Walking up the hill near his home past one of Sydney’s largest police stations, Kareem Tawansi has historically made a show of pushing off his back foot.

It’s a performance worthy of an Academy Award given that his electric scooter can go at a pace of about 20 kilometers per hour on its own.

He is one of almost half a million people in New South Wales who legally own an electric scooter, but cannot legally use it.

Sliding around in suits and heels, zipping through the far corners of the city and bumping down country roads, these electric scooter riders are the mavericks of the low-speed streets, and they may soon be legitimized.

This week, the New South Wales government unexpectedly announced plans to legalize electric scooters as part of its new electric micromobility action plan.

“Finally,” said Tawansi, who once, in an unknown suburb, was spectacularly stopped by a highway patrol.

He received two fines… one for using an unregistered vehicle and another for wearing the wrong type of helmet, costing a hefty $1,046.

Data from the NSW Police shows a confusing picture of what is currently considered legal.

Last year, one hundred people were fined for riding an electric scooter on a sidewalk and 88 people were also fined for riding an electric scooter on the road.

Tawansi considers his electric scooter no more dangerous than anything else on the bike lane, where cyclists often fly by in packs.

“It’s funny, I know exactly how long it’s going to take, it pretty much leaves no trace,” he said.

While the rule change predominantly affects private electric scooter users, it also paves the way for shared electric scooter providers, such as Neuron and Beam, to establish a presence in Sydney.

Shared plans, already entrenched in cities such as Canberra and Brisbane, and recently abolished in the city of Melbourne, have come under scrutiny, especially when it comes to safety.

Would shared electric scooters work in Sydney?

While the state government provides regulation, shared electric scooter providers deal directly with city councils to negotiate contracts and put their scooters on the streets.

The City of Sydney, which covers much of the CBD and inner east, has already decided not to participate, citing “road safety” and “clutter” on footpaths.

The Inner West Council, which covers another large part of the city, recently rejected a State Government proposal to set up a trial of electric scooters as an alternative transport option while the Sydenham to Bankstown train line is closed for upgrades.

Both councils will closely monitor the results of trials of shared electric scooters in Kogarah, south of the CBD, following similar trials at Sydney Olympic Park, Lake Macquarie and Mount Annan Australian Botanic Gardens in 2022.

A spokesperson for NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said shared plans were “an important part of the mix” for people who do not have their own e-mobility scooter or bike, and said the government “ would encourage access to shared devices,” albeit with an eye toward a “range of security concerns.”

There is hope that a shared electric scooter scheme will provide a legitimate option for commuters trying to reach transport hubs such as train stations, as well as reducing emissions and traffic.

“We’ve had all these wonderful public transport projects, like the Sydney Metro, but a couple of months after they open, people start complaining that they arrive at the station and can’t park,” said Stephen Greaves of the University from Sydney. Said the Institute of Transportation and Logistics Studies.

“This could be a choice between walking and driving. It is often more efficient to run,” he said.

In Canberra, public acceptance of shared electric scooters was rapid: operators Neuron and Beam estimate they have each seen 1.9 million rides on their scooters since they were launched on the market four years ago.

It’s a similar story in Brisbane, Australia’s first city to allow shared electric scooter operators, with companies previously reporting around 5,000 users per day in the CBD.

But in Melbourne, shared electric scooters never really had a chance, having been scrapped by Melbourne City Council with six months left in the trial over safety concerns.

Professor Greaves said it would be surprising if shared electric scooter operators did not try to take advantage of the legalization of electric scooters in New South Wales and target Sydney.

“It’s the largest state, it has the largest population and it potentially has the highest profits,” he said.

Research indicates that the majority of Sydneysiders support legalizing electric scooters, as long as some sensible rules are put in place, such as requiring helmets.

In general, according to the data, opinions about electric scooters get worse the older the person is.

As electric scooters proliferate, so do safety concerns

Some private e-scooter users are hesitant to support a shared e-scooter scheme for fear that bad behavior will further cement an already suspect view of e-scooters as hell on two wheels.

“If they negatively affect the use of private scooters, then I don’t want to see them.”

An emergency doctor in Melbourne said he was seeing between 30 and 40 patents a month for incidents involving electric scooters while the trial of shared electric scooters was underway in the city.

In Victoria, seven people have died in electric scooter incidents since 2021.

Thousands of infractions have also been issued, most for not wearing a helmet, riding on a sidewalk or carrying a passenger.

In Brisbane, reports of related injuries in emergency departments almost doubled in two years.

The Queensland government is working to introduce random breath testing for drivers, and believes current methods of checking if someone is drunk, which include an online questionnaire, are insufficient.

It is one of many changes councils and states will have to make to try to make electric scooters safer.

Professor Greaves said since so many people in New South Wales were already using them, it made sense for the state government to ask those questions too.