By Violet Li
The State Coroner has highlighted the safety concerns on e-scooter use after a Cranbourne North man died after speeding with no helmet on a residential street.
On the late night of 14 March 2022, the then-51-year-old Carl Edward Medlyn lost control of his e-scooter while fast-speeding with no helmet east along Hoysted Avenue in Cranbourne North, near the intersection with Candytuft Close. He fell onto the footpath and was discovered by a resident after midnight.
Mr Medlyn suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, woke from a coma after approximately one month, and stayed in the hospital for rehabilitation where he discovered his lung cancer.
In August, Mr Medlyn developed aspiration pneumonia and passed away three days later.
The autopsy concluded he died from aspiration pneumonia, traumatic brain injury arising from the scooter incident, with the contributing factor of lung cancer.
State Coroner Paul Lawrie stated it was impossible to conclude the causes that made Mr Medlyn fall from the scooter.
“It may have been a loss of control due to excessive speed, the suspension and handling limitations of the scooter, a transition from the roadway to the footpath or across
a driveway crossover, or a combination of these,” he stated.
He pointed out that Mr Medlyn was likely to be impaired by the drug to some extent, but he also had a history of self-medicating with cannabis.
“It is not possible to say what the effects of habituation may have been or the degree to which he would have been impaired while he was riding the scooter,” he stated.
Coroner Lawrie noted that e-scooters were prohibited from being used on Victorian public footpaths or roads now and at the time of Mr Medlyn’s death.
“The power output and speed capability of this scooter have the potential to, very quickly, place a rider in a situation where they are at the limits of controllability,” he stated.
“The consequences of a crash at the high speeds these vehicles are capable of,
particularly when the rider has no head protection, are all too likely to be catastrophic.
“I note that in a report summarising the findings of e-scooter trials conducted by the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, published in March 2023, concerns were noted about unsafe behaviour by e-scooter users including high-speed riding, riding on footpaths, not wearing a helmet, and carrying a passenger.
“The report also noted that safety risks increased when users did not observe safety-based rules.”
Coroner Lawrie stated that he had directed the report to the Department of Transport and Planning to inform their research in the e-scooter trials.
Mr Medlyn suffered seizures after an assault in 2016 and was medically unfit to drive.
He purchased the scooter in early March 2022.
