle track) and between users of personal and private devices.
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Public users favour footpaths and skip helmets; private riders use roads more but speed more
Our work found that public (i.e., shared) and private e-scooter riders complied with road rules at different rates. Private users were more likely to wear a helmet (92%) compared to public users (83%). In addition, public users were twice as likely to ride on footpaths compared to private users in all infrastructure scenarios (i.e., foot path, bike lane, separated path). Speed compliance on footpaths was nearly identical for private and public users, but speeding on bike lanes, cycle tracks and general traffic lanes varied as 93% of public users complied with the 25 km/h on road speed limits compared to 75% of private users.
People make decisions based on perceived risk regarding helmet use and speed
From our analysis we observed differential behaviours based on helmet use and riding location indicating e-scooter users make decisions based on perceived risk. With slower travel on footpaths than on roads, all e-scooters users riding on footpaths were less likely to be wearing a helmet (72%) than users riding in bike lanes, cycle tracks or general traffic lanes (83%).
We found those wearing helmets rode faster than those not wearing helmets, and those wearing full face helmets rode the fastest. In 25 km/h zones, riders who were not wearing a helmet were the most likely to comply with the speed limit compared to those wearing a helmet, while only 58% of those wearing full face helmets were speed compliant. This raises the possibility that “risk compensation” is occurring where users with more protection felt safer thus rode faster.
Location and urban density matters. We also found that speed compliance decreased with lower population density as e-scooter riders were the least likely to speed in the CBD, compared to the increased speeding urban areas and suburban areas respectively. The suburban areas studied saw the highest proportion of speeding above the 25 km/h limit with only 57% of private users complying with the law.
E-scooter road rules vary across countries and even across Australia
Variations in e-scooter road rules from speed limits, to where users can ride and not ride, along with helmet mandates vary greatly around the world. In Australia, differences in road rules between states has been dubbed the “wild west” as private e-scooter are still illegal in some states, and legal in others. In Queensland, the road rules are:
- Legal to ride on footpaths, shared paths, bicycle paths, on-road bicycle lanes with a speed limit of less than 50 km/h & local 50 km/h roads with no dividing line
- 12 km/h speed limit on footpaths & 25 km/h on other allowed paths
- Helmets are mandatory
- No riding under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or while using a mobile phone
- No driver licence required
Read the full report here.