Scooting up the hill near his house past one of Sydney's largest police stations, Kareem Tawansi has historically made a show of pushing himself along with his back foot.

It is an Academy Award-worthy performance given his e-scooter can go at a pace of about 20 kilometres per hour all on its own.

He is one of almost half a million people in NSW who legally own an e-scooter, but can't legally use it.

Gliding along in suits and heels, whizzing through the far corners of the city, and bumping along country roads, these e-scooter drivers are the low speed mavericks of the streets — and it is likely they will soon be legitimised.

This week, the NSW government unexpectedly announced plans to legalise e-scooters as part of its new e-micromobility action plan. 

"Finally", said Mr Tawansi who, in an unfamiliar suburb, was once spectacularly pulled over by highway patrol.

He received two fines — one for using an unregistered vehicle and another for wearing the wrong kind of helmet, costing a hefty $1,046. 

Data from NSW Police paints a confusing picture of what is currently considered legal.

One hundred people were fined for e-scooting on a footpath last year, and 88 people were also fined for e-scooting on the road.  

Mr Tawansi considers his e-scooter no more dangerous than anything else on the bike path, where cyclists often fly past in a peloton.

"It's fun, I know exactly how long it's going to take, it's got virtually no footprint," he said.

While the rule change predominantly impacts private e-scooter users, it also clears the way for shared e-scooter providers, like Neuron and Beam, to establish a presence in Sydney.

Already entrenched in cities including Canberra and Brisbane, and recently abolished in Melbourne city, the shared schemes have been the subject of scrutiny, particularly around safety. 

Would shared e-scooters work in Sydney? 

While the state government provides the regulation, shared e-scooter providers deal directly with local councils to barter for contracts and get their scooters on the streets.

Already, the City of Sydney – which encompasses much of the CBD and inner east – has resolved not to participate, citing "road safety" and "clutter" on footpaths.

The Inner West Council, which covers another large part of the city, recently rejected a proposal from the state government to establish a e-scooter trial as an alternative transport option while the Sydenham to Bankstown train line is shut for upgrades.

Both councils will be closely watching the results of shared e-scooter trials in Kogarah, south of the CBD, following similar trials in Sydney Olympic Park, Lake Macquarie and the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan in 2022.

A spokesperson for NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said shared schemes were "an important part of the mix" for people without their own e-mobility scooter or bike, and said the government would "encourage access to shared devices" albeit with an eye on a "range of safety concerns".

There is hope that a shared e-scooter scheme would provide a legitimate option for commuters trying to get to transport hubs like train stations, as well as cut emissions and reduce traffic. 

"We've had all these wonderful public transport projects like the Metro in Sydney, but a couple of months after open, people are starting to complain about getting to the station and not being able to park," Stephen Greaves from the University of Sydney's Institute of Transport and Logistic Studies said.

"This could be an option that is somewhere between walking and driving. It's often more efficient to run," he said.

In Canberra, public uptake of the shared e-scooters was swift, with operators Neuron and Beam estimating they have each seen 1.9 million rides on their scooters since they were rolled out four years ago.

It is a similar story in Brisbane, the first city in Australia to allow shared e-scooter operators, with companies previously reporting about 5,000 users a day in the CBD. 

But in Melbourne, shared e-scooters never really had a chance, scrapped by the Melbourne City Council with six months left of a trial because of safety concerns. 

Professor Greaves said it would be surprising if shared e-scooter operators don't try to capitalise on the legalisation of e-scooters in NSW and aim for Sydney. 

"It is the biggest state, is the biggest population, and is potentially the biggest profits," he said.

Research indicates the majority of Sydneysiders support legalisation of e-scooters, contingent on some sensible rules being in place, like the imperative to wear a helmet.

Generally speaking, views towards e-scooters become worse the older the person, according to the data.

As e-scooters proliferate, so do safety concerns

Some private e-scooter users are hesitant to support a shared e-scooter scheme for fear bad behaviour will further cement an already suspicious view of e-scooters as hell on two wheels.

"If they impact the use of private scooters in a negative way, then I don't want to see them."

One emergency doctor in Melbourne said he was seeing between 30-40 patents a month from e-scooter related incidents while the shared e-scooter trial was running in the city.

In Victoria, seven people have died in incidents involving e-scooters since 2021.

Thousands of infringements have also been issued, mostly for failing to wear a helmet, riding on a footpath or carrying a passenger.

In Brisbane reports of related injuries in emergency departments almost doubled within two years.

The Queensland government is working to introduce random breath testing for riders, finding current methods to check if someone is inebriated – which includes an online questionnaire – insufficient.

It's one of many changes councils and states will have to make as they seek to and make e-scooters safer.

Professor Greaves said given so many people in NSW were already using them, it made sense for the state government to be asking those questions, too.