A grandma was struck by an e-scooter as she was exiting a manicure salon, leaving her with damaged collarbones.
CCTV footage captures the 70-year-old leaving the nail shop in East Victoria Park, Perth, at around 4 p.m. on Wednesday. However, she only manages to make it two steps outside before being struck by an e-scooter rider who is speeding down the sidewalk.
The woman and rider were propelled several metres down the road while Bell Buffham, a staff member at the salon, stared in terror.
‘She flew from one end of my shop right down to the other end, so basically two metres,’ she told Seven News.
‘She just had chemo, she had cancer so her body is very fragile.
‘People shouldn’t ride on the footpath with that strong speed. It can kill anybody.’
The woman’s relatives said that the e-scooter rider was really sorry after the collision but that they had reported the matter to the authorities.
In Western Australia, e-scooters are permitted on pathways with a 10 km/h speed limit.
Police are investigating into the incident, according to Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner, although CCTV evidence revealed that the collision was caused by “a combination of speed and inattention”.
‘As a consequence a lady is in hospital with serious injuries,’ he told the ABC.
‘My message to riders of e-scooters and other devices like that: when it comes to footpaths slow down, give way to pedestrians.’
Since the start of last year, WA has experienced more than 750 e-scooter-related incidents, including two deaths this year.
E-scooter patients are “a routine part of our practise now,” according to Dieter Weber, chief of general surgery at the Royal Perth Hospital, and they are just placing more demand on already scarce resources.
‘We’re looking after patients to the best of our ability but there’s a serious rehabilitation burden to get these patients back into society and able to move on from their injuries,’ he said.
He continued by saying that many of the e-scooter users who were taken to the hospital were driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.