Adelaide e-scooter laws under fire following serious crashes

The use of e-scooters in Adelaide has come under fire after two serious crashes – one of them fatal – with calls for the new laws to be reviewed immediately.

The use of private e-scooters was only legalised in July, but following the two crashes, Liberal MP Frank Pangallo accused the state government of having blood on its hands due to what he said were inadequate laws in a scathing social media post, calling to revoke the legislation.

Those comments went against his party, which previously criticised the government for taking too long to legalise private e-scooters. 

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Today, Panagallo altered his tune, clarifying he doesn't want e-scooters banned, but more safety rules introduced and the chance for riders to access insurance. 

"We need to change things, Labor just put through legislation without considering the consequences," he said.

The government had already promised a 12-month review of the laws. 

"A death like that is a tragedy, there's no doubt about that," Road Safety Minister Blair Boyer.

"We hardly rushed putting the legislation into place. We took our time and we were criticised for doing that," he added.

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The opposition is calling for the review to be expedited, citing safety concerns. 

However, the government has confirmed the review will proceed as scheduled, starting next July.

The RAA, a key contributor to the existing legislation, says it supports the current timeframe. 

"We're pretty comfortable that the set of rules we landed on set a good benchmark," spokesperson Charles Mountain said.

This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.