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Two E-Scooter Crashes in Butler and Perth CBD Injure Three, February 2022

Two e-scooter crashes in Western Australia injured three people in February 2022. Here is what was reported for each, where the accounts conflict, and what remains unknown.
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Two separate e-scooter crashes in Western Australia, about 16 hours apart on 19 and 20 February 2022, injured three people. The headline’s phrase “fighting for lives” overstates what was reported. One Butler teenager was described as critical, the other Butler boy as serious but stable, and the 32-year-old Perth CBD rider as stable. These were early condition reports published on 20 February 2022, not final outcomes, and the reporting does not establish that all three were in danger of dying.

The two crashes, side by side

The incidents happened in different suburbs, involved different vehicles and different riders, and should be read as separate events. The table below sets out what the reporting says about each.

Detail Butler (Marmion Avenue and Selacosa Avenue) Perth CBD (Wellington and Hill Streets)
Time Shortly before 2am, Sunday 20 February 2022 (PerthNow); about 1:45am (WA Police release) 10:30pm, Saturday 19 February 2022 (PerthNow)
Vehicle struck Ford Ranger, northbound (both sources) Hyundai Elantra (PerthNow)
Riders Two boys aged 13 and 14 on one scooter (PerthNow); two scooters, each with a rider and a passenger (WA Police) One 32-year-old Scarborough man, thrown from the scooter
Injuries reported Serious head injuries to one boy; the other seriously injured (PerthNow). Police describe both as having serious, life-threatening injuries. Smashed pelvis (PerthNow)
Condition as first reported One critical, one serious but stable (PerthNow). Police: both serious and life-threatening. Stable (PerthNow)
Hospital PerthNow: Perth Children’s Hospital. Police: Joondalup Health Campus by St John Ambulance, with possible transfer to Royal Perth Hospital expected. Royal Perth Hospital (PerthNow)
Helmets Neither boy was wearing a helmet (PerthNow) Not stated in the reporting

Source details: PerthNow’s report of 20 February 2022 is the main account for both crashes. The police-origin release, republished by Mirage News, is the source for the Butler operational details: Butler serious crash, 20 February.

The Butler crash

PerthNow reported that shortly before 2am on Sunday 20 February, two boys aged 13 and 14 were riding one e-scooter when it collided with a Ford Ranger at Marmion Avenue and Selacosa Avenue. Both boys were thrown from the scooter. The report described one as having serious head injuries and being critical at Perth Children’s Hospital, and the other as seriously injured but stable.

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The police release gives a different picture of the scooters and the timing. It put the crash at about 1:45am and said two scooters were travelling east on Selacosa Avenue, each carrying a rider and a passenger, when one scooter and the northbound Ford Ranger collided. Police said both boys were ejected and had serious, life-threatening injuries, and that both were taken to Joondalup Health Campus by St John Ambulance, with a possible transfer to Royal Perth Hospital. The two accounts disagree on how many scooters were involved and on hospital destinations. Neither source has been reconciled with the other, so the most accurate statement is that the riders were teenage boys, that the scooter struck the Ranger, and that police and PerthNow describe the setup differently.

Police asked for witnesses and video footage for the Butler investigation. The reporting does not say whether that appeal produced results.

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The Perth CBD crash

At about 10:30pm on Saturday 19 February, a 32-year-old Scarborough man was thrown from an e-scooter when it collided with a Hyundai Elantra at the intersection of Wellington and Hill Streets, according to PerthNow. He was taken to Royal Perth Hospital with a smashed pelvis and reported as stable. The article also says police bicycle officers waiting to cross the road captured footage on their body-worn cameras. The reporting does not state whether the rider wore a helmet.

Why the headline overstates the injuries

The headline’s phrase “fighting for lives” combines three people who were in different conditions. Only one Butler teenager was described as critical. The other boy was described as serious but stable, and the CBD rider was described as stable. The Butler police release uses stronger wording for both boys, which is one more reason to treat early descriptions cautiously. None of these were final outcomes, and the reporting contains no later medical updates for any of the three.

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What officials said about speed and helmets

Officials commenting on both crashes focused on speed, helmet use and compliance with rules. Three statements from PerthNow’s 20 February 2022 report are directly relevant:

  • State Traffic Commander Mike Bell: “The message from us is these e-scooters are not toys, they are quite dangerous if they’re not used within the manufacturer’s specifications or within the legislation that covers that.”
  • State Traffic Commander Mike Bell: “Young children and high powered devices such as these are a dangerous cocktail, they just don’t mix.”
  • Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner: “Early indications are in both of these instances speed is a factor.”

The phrase “early indications” matters. These were comments made within a day of the crashes, before any investigation was complete. They describe what officials thought likely at that stage and are not findings about the cause of either collision.

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A July 2022 ABC News report quoted Royal Perth Hospital head of general surgery Dieter Weber saying that treating e-scooter injuries was “now a routine part of our practice now.” That remark was about e-scooter injuries at the hospital during 2022 in general, not about either of these two crashes. Likewise, the same ABC report described footage from a separate pedestrian collision, in which Warner said speed and inattention appeared to be factors. That incident is not connected to either crash here.

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The rules in force at the time

PerthNow’s February 2022 article said that WA rules introduced the previous December limited e-rideables to 10 km/h on footpaths, and to less than 25 km/h on bicycle paths, shared paths and local roads where the speed limit was under 50 km/h. It also reported an age threshold of over 16 for devices capable of up to 25 km/h, and a one-rider limit.

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ABC News reported in July 2022 that the limits were 10 km/h on footpaths and 25 km/h on bicycle paths, shared paths and local roads. These are the rules as reported in 2022. They are not a verified statement of WA law as it stands today. Check the current limits with the Western Australian Government and Main Roads WA before relying on them. The ABC News report of 15 July 2022 is the source for the July figures.

What remains unknown

  • Whether any investigation concluded that speed, helmet use or rule compliance caused either crash.
  • Whether any charges were laid or court outcomes followed.
  • The later medical outcomes for all three injured people.
  • The brands or models of the scooters, which the reporting does not name.
  • Whether the CBD rider was wearing a helmet.

What drivers can take from these crashes

Both crashes involved a scooter striking a car or utility, and this article is written for a car-focused readership, so the practical question is how a driver can reduce the chance of a similar collision. These are general driving points, not conclusions drawn from the crash investigations:

  • At intersections and junctions, check for scooters and bicycles in the lane and on the footpath before turning, and do it again immediately before you move.
  • Allow extra space and time when overtaking or pulling out where riders may be moving faster than pedestrians.
  • Watch closely at night, when a small, low-profile rider can be harder to see in headlights.
  • Expect young riders on local roads and shared paths, where the speed limits and rider rules are the most important.

The crashes do not establish that the drivers were at fault. The reporting describes the Ford Ranger and the Hyundai Elantra only as the vehicles struck, and no driver-responsibility finding has been reported.

Taken together, the reporting supports a narrow conclusion: two separate e-scooter crashes injured three people in February 2022, and officials pointed to speed, helmet use and compliance as concerns while the investigations were still open.

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