3 Apr 2023

Will New Zealand follow France in giving e-scooters the boot?

From Midday Report, 12:45 pm on 3 April 2023

The people of Paris have spoken in a referendum - there will be no more E-scooters in their city.

Almost 90 per cent of voters favoured a ban on the battery-powered mode of transport, in a blow to scooter operators but a triumph for safety campaigners.

So will E-scooters end up being turfed out in New Zealand?

Dr Tim Welch, who specialises in transportation and urban modelling at the University of Auckland, says the two countries have taken very different approaches.

Note: In this interview Dr Welch says there no people have died from being hit by e-scooters in New Zealand.

In 2019, 23-year-old Toben Hunt died after an accident while riding a Lime scooter in Auckland