Last Updated on: 21st November 2023, 10:19 pm
It’s important to make sure you understand the law around using electric scooters in Melbourne so that you don’t run into potential problems along the way. This way, when you’re looking at a Melbourne electric scooter shop, you will be free to buy what you want. Here’s some information about the legality.
Introduction
Melbourne is located within the state of Victoria in Australia. It’s currently not legal for e-scooters on public property in Australia. You would have to keep it on private property. You can purchase them, of course, but you can’t ride them on roads in public at all.
Anything that’s powered electrically has to stay off of footpaths or roads or you will risk getting a fine.
The truth about this, however, is that it can vary based on many different factors, which means that you should check out local ordinances.
Trials
Currently, the state of Victoria is considering trials to determine whether e-scooters could be made legal to ride publicly. There’s even been some press from businesses saying that they would be OK with legality as long as they were ridden only in a bike lane with a limit of 20 km/h.
Bottom Line
The bottom line here is that you have to keep your electric scooter riding in your house lands and private property for now. There could be businesses that allow them on their own private property, but you can’t ride around in public yet. However, there is plenty of reason to be hopeful that this could change in the near future.
There seems to be a lot of public interest in changing the law, including plenty of interest from the private sector.
Scooters
If you’re using a scooter that isn’t electrically powered, then it’s legal.
In general, the legality of scooters is confined to footpaths, paths that are shared, and bike paths. You can do this any time, with the exception being if there’s a sign that says “no wheeled recreational devices.” You can also ride on roads that have speed limits that say 50 km/h or under.
However, you can only ride here during the day. This means that you can’t ride anywhere else, and you can’t ride on the road at night. Also, it’s a good idea to pay attention to signs no matter where you go, because just about any place could outlaw the use of electric scooters if they so choose. This prohibition could be anywhere.
Equipment
On top of all that, there are also some rules about how you can use it. Those riding scooters need to wear a bike helmet that’s been approved by the state. You might be able to get away with not doing this if you have a medical or religious exemption, but in general, it’s a good idea anyway.
You need to have a warning device like a horn or bell. If you’re riding the scooter at night, then you should have something like a white light on the front, a red light on the back, and a red reflector.
