It’s about keeping everyone safe – and helping to make sure people using our streets and footpaths also feel safe.
You’ll find lots of information about how and where to ride and park safely with shared e-scooters on Flamingo and Beam’s apps and websites:
Waka Kotahi’s Cycling Code has lots of helpful guidance too.
The code complements the road code. It’s a user-friendly guide to New Zealand’s traffic law with a focus on the right thing to do when riding a bike.
This code is designed for people riding all sorts of bikes.
Riders of tricycles, push scooters, e-scooters, skates, skateboards and other similar ways of getting around, will also find it useful.
Here are some tips and tricks to ensure your shared e-scooter experience is great for you and those around you:
- Ride the safest path or road: Where you feel safe, ride on the road. If you don’t feel safe riding on the road then ride on the footpath. Pedestrians have right of way at all times when you are riding on a footpath or shared path
- Scoot solo – just one person per e-scooter: Riding with more than one person on an e-scooter is dangerous for everyone, especially the two or more people on the e-scooter. No matter how short the trip, never have more than one person per e-scooter
- Scoot with care: Give way to pedestrians and people using wheelchairs and other mobility devices. Pedestrians have priority on all footpaths and shared paths in Porirua. Make sure you give pedestrians plenty of room when you are passing them. A friendly warning to make them aware of your presence is also a good idea – use the bell!
- Park out of the way of pedestrians: Considerate parking is just as important as considerate riding. E-scooters or bikes left in the middle of the path, in front of gates and doors and near access ramps are a trip hazard and cause significant issues for other people. Before you leave your e-scooter or bike make sure it is parked out of the way of any path or amenity that other people will use.
We also recommend e-scooter users follow Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s advice:
- Ride at a safe speed that does not pose a hazard to yourself or others
- Be aware that people on bikes and on foot, and other road users, may not hear you coming
- If you use the road rather than the footpath, keep as far to the left as you can for your own and others’ safety.
Waka Kotahi also strongly recommends that scooter riders wear helmets.
