Young men filmed doing burnouts on e-scooters are set to be referred to police, after pulling the stunt during an illegal car meet-up in the middle of Canberra this past weekend.
Key points:
- E-scooter company Beam says it is working to identify the people doing burnouts so they can be referred to police
- An illegal car meetup over the weekend saw Canberra streets closed, while another meeting saw police attacked
- Police say hooning on e-scooters would be easily investigated
Hundreds of car enthusiasts put rubber to Canberra’s Lonsdale Street on Friday and Saturday evenings, forcing road closures and leading to cars being impounded.
At a separate illegal meet up in Fyshwick on Friday, police were attacked when the crowd turned on them.
But while tyre smoke was a common sight in the city, some young men were also filmed doing burnouts on e-scooters, which were recently introduced to Canberra streets.
One of the men filming in the crowd can be heard abusing police, while another remarks he can smell the tyre smoke from the electric scooters.
Two cars were impounded due to the illegal cruise, and police said any drivers involved should expect a visit from officers.
Crowds gather across Canberra to watch illegal driving.
But Tom Cooper from Beam, one of the two companies offering e-scooters in Canberra, said people found to have done the potentially damaging burnouts on their property would also be referred to police.
“We’re certainly aware over the weekend that some people did misuse the scooters, and we’re actively investigating,” he said.
“Anyone found to be misusing them can and will be banned.
“We’re internally collecting all the information and then we’ll take it to police.”
Scooters ‘aren’t toys’
Detective Inspector Adrian Craft from ACT Policing said yesterday that hooning on e-scooters would be easily investigated.
“People should also understand that when they use those sorts of devices for things like that, you do have to scan in your credit card and all your details at the start, so it’s fair to say that it’s reasonably easy to identify the people who are responsible for those sorts of things,” he said.
“If the scooter companies care to come forward to us and to have discussions about that, then it’s reasonably easy for us to chase those sorts of things up.”
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Mr Cooper said Beam would contact police once it had gathered all the relevant details.
“We’re looking through it at the moment,” he said.
“We have to stress that the vast majority of Canberrans use it in a really really responsible way and there’s just a few people that take advantage of these things and it’s disappointing and it can ruin it for other people.
“We want to get across to people that e-scooters aren’t toys.”