New Zealand would have to be the undisputed health and safety champion of the world.

Which is why I’ve always found it weird that we’re quite happy for any Tom, Dick or Harry with a smartphone to jump on one of those rental e-scooters and go for it.

Lime Scooters. Flamingo scooters. You know the ones I’m talking about.

Right now, you can find one of those things, get your phone out, scan the code on the scooter, and you’re away laughing.

No previous experience required. No helmet required. There’s not even a speed limit enforced. And you can ride anywhere - on the road, on footpaths. Anywhere and everywhere.

The reason you can do that is that is because you don’t have to have a licence to use one of these things. They also don’t have to be registered to anyone. Which is why they don’t have number plates.

But that could be all about to change because Waka Kotahi needs to decide in the next month or so whether to keep things operating like this or not.

At the moment, these e-scooters aren’t subject to certain road rules. That’s because, in 2018, there was a declaration made or given to enable companies like Lime and Flamingo and all the others to set-up shop here in New Zealand.

If someone needed a licence, for example, it would defeat the purpose of these things - which is to provide a means of transport pretty much for anyone who can keep their balance.

If you start requiring people to have licences and things - well, forget it.

But, five years down the track, Waka Kotahi now needs to decide if it’s going to renew that exemption declaration or not. And, if it doesn’t, then we can effectively kiss goodbye to anywhere, anytime rental e-scooters in New Zealand.

When these things first arrived on the scene, I thought they were great because they gave the feel of being a modern, 21st-century outfit didn’t they? Well, that’s how I felt about them at the time.

There was certainly something cool about them. But I think the novelty has worn-off. That could be because more of us seem to be open to using  public transport like buses. Or maybe it’s because Uber is much more mainstream now than it was even just five years ago.

The other thing too, is that most of us have probably felt a bit at-risk from some of the idiots who use these Lime Scooters and Flamingo Scooters.

Most likely, night-time is the most risky time. But I could walk out of our building at lunchtime today and there’d be someone screaming down the street on the footpath. Not giving two hoots about me or anyone else out on the street.

Or it might not even be just one person. You see two people on the same scooter, don’t you? And they’re actually the ones I’m most weary of because it’s not like you’ve got two sets of eyes looking out for you.

No. They’re focussed on having a laugh. Until it goes all pear-shaped.

Which has well-and-truly happened since these things came to New Zealand. It’s been reported that thousands of people are injured every year using these things. Tragically, there have been deaths, as well.

Here are some numbers for you. Between October 2018 and October last year, there was $30 million worth of ACC claims for e-scooter injuries. These included rental scooters and privately-owned scooters. The number of claims was just over 10,500.

And, in the first year since e-scooters were exempt from some of the road rules that apply to other vehicles, surgeons in Auckland operated on more e-scooter riders than motorbike riders.

And the e-scooter riders they were treating were turning up with the types of traumatic injuries you’d normally see in people involved in car crashes. Chances are things have improved a bit on that front. But who knows.

Either way, Waka Kotahi has a decision to make. And needs to make it pretty soon. Because, come the end of September, if the road rules exemption continues then so will the Lime Scooters. But, if it decides not to extend the exemption, then the scooters will be gone.

And I wouldn’t be upset about that. Because, as I said before, the novelty has gone for me and I think they’ve had their day.   

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