A scooter rider was struck by a car in Adelaide’s central business district after allegedly failing to stop at a red light, in an incident that 7NEWS Adelaide aired as a cautionary reminder to follow the road rules. Footage of the collision shows it happened on King William Street, at the intersection with Hindley Street, according to 7NEWS Adelaide. The vision was recorded at night in one of the city’s busiest nightlife precincts.
The footage shows the rider entering the intersection against a red light on King William Street. A car traveling through the intersection then struck the rider. The Hindley Street corner is a heavily trafficked crossing, lined with venues and pedestrians in the evening.
7NEWS presented the footage as a lesson in what happens when a rider ignores the road rules, and the outlet’s own caption said the rider had learned it the hard way. The video clip does not show the extent of the rider’s injuries. It also does not identify the rider or indicate whether the driver stopped, though vehicles can be seen around the scene after the crash.
Scooter collisions in city traffic have become a recurring topic for South Australian news outlets as e-scooter and mobility device use has grown. The 7NEWS vision circulated widely on social media, drawing hundreds of thousands of views. Regardless of how this particular rider fares, the footage renews a familiar debate over where scooters belong and which rules apply to them.
What South Australia’s Rules Say About Scooters on the Road
In South Australia, there’s a tiered system for e-scooters. Privately owned e-scooters have no legal right of use on public roads or footpaths, and are limited to private property. Anyone who wants to ride an e-scooter in Adelaide can rent one from with specific conditions applying, rather than using them however they like on the open road. It’s much the same here in the United States, where you can ride a Lime or Bird scooter via rental.
There are many restrictions as well for those who ride the permitted scooters. To ride, you must be at least 18 years old, not exceed the city’s maximum speed limit, and travel only in designated zones, not on public roads. Riding a scooter after using alcohol or drugs or riding with someone else will also result in a fine.
If a rider runs through a red light on one of these vehicles, they’ll receive the exact same fines a motorist or bicyclist would incur, and they lose the same protections they would have had if they were involved in an accident. Generally, if a rider is struck at an intersection while traveling against the red light, they would be deemed negligent.
Our Take
E-scooters and e-bikes are becoming safety issues across the world, not just the United States. This has caused states and cities to quickly implement new rules regarding age, safety gear, speed, and where to ride.
But here’s some important advice: No matter how you obtain your scooter or where you ride it, one thing’s for certain: you should still be watching where you’re going.