Released 01/12/2021
The ACT Government is ensuring road safety laws keep pace with changing technology by introducing new penalties for using e-scooters and other vehicles while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“As new forms of transport like e-scooters grow in popularity, we want to ensure everyone uses them safely – to protect the riders and others who use our roads and paths,” said Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel.
“These new laws will address a gap in our current drug and alcohol legislation, targeting unsafe drink riding on footpaths, shared paths, verges and other road related spaces.”
The Road Transport Legislation Amendment Bill No. 2 introduces a new offence for riding a personal mobility device such as an e-scooter, a bike and other types of vehicles, on road related areas while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to the extent as to be incapable of having proper control.
The new offence will apply a maximum court penalty of 20 penalty units. However, it will not carry any imprisonment term or come with automatic licence disqualification requirements.
This builds on an existing and longstanding offence for riding a personal mobility device or bike under the influence of drugs and alcohol on ACT roads. For consistency the bill also updates the offence and makes the penalty the same for driving a motor vehicle under the influence, which is 30 penalty units (rather than 50 penalty units).
“Reviewing the ACT’s legislative framework to promote safety on paths was a recommendation of the recent independent review into the shared e-scooter scheme,” said Minister Steel.
“The Government is acting on the review’s recommendations ahead of pursuing a city-wide roll out of the shared e-scooter scheme in 2022.”
These new penalties follow legislation introduced by the Government earlier this year that will empower police to direct a person to get off, or not get on, a personal mobility device.
Together, these changes aim to create a hierarchy of enforcement options for police to use in addressing unsafe riding behaviour.
“This new offences makes it clear that it’s not acceptable to have a night of heavy drinking, jump on a scooter and risk your own safety and that of others,” said Minister Steel.
The Bill also proposes several other amendments to the ACT’s road transport legislation, including:
Prohibiting drivers of a vehicle that is not electric-powered from parking in areas designated for electric vehicle charging, to support the uptake and use of zero emissions vehicles.
Requiring owners of vehicles which are garaged in the ACT for three months to transfer the registration to the ACT which reflects existing operational requirements to ensure all vehicles are covered by the right registration and insurance arrangements.
The bill will be debated in 2022, along with the government’s earlier tranche of road safety legislation amendments.
- Statement ends -
Chris Steel, MLA | Media Releases