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Woman left with brain injury after being hit by e-scooter calls for more accountability
An Auckland woman says her life has been “changed forever”, after a walk to work ended with her being hit by an e-scooter.
Michelle Mann was hit by a scooter in 2018 and left with a severe brain injury.
The average number of concussion-related ACC e-scooter claims since 2019 is 93 per year and they could be life-changing.
Mann wanted to see the introduction of an insurance tariff to hold e-scooter companies responsible for the cost of e-scooter related ACC claims – which was at $50 million.
Seven years ago, she was walking to work from the ferry terminal on downtown Auckland’s Quay St when she was struck by an e-scooter.
“This moment in time changed everything about my life, everything.
Michelle Mann standing near the spot in Auckland central where she was hit by the e-scooter. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
“I don’t have that job that I used to go to, I don’t work in the city, I don’t have a job, I can’t drive to the city.
“I can’t do normal life anymore and this spot represents where that all changed.”
Mann suffered a severe brain injury, a tear and impingements – which was pressure on a nerve or tendon – in her shoulder and hip.
Plus issues with the disc on both sides of her jaw.
She has had six surgeries to date and was still recovering, she teared up while telling Checkpoint about her recovery.
“Sorry I’m having a moment; it’s just a lot it’s a lot.”
She is not alone. An Auckland City Hospital Emergency Department report on e-scooter injuries in 2019 shows over 17 percent of patients suffered from impact injuries to their heads.
Over four percent of patients were critical, suffering a significant head injury.
All up Mann said her case with ACC cost $600,000.
The total cost for the number of e-scooter related ACC claims from 1 January, 2019 to the end of 2024 is $50 million.
In Auckland, the total sum paid by e-scooter providers to Auckland Council from 2019 to 2024 was $1.8 million.
Wellington Council was unable to provide the total sum to RNZ.
Mann questioned whether that revenue was worth the cost to the taxpayer through ACC.
“All the people putting into ACC are just picking up the tab.”
She would like to see e-scooter companies take on some of the financial responsibility with an insurance tariff.
That is something Sheffield Fox group chief executive Peter Adams hopes to introduce.
They are a group of insurance engineers, looking at introducing an additional payment for riders that would go into an insurance fund.
For the last few years, the Sheffield Fox group has researched a clip-on device for e-scooters.
“In a nutshell, we think it’s a very small device that can be, bolted on, and it probably talks to the persons app on their smartphone and it just records information and sends it.”
Adams said the device would be a combination of AI, sensors, and a camera.
The device could track the location of the scooter, warn the rider about potential collisions, and even connect to the brakes.
“Personal responsibility comes into it you damage somebody or something then we think you’re responsible.”
They are a group of insurance engineers, looking at introducing an additional payment for riders that would go into an insurance fund.
Currently e-scooter riders are not allowed to ride in cycle lanes, but they could use shared paths on the road and the footpath.
That is despite Waka Kotahi’s latest safety review on e-scooters which acknowledged virtually all crashes with pedestrians happened on footpaths.
Some councils, like Auckland and Wellington have curfew zones, low speed, and no ride zones, to try and minimise accidents.
Mann has written to the Minister of Transport Simeon Brown asking for mandatory training for all e-scooter users, an insurance tariff and for e-scooters to be able to use the cycle lane.
In a letter RNZ has seen, the minister thanked her for those suggestions and said he would be considering progressing changes for the regulation of e-scooters in the future.
Mann wanted to see them sooner rather than later.
“Thanks for your response, but actually what are you going to do about it?
“What actions are you going to take? What people are you going to bring round the table to make effective and positive change happen that makes the pavements safe for everybody.”
rnz
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
rnz
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