THE Greater Bendigo region is not one of the local government areas involved in the electric scooter trial.
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That is the main message from Bendigo Police.
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"E-scooters are illegal and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about that," Bendigo Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Ian Brooks said.
The City of Melbourne, the City of Yarra, the City of Port Phillip and the City of Ballarat are the only Victorian councils that have been approved for the e-scooter trial.
The 12-month program is aimed at investigating if e-scooters could become a fixture of the wider Victorian transport network.
The trial scooters do not require a licence to ride, although geofencing technology controls where they are ridden and parked, and how fast they can travel in certain areas.
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Police regard use of an e-scooter on a public road or footpath in all other local government areas of Victoria as an illegal activity.
"They can be used on private property but there has been some confusion on some messaging that has been out in relation to the use of e-scooters in the public," Senior Sergeant Brooks said.
"These are strictly not prohibited on the road, on the footpaths or any place outside of the private property.
"They are illegal and we will be taking action against anyone caught riding an e-scooter."
Senior Sergeant Brooks said while e-scooters haven't posed a significant issue in the region, police have been taking a proactive approach.
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"So far, prosecuted two people in the past couple of weeks," he said.
"In both cases, the owners were not aware that they couldn't use them on the road.
"We need to make sure people are informed and we have been doing that over the past couple of weeks. We have visited retail outlets that sell the scooters and we are trying to make sure people are aware.
"Again we will only be getting that messaging out for a period time and once we are satisfied that we have given people a fair go and fair warning then our enforcement stage will begin."
Senior Sergeant Brooks said drink and drug driving on an e-scooter does incur the same penalties as those caught with alcohol or illicit substances in their system while driving a car.
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