Traffic Amendment (Personal Mobility Devices) Bill 2021

Ms WEBB (Nelson) – I also support this bill.  It is pleasing to see us actively looking to encourage and accommodate new technology in this space.  In the Greater Hobart Traffic Congestion inquiry, we had a lot of discussion around how to better encourage and facilitate the adoption of new devices and technologies.  This is welcome.  I will not go over similar ground to other members but I endorse the questions and comments that have already been made. 

I have a couple of points to put to Government, to see where the thinking has been on these elements, and perhaps encourage some further action if there has not yet been thought put to them.  One relates to the accidents we know will occur, because we can look to other jurisdictions and see that.  From our understanding, it is likely that may be centred on the private use of these vehicles.  It is not so much an issue of liability; I know others have raised those issues.  I wondered how will we know and ensure we are collecting accurate data about these accidents and injuries and the impact or costs to the community? 

Accidents may be reported to police and data may be captured through that reporting mechanism.  However, we heard in the briefing that the majority of the accidents are likely to involve the single vehicle and injuries to the driver themselves, rather than to others.  I imagine that in many cases they might be relatively invisible in data collection, unless we are looking for ways to actively try to monitor, capture and measure that.  We know that there will be costs associated with those sorts of accidents, whether it is a direct cost to the person themselves in injuries and their property but also more broadly, costs to us through the healthcare system or medical response maybe.  Things like loss of work time, loss of productivity that flow from injuries people have encountered.

It would be interesting for us to understand what this looks like as a picture so we know and can potentially better accommodate and prepare for or ameliorate these situations.  It is new to us.  These are new devices and we have not yet encountered the full impact.  I am interested in the thinking that has been done to try to capture that picture in a data sense.

I am interested to understand whether we are looking to monitor and map and how these PMDs show up in property crime in this state.  They become something that is inevitability going to show up in our theft and crime statistics, and damage.

Mr Willie – Getaway vehicles.

Ms WEBB – I am not sure about that one but potentially it would be interesting for us to see.  There will be new and unusual uses for these vehicles.  That comes to mind for me because I have family members in other jurisdictions who utilise these and there has already been involvement with theft and damage.  Will we be mapping and monitoring where these new vehicles sit in that so we understand the picture?

The third thing I wanted to bring up is probably one that is quite close to my heart because it relates to older Tasmanians.  From my past work history this has been something that I am very interested in.  How do we manage and provide wonderful opportunity for older Tasmanians in this state and ensure that our ageing demographic, which we know is a feature of our state, is really well-catered for in a policy sense so that we really optimise the value and the contribution of older Tasmanians?

The thing about these devices that we would readily identify is that they have the potential to discourage older Tasmanians from using or accessing public spaces, particularly city areas.  That is not a reason not to allow these vehicles or not to have them become part of the picture of our cities and our communities but it is something for us to be mindful of.  We know that if older Tasmanians become fearful about accessing public areas that is going to impact on their lives.  Confidence is very important for maintaining independence in older Tasmanians and independence is really important for maintaining health and wellbeing and quality of life.

Would the Government contemplate a commitment to partner with COTA – Council on the Ageing Tasmania – as the peak body in that space, to monitor the views and experiences of older Tasmanians as we embark on this journey?  Now at this early stage, prior to introduction or at the time when we are introducing these vehicles, and then at intervals going forward as they become more embedded and there is widespread use – so that we understand how older Tasmanians are experiencing and being impacted by them.

That way we can better equip ourselves as a community to ensure that those potential negative outcomes are ameliorated and do not come to pass as far as possible.  I would like to see an active commitment to look at that as we regulate and rollout these vehicles.

Those were the things that I wanted to add to the debate today.  I am supportive of the bill and I am very supportive of us seeing widespread use to the benefit of these sorts of devices and technologies of the whole community.

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