Blind New Zealanders highlight danger of allowing e-scooters on footpaths - 'I've had too many accidents'

The Government has released a range of ideas to make pavements safer, but critics say it does anything but that.

Electric scooters may soon have speed restrictions on footpaths and be allowed on cycleways.

The Government has released a range of ideas to make footpaths safer, but some groups say it does anything but that.

Thomas Bryan is blind and says e-scooters often come out of nowhere.

“You hear a bit of a noise before they're right on top of you… it's quite alarming because you don't know which way to go. Do you go to your left to try and avoid them? Or to my right? I can guarantee you whichever way it's probably going to be wrong,” he told 1 NEWS.

Mr Bryan is part of Blind Citizens NZ which has been campaigning for e-scooters to be banned from footpaths.

“I’ve had too many accidents either tripping over them [and] being nearly run down by them,” he said.

The Government says the current plan is just a proposal and welcomes feedback, but Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter says the 15 km/h speed limit is about right.

“[It] is about running speed. It's a speed which you can safely change direction and easily stop at,” she said.

E-scooters will also be allowed on cycleways to help free up footpaths.

Patrick Morgan from Cycling Action Network is in favour of the idea, but says there needs to be a lot more bike lanes as “the ways people get around our cities is changing”.

The e-scooter companies 1 NEWS spoke to including, Jump, Beam, Neuron, and Flamingo, are supportive of changes saying existing laws need to be modernised.

All electric transport devices would have to follow these new rules. Submissions close late April.

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