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National

Calls to legalise e-scooters on SA roads continues, after Liberals' proposed legislation is knocked back

Oscar loves riding his e-scooter — but under SA rules, he can only legally do so on private property. (ABC News)

Six-year-old Oscar Pluhar loves taking his e-scooter out for a spin on a sunny day with his dad.

He said riding on his e-scooter was "fun" and "exciting".

"It makes my heart beat really fast," he said.

But Oscar's hobby is illegal on South Australian roads.

The only e-scooters allowed to be ridden in public areas are those hired from two companies with permits in certain council areas.

Privately owned e-scooters and other electric vehicles can only be used on private property.

Oscar's dad Michael Pluhar said riding e-scooters has helped Oscar, who has autism, in numerous ways.

Michael Pluhar says e-scooters are a portable and environmentally-friendly way to get around. (ABC News)

"We can do the road rules together, he gets the mechanical knowledge, he understands the charging, we use the charging for timing and he understands how long it takes things to charge," he said.

"Also, the use of the throttle because when you're riding a pushbike, you've got pedalling, but learning how to read the numbers off the device for how fast you're going, using the throttle positions, understanding that you've got fast and slow and you can mediate between them, helps him a lot."

The state opposition introduced a bill to parliament to legalise e-vehicles on SA roads, but it was knocked back last week.

Deputy Premier Susan Close said the government will soon establish a review run by the Department of Transport, with community consultation, now that a parliamentary inquiry into the issue has concluded.

"We'll then be in a position to really look at the ways we can have a coherent approach to this policy," she said.

"It isn't easy, it does require clarification, but the opposition has jumped the gun a little bit and is being a bit hasty and hasn't properly thought through all of the challenges." 

Susan Close said the government is working to resolve "anomalies" in e-scooter rules. (ABC News: Che Chorley)

But Liberal transport spokesperson Vincent Tarzia said the government was taking too long to change the rules.

"The facts are people are actually buying these e-scooters anyway, they're buying them and they're operating them," he said.

"And so why wouldn't we legalise them?"

Mr Tarzia said there was a lot of "confusion around these devices".

"We think it's complete hypocrisy that you're able to hire these at the moment from a company but you can't operate them as a private citizen," he said.

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