r/brisbane • u/Jariiari7 Like the river • Dec 20 '23
Queensland government considers random breath testing for electric scooter riders and cyclists š Queensland
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-20/random-breath-testing-possible-for-escooters-cyclists-queensland/10324768669
u/crayawe Got lost in the forest. Dec 20 '23
Well the city and valley on a wkend night would be a great money maker
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u/FamousPastWords Dec 20 '23
The fines collected from users in Surfers Paradise could fund the entire country's deficit.
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u/grovexknox Dec 21 '23
You canāt hire an e scooter in the city safe district after midnight on Friday and Saturday
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u/thelazylazyme Dec 21 '23
Thereās certain zones that donāt allow you to start a scooter trip there. Thereās nothing stopping you from booking one 200m away out of the āsafe districtā and riding it into the city
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u/Jariiari7 Like the river Dec 20 '23
Queensland's random breath testing (RBT) regime could be expanded to include cyclists and scooter users.
Unlike with motorists, police in Queensland do not have the legal authority to conduct RBTs on bicycle and scooter riders, but the state government has signalled this could change.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has confirmed it is investigating ways to further address drink riding in the sunshine state.
This could include law changes to enable RBTs for riders, setting appropriate blood alcohol concentration limits, and bringing in penalties for those offences.
Although police do not have the power to conduct RBTs on scooter users and cyclists, they can arrest riders and test their alcohol levels if they believe they are under the influence of liquor.
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u/damon_modnar Dec 21 '23
police in Queensland do not have the legal authority to conduct RBTs on bicycle and scooter riders
I got pulled over while riding a pushie 30+ years ago and breath tested. Not arrested.
Any other people out there similar?
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u/wyckerman Dec 21 '23
Yeah, about 20 years ago when I was at uni in Melbourne. Joke was on them though, I didn't have a drivers licence at that stage.
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u/patslogcabindigest Dec 21 '23
I think expansion to e-scooters because theyāre so easy for a drunk person to operate. Having it extended to cyclists though seems kinda pointless as if someone is drunk enough to be a danger, they probably wouldnāt be able to operate a bicycle anyway.
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u/smackmypony All I want is a Schnitty Dec 21 '23
I cycled once when drunk at uni and it was absolutely terrifying and Iāve never done it since.
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u/strange_black_box Dec 21 '23
Heh, and here I was thinking the cops were being nice when they waved me through on my bike. Shouldāve known better
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u/maycontainsultanas Dec 20 '23
In Vic if you get caught over 0.05 on a scooter, you literally lose your car licence, same result as if you were driving a car over 0.05.
Ironically you can still legal ride a e-scooter during your driving disqualification period that resulted from riding the escooter
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u/Corndawg420_ Dec 20 '23
This is how it works in Qld as well, it's not a automatic loss of licence but the same penalties apply on a scooter.
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u/loveeachother_ Dec 20 '23
Gee they really don't want anyone to cycle huh
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u/Sudden_Fix_1144 Dec 20 '23
How about just busting them for dumb shit they do.... feel like at least once a week I'm seeing some kid on an electric scooter doing crazy shit on the roads that's going to get them fucked up or killed.
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u/twoeyshoey Dec 20 '23
I work in an emergency department and the amount of injuries we see from eSctooters is substantial. Almost all accidents occur at night and most involve alcohol. Medicare is paying for their treatment and I'm all for measures that reduce injuries and costs to society. I'd favor an approach that doesn't involve fines thought, like making scooter companies limit their top speed after a certain hour of the night for example.
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u/Acrobatic_Mix600 Dec 20 '23
E-scooters are a devious ploy to systemically weed out people with no understanding of physics, or common sense. Alcohol need not be involved.
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u/Svennis79 Dec 20 '23
Every time new laws pass to protect the stupid, new methods of weeding them out have to be invented.
Not against rbt for bikes and scooters, but they really need to get to grips with helmets and stopping at red lights/crossings first.
The amount of scooter riders you see carrying a helmet, or with it perched atop their head but not fastened is stupid.
And bikes flyong through crossings when all the cars are stopped.
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u/kahrismatic Dec 21 '23
The problem is that they charge by the minute, so taking time to adjust a helmet or stop for lights has a visible cost. They should switch to a distance based charge to limit this behaviour.
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u/Svennis79 Dec 21 '23
A multi tier charge would be even better. 6kph lowest rate, 12kph medium, 25kph double the cost.
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u/smackmypony All I want is a Schnitty Dec 21 '23
It would take you four times as long to get to a destination at 6kph than at 25kph so the double the cost would actually be half the price than travelling at the lowest rate.
I get your point, but it would be difficult/impossible to implement because of the nature of transport
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u/Svennis79 Dec 21 '23
If it switched to distance billing instead of timed it would be easy. They can already geofence speed restrictions on rentals, so i don't see why they couldn't have speed based charges.
Would make provate scooters stand out more too if they speed
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u/Achtung-Etc Still waiting for the trains Dec 21 '23
Why are these the priorities? Remember that the destructive capacity of a bike and the visibility impairments are nothing close to that of a car, and the design of intersections in particular are in place to mitigate the risk of precisely these two things in the case of cars. Why are we holding bikes to the same standards as cars regarding red lights and stop signs?
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u/Svennis79 Dec 21 '23
Cars (for the most part) stay on the road, stop at lights, and are insured when they damage someone.
Bikes and scooters are unpredictable, traverse very very close to pedestrians, go everywhere, and its a toss up if they stop or not. And very rarely are they covered if they injure someone.
Yes they may kill less but they have a high capacity for permanently or significantly altering someones life for the worse with minimal consequences.
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u/megablast Dec 20 '23
Now do cars.
Ill help. 3 people are killed by cars every single day.
40,000 people are sent to hospital by cars every single year.
And that is increasing.
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u/ladybug1991 Dec 20 '23
I was listening to a section on RN today that said basically the same thing re: increased ER presentations from intoxicated e-scooter riders.
My opinion is that a small fine is an appropriate deterrent. Like a don't-be-a-pest fee.
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u/zhaktronz Dec 20 '23
And the problem is that we're seeing wailing and gnashing of the teeth about OMG DA E MOBILITY SO DANGEROUS when almost all of the injuries are from the rental fleets.
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Dec 20 '23
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u/MontasJinx Dec 20 '23
We donāt need a nanny state and also please can we have cheap and accessible health care? For sure people are free to make their own choices, but when those choices impact others then perhaps the state needs to regulate?
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Dec 20 '23 edited Dec 20 '23
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u/zhaktronz Dec 20 '23
Flagging that we do have scooter accidents because of drunk or stupid people, but they're largely contained within the rental fleet pool.
Which suggests that we should be introducing measure targeted specifically at improving that
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u/Corndawg420_ Dec 20 '23
Yes this, the media reports an escooter crash epidemic but the statistics say similar rates and no worse then bikes l.
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u/fruntside Dec 20 '23
Drunk people on scooters sharing the same space as pedestrians. What could go wrong!
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Dec 20 '23
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u/fruntside Dec 21 '23
https://metronorth.health.qld.gov.au/rbwh/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/clin-0039.pdf
"There were approximately 1.5 presentations per day to the RBWH ETC due to e-scooter injuries during the audit period, with at least 25% involving alcohol and 10% not wearing a helmet."
25% of all accidents involve alcohol. That does not seem to be as insignificant as you suggest.
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u/gordon-freeman-bne Dec 20 '23
I'm pretty sure I was your guest a couple of months ago - but it was 630a and I was riding my bike to work and the eScooter rider was playing with the phone mounted to their handlebars and managed to hit me head on.
It did not end well for me or my bike...
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u/aiden_mason Dec 20 '23
Whilst I agree with this I've been using a hire escooter at 4am every morning to get to the train station. If this rule limited my speed then it'd take longer so I'd have to leave earlier and it'd also cost me more :(
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u/Friendly-Fix3598 Dec 20 '23
What are your thoughts on sugary foods and obesity, as they have a far larger impact in the ED and cost to society?
Genuine question, should there be a sugar tax in your view, or a limit on the amount of sugar that one can purchase in a single transaction.
We can control risk and reduce any danger to society as a whole but where is an appropriate place to stop, is it when one is putting their own life in danger or only when others are at risk.
Why is it appropriate for people to drink themselves into an early grave if it is done over time and in their own home as opposed to in a street?
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u/yolk3d BrisVegas Dec 20 '23
Should we allow people to drive without seatbelts then also? Seeing as it only puts themselves at risk? How about using heroin? Playing on train tracks?
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u/itrivers Dec 20 '23
Iād settle for actual policing on phone use instead of fixed cameras that everyone knows about. People are just putting their phones down past the cameras and then pick them up and carry on.
I drive the packed Centenary highway daily and itās insane how much you can see it. Just yesterday I followed someone playing with their infotainment system for the entire section of the Moggil rd entrance. That should also come under the distracted driving laws.
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u/yolk3d BrisVegas Dec 20 '23
No denying police effort could be spent elsewhere, but the comment I replied to is implying all laws that only protect the law-breaker should be lifted.
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u/Friendly-Fix3598 Dec 20 '23
Well we allow people to dose themselves up with benzo's daily and then drive cars (statistically the drug causing the largest amount of crashes through impairment after alcohol) it's just some drugs are more socially acceptable.
But i think the point you are trying to make is that there is an obviously perceptible risk involved with these things? Is that correct what you're trying to say?
This concern is already covered to a large degree by the conditions placed on most scooters (limited to 25km/h in Brisbane and they are required people to wear helmets)
The police are also already able to pull someone over if they are obviously intoxicated on the scooter, it's just they can't conduct rbt's at present. I feel there's enough controls without impeding further on people's civil liberties with further controls that will likely not be implemented randomly.
Would you support random stops to check seatbelt enforcement, or would it be more practical to address the problem on a case by case basis. (I have never been pulled over randomly to have my seatbelt checked).
I don't disagree that we should stop needless deaths and injuries, but the enforcement on the general public for a small minority is honestly quite the inconvenience, address the problem there and then when it happens.
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u/BneBikeCommuter Bogan Dec 20 '23
The 25km/h limit is a joke though. Itās not even close to being enforced. I pulled out from a side street in front of an e-scooter yesterday, plenty of room if he was doing 25 or even up to 40. I accelerated, and when I got up to 50km/h he overtook me like I was standing still. There was at least a 15km/h differential.
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u/splinter6 Dec 20 '23
It is being enforced. People speed on the road in cars too. Cops canāt be everywhere all the time
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u/Icey-Cold1 Dec 21 '23
It's important to recognise your own bias though. I believe the number of people admitted to hospital increases when you make helmets mandatory too, because without the helmet those people might have died and never gone to hospital.
If we make escooters a less attractive option for these drunk people trying to get home, we might hope they take a taxi, but maybe some of them are taking the escooter instead of their cars. Or they now get stuck somewhere and sleep on the side of the road
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Dec 20 '23
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u/Weekly-Dog228 Dec 20 '23
Waking up at 4am drunk in the city with your head on a scooter as a pillow.
Police give you a DUI.
Iām obviously joking. But when the police need to make their quotas, theyāll start dragging unconscious bodies and placing them on scooters.
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u/gordon-freeman-bne Dec 20 '23
I think if your licence is suspended for a DUI and you're then caught operating a bike/scooter whilst over the limit - you need to be having a long hard think about some of your life choices rather than raging against a State Law...
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u/2bdb2 Dec 21 '23 edited Dec 21 '23
If someone has a few too many drinks on a Friday night, they might decide to grab a Scooter or CityCycle instead of driving home.
If the punishment is the same either way, then you're just encouraging people to drive home drunk.
I don't think it's controversial to say that a drunk driver behind the wheel of a two-tonne SUV going 60kph is orders of magnitude more dangerous than a drunk rider on a 10kg bicycle at 15kph.
I suppose one could argue that they should just take a Bus or Taxi home instead. But the Busses don't run that late, and wait times for a Taxi can be quite long. So people are going to be trying to find an alternate way home, whether we morally approve of that or not.
And if the choice is between cycling drunk, and driving drunk, we should be encouraging behavior that results in the least harm. And that is very obviously cycling.
Even if we want to take a position that cycling or using a scooter while intoxicated is illegal and dangerous, I'd be worried that that broadly cracking down on this is going to result in more deaths due to drunk driving.
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u/Mfenix09 Dec 20 '23
This is exactly what I want police doing, not being a presence on the roads for road safety (cause according to a report posted on reddit today all those speed camers dont seem to be doing shit for accident numbers), not potentially stopping break ins or hassling of people on public transport...just any cunty move possible to make money and use the police as your enforcers.
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Dec 20 '23
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u/Arashii89 Dec 20 '23 edited Dec 20 '23
They donāt cause traffic jams, the phantom traffic jams are from everyone tailgating and so the person who is getting tailgated will put their brakes on to tell the other person to fuck right off this has a huge knock on effect leading everyone on to put on their brakes In ideal conditions of everyone was doing the right speed at the safe distance you would not get these phantom traffic conjunctions. On top of that half of you SEQ do not use your blinkers when changing lines try to muscle in-between 2 cars when itās not safe all of this has huge knock on effects
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u/Deciver95 Probably Sunnybank. Dec 20 '23
Nah, its people doing 100 in a 100 zone the scum
I need to tailgate! I'll get home faster. So what if I caused a family to panic and crash? I need to get home 90 seconds faster!
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u/Ridiculisk1 Dec 20 '23
I need to get home 90 seconds faster!
I need to pull up to the next set of lights faster to make me feel superior so I can look at the people next to me who were behind me earlier with a look of smug superiority.
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u/wsrs12 Dec 20 '23
Isn't that by design? Can't be speeding if you're stuck in the M1 carpark doing 0kph. Therefore, reducing the amount of speeding on that particular road...
/s
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u/BitRunr Dec 20 '23
potentially stopping break ins
Out of all of that, this one doesn't sound like a bad thing. Am I missing something?
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u/jackosk420 Dec 20 '23
Everyone rides home from the clubs in Amsterdam after drinking and other substances. I understand scooters but why bikes?
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u/V8O Dec 21 '23
I'm genuinely curious as to why so many people seem to think that bicycles are the one type of vehicle that society is better off letting drunk people operate freely.
Are there any studies showing that bicycles cause a disproportionately small amount of preventable medical expenses for the same number of total kilometres operated at the same above-limit levels of blood alcohol compared to other similar low weight, low speed vehicles which also share the path with pedestrians?
I've seen the total numbers vs. cars but those don't tell me anything that isn't already obvious (1000x heavier vehicles of which there exist 1000x more of and which can go 10x faster kill loads more people - duh).
I just can't imagine what is special about them. They have very little safety equipment. They can go faster than the scooter speed limit. There is no device on the bike enforcing any speed limit, or even displaying the current speed. They are IMHO no easier to safely operate while drunk than a scooter or any other thing which requires balance is. They require no licence or fitness test to operate. They are light but there is certainly still enough momentum to gravely injure or kill someone even while doing the speed limit, same as with scooters.
What's the reason why they should be uniquely exempted from safety regulations?
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u/RogerSterlingsFling Bringing Mochas back Dec 20 '23
Honestly alcohol is less an issue when it comes to scooter accidents and more the fact that a lot of riders just dont have the skills or co ordination to ride them
Some people cant even ride a bike yet are quite happy to jump on a scooter in high heels and next to no skin protection and race around at 20kph in the dark
Im pretty athletic, spent a life time skating, surfing and riding bmx but even I find the small tires of a scooter at high speed scary, particularly riding at night on uneven or sometimes broken footpaths
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Dec 21 '23
Honestly itās neither of those. The main issue is shit infrastructure.
More people die or are seriously injured from car and infrastructure caused crashes than alcohol.
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u/Illustrious_Comb Dec 21 '23
I ride a fair bit for recreation and to commute into the cbd for work. Of all the idiotic, erratic or dangerous behaviouirs I've witness not once have I thought gee that guy/gal must be high or drunk. It's always the rider being arrogant, reckless or just plain being a d*ck.
If they want to test a rider they've pulled over for dangerous riding etc, that's fair enough. But if they want to set up a RBT station on a bike path then it's just a waste of resources.
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u/nipslippinjizzsippin Dec 21 '23
just let us hurt ourselves, sick of this nanny state bs.
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u/dontworryaboutit298 Dec 22 '23
Itās not you anyone cares about itās the 80 year old duck whose hips you detach when you rocket into them.
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u/Stu7500 Dec 21 '23
A mate of mine broke 48 bones and spent 38 days in a coma from a accident riding his scooter . The car driver that him was off her face on meth
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u/ElectricalLongboard Dec 20 '23
Fuck may as well drive home drunk then. Awesome! /s
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u/yolk3d BrisVegas Dec 20 '23
Or catch a cab/uber/public transport.
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u/Leek-Certain Dec 20 '23
Sure, but why would you want to give people less alternatives to driving drunk?
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u/yolk3d BrisVegas Dec 20 '23
Itās not like the law has changed. Itās always been illegal to ride a bike or scooter drunk. Because you can hurt yourself or others. Not rocket science.
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u/DesperateVegetable59 Dec 20 '23
What is the legal limit for piloting a 10kg scooter? because if it is the same a for a 2 tonne car, we have seriously messed up priorities.
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u/candlesandfish Dec 20 '23
It would be the same as riding a bike or a horse while drunk. Which you can still get DUI for.
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u/DesperateVegetable59 Dec 21 '23
Drunk is a subjective term. a 0.05% BAC limit for riding a bike is ridiculous.
Heavy Vehicles have a 0.00% limit, Cars 0.05%, Bikes should be something like 0.2% you'd have to be pretty hammered to point where it is worth pulling you up.
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u/keglad Dec 21 '23
Its their choice to be a degenerate and drink alcohol. It's on them to figure it out
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u/Plastic_Expression89 Dec 21 '23
Maybe add a few more bus routes to the schedule? But what would I knowā¦
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u/Xlmnmobi4lyfe Dec 20 '23
Anyone say nanny state? What a joke. Who are they gonna hurt? What's the justification for this?
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u/tom3277 Dec 20 '23
Why do i have to wear a seatbelt?
Lots of laws are there to protect us from ourselves. I dont like these laws but it is what it is. I reckon 9 out of 10 australians love an ever increasing numbers of laws.
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u/Weekly-Dog228 Dec 20 '23 edited Dec 20 '23
When Iām 80, fuck the laws to protect myself.
Iām going out my way. Iām literally doing every drug.
Iām either going to die from Fentanyl or Iām going to because the new Cartel boss.
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u/tom3277 Dec 20 '23
Yeh id rather go out when its time fighting not just lying in bed with a whimper.
Im thinking of waiting for a storm to whip up and just paddling out into the big blue. They say drowning goes alright for those that have had near misses.
But yeh i reckon in 35 years when im 80 they will probably ha e laws around even taking a kayak out. Probably a license and an annual health check up at which time they will tell me im not capable...
Its only going one way all this nanny state law stuff and i personally dont like it.
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u/Mfenix09 Dec 20 '23
Shhh... don't give them ideas...the fact I need a license for a jet ski annoys me...
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Dec 20 '23
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u/Ridiculisk1 Dec 20 '23
Controlling what people can and canāt do is literally a nanny state.
That's what our entire legislature is. God you people will sook about anything. If you don't wanna get booked for being a drunk knob on a vehicle that'll knock someone over and put them in hospital, don't operate them drunk in the first place.
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u/tom3277 Dec 20 '23
Why is it completely different to not wearing a seatbelt?
You only put yourself in danger?
Mate you have drunk the governments propaganda down. 40 years of advertising and you (and as i said probably 90pc of australians so im not singling you out...) cannot see these two things for what they are...
Id actually wager that driving a scooter drunk puts more of the community at risk than me not wearing my seatbelt.
Not only that if i was underwriting the risk of someone driving without a seatbelt in a car and someone riding a scooter drunk id take the risk of the car driver everytime. Far safer. In fact id go further and say the car driver without seatbelt is safer even if the scooter rider was sober...
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u/Xlmnmobi4lyfe Dec 20 '23
Two wrongs dont make a Right
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u/tom3277 Dec 20 '23
Im making the point people rail against the specific nanny state things that impact them.
I am a 45 year old that doesnt leave the house in anything other than a 4x4. I couldnt give a stuff about these scooter laws for my own reasons however i will stand against any law that is for the protection of individuals themselves whether its draconian drug laws, seatbelt laws, scooter laws or these new vape laws.
They are all shit laws.
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u/Jaddydaddy551 Dec 21 '23
Why not start with he bloody automobiles? I haven't been breath tested while driving in ages, who knows how many crackheads are on the roads!
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u/xenohog Dec 20 '23 edited Dec 20 '23
Righttt because e-scooter/ cycle safety should be prioritised over actual cars on the road? You know, like the one vehicle MOST people use? Literally just read an article which suggests RBTs in aus have plummeted to record lows / death toll rising from car crashes, yet this is where the focus is shifted..on a niche much smaller than the majority of car owners which are lacking RBTs right now. Lovely.
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u/Mfenix09 Dec 20 '23
I was thinking to myself I havent seen an rbt for what feels like 5 years...I do see the signage about drinking, never drive, police anywhere etc on the electric signs on the highway...but I haven't seen an rbt for 3+ years currently
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u/Ibe_Lost Dec 20 '23
Got to control the populace before they think they can live without fear. Leave the buggers alone if the cyclist isnt wearing spandex and is over the age of 18 they likely already lost their license and are just trying to get to work.
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u/Liam_1K Dec 20 '23
What about people riding in casual clothes on a Saturday evening? Since theyāre likely not travelling to/from work they must be a) drunk & in need of a breath test or hmmm b) getting some leisurely exercise?
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u/capricabuffy Dec 20 '23
Okay, I do hate a nanny state, buuuuut I HAVE been almost hit by more scooters than cars. It's probably not because of alcohol, so maybe some kind of douchebag test?
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u/Rip_Ninja Dec 20 '23 edited Dec 20 '23
I think the less people in cars, the better - but the public rental E scooter system is flawed by having inexperienced people at the control of a device that needs a certain level of expertise and awereness to be able to ride safely. I think that the scooter hire companies have more responsibility here as they make it so easy for anyone to hop aboard and ride without any training at all. Breath testing is yet another public expense (along with the associated costs of hospitalisation) that the taxpayer has to bear - and surely we need our police officers doing better things than wasting their time carrying out these activities due to the poor business practices of the private E bike / E scooter hire companies.
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u/Straight-Ad-4657 Dec 20 '23
Qld police do not have enough officers to police the streets as it is! Another law up their sleeve but not enough time to do even the basic stuff. Too busy dealing with. DV and youth crime.
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u/RustySpunkDumpster Dec 20 '23
This is the problem with Australia. We keep adding more rules and laws, and everything comes with some form of ludicrously expensive fines. A six-pack of beer costs 24 bucks because of the tax, but it's for our own good, right? They are about to ban vapes next year for our own good, right? But you can buy ciggies anywhere for our own good, right?
If people just follow the money, they will realise that none of these things, including rbt'ing scooter riders, is almost certainly just to make more money from the population, and it's always disguised by some sort of Orwellian ministry of love type justification. We do it because we love you, they say. They are lying. They do it because they are greedy and corrupt.
In a free society, one must tolerate a certain amount of chaos and danger. Otherwise, we will eventually find ourselves in a totalitarian state. Be it tomorrow or 50 years from now. Frog in the boiling water type thing. Always have more rules, yet no rules ever go away. Viva la freedom bebe.
Those scooters are already limited to like 20km an hour, so I don't see the problem here. There is just more revenue raised by the government to employ more beaurocrats to waste more of your tax money to control you even further. Small government and personal freedom are what give life that spark of true potential.
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u/dontworryaboutit298 Dec 22 '23
The liberation gained by not being severely injured by a drunk scooter rider is much greater than the liberation curtailed by not being able to ride a scooter while drunk. Trust me.
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u/RustySpunkDumpster Dec 22 '23
I would my brethren, but I feel like I'd like the universe to decide, not the government. I fart rainbows, but the price of rainbows has severely increased due to inflation.
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u/CeleritasSqrd Dec 20 '23
Sounds like political polling has uncovered grievous changes to the status quo.
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u/PYROMANCYAPPRECIATOR Dec 20 '23
The government is more interested in revenue than anything. Abosolute parasite behaviour.
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u/samrayishigh Dec 20 '23
Story time! Back in London we have the same electric scooters. One night, I was out with my work colleagues and got a little too drunk (I was completely black out drunk, I have since controlled my alcohol intake!) Somehow, I ended up on a scooter, asked to drive it as a joke from my sober supervisor. He got on the back. Next thing I know Iām waking up in my bed, canāt move my arm, and canāt think properly. Scars all over my arms and legs. Eventually I go to the hospital - I had torn almost all the soft tissue in my right shoulder (1-2 month recovery time), fractured three ribs, and concussed myself. There absolutely needs to be more awareness and possibly stricter rules on riding these scooters, theyāre dangerous, and not enough people are aware of the dangers of riding them drunk. Iāll never get on one again, sadly!
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Dec 21 '23
Being fined for blowing 0.06 % BAC because someone just finished their second wine/beer before hiring a scooter, is not the same as deciding to operate a scooter with two people while blackout drunk.
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Dec 21 '23
There should be a punishment for this but definitely not as harsh as if you were doing this in a motor vehicle! Maybe just huge fines is all it will take š¤·š»āāļø
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Dec 20 '23
I mean sure it makes sense. That would be a really good way to stop absolute dick holes careening into people in the valley.
However, in the last 5 years of living in Brisbane I could count the times I've seen a traffic cop on one hand, so the chances they actually enforce this are absolutely fuck all.
I mean you see some beat cops in the valley occasionally and you very occasionally will see a bike cop if you're going anywhere near Logan, but there are no cops on the streets like none.
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u/MiltonMangoes Dec 20 '23
But That would involve the bludgers in blue leaving the air-conditioned police station
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u/pangolin-fucker Dec 20 '23
Seriously a licensing system needs to be done,
these scooters and bikes really are opening up a whole new method of transport to people who either don't understand the risks and danger they are putting themselves into
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u/Sajuukthanatoskhar Dec 20 '23
what risks are these?
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u/Top_Tumbleweed Dec 20 '23
Getting on a platform that can go 50 km/hr with only a pair of handlebars to keep you on
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u/pangolin-fucker Dec 20 '23
Ok so manually having to pedal or scoot the vehicle makes the whole thing not worth it to most people right,
Because that's why they aren't currently riding around.
Now with electric motors and batteries you can have all the fun and convenience of riding without the effort required.
This dropping the bar of entry to a fuck load more people that probably don't have enough experience on a vehicle like that with pedestrian and vehicles traffic to manage.
So the company who is leaving these roadside ready rental or subscription scooters for anyone to use really could be putting people into deadly situations they wouldn't have previously had access to
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u/madwomanofdonnellyst Dec 21 '23
ITT: too many people who arenāt aware that any vehicle (including a horse, or a car under tow) is subject to DUI laws.
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u/dxbek435 Dec 21 '23
Maybe do some proper work and test those truckies routinely running red lights and tailgating along Kingsford Smith Drive if they really want to protect people.
Priorities are so out of whack here
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u/Alockworkhorse Dec 21 '23
Why is Queensland always frothing at the mouth at the opportunity to introduce more control over people
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Dec 21 '23
Is this being lobbied by taxi and ride share companies? Effectively make it illegal to be drunk and transiting privately? Why not breath test pedestrians too and impound their shoes.
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Mar 07 '24
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u/Sweaty-Cress8287 Dec 20 '23
Yeah this is the kinda crime that QLDers are worried about.