Canberrans welcome possible introduction of e-scooters on roads and footpaths

But there are concerns the scooters, which have led to serious injuries and deaths in some cities, present a major safety risk.

The owner of the Franklin-based Cookies Cycles, David Cook, said he had seen a surge in the number of people buying e-scooters in the past 12 months.

He predicts the uptake would be even larger if the ACT government allowed people to ride them on roads and footpaths.

Road Safety Minister Shane Rattenbury on Tuesday launched a discussion paper seeking public opinion on making e-scooters legal in public areas.

"There's more adults buying them now than kids, but there's been more and more adult scooters being developed," Mr Cook said.

"Most people want to get them for the convenience and use them for the footpath."

Mr Cook has welcomed the territory government's decision to potentially lift the ban on e-scooters being ridden in public.

He began stocking e-scooters in 2017, ahead of proposed laws to legalise the scooters that didn't eventuate.

The latest step towards possibly allowing wider use of e-scooters would be an opportunity to take more cars off the road, he said.

"Electric scooters years ago used to be big and bulky, but now e-scooters don't look too different to normal scooters, and they now have a bigger battery pack," Mr Cook said.

The current fines for riding an e-scooter on a public roads and footpaths in the ACT is $151. However, an ACT police spokesman said no infringements had been handed out to scooter drivers in 2018 or so far this year.

The ACT government will examine what the speed limit for e-scooters would be, safety restrictions and who should be allowed to use them.

Mr Rattenbury said the ACT government had been approached by several e-scooter operators, wanting to set up in Canberra.

"The ACT has been approached by three or four different operations who are very keen to come and operate," Mr Rattenbury said.

"They see Canberra as a place where they would like to roll out their goods. It will be required to be a tender process."

Chris Jones, the national secretary of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association, said e-scooters had proven a success in cities such as Brisbane, where hire services were available around the city.

"It's attracting attention in more densely populated cities because there's more pedestrian traffic," Mr Jones said.

"There's been a new wave of enthusiasm."

However, Pedestrian Council of Australia chair Harold Scrubby said e-scooters had no place on roads and footpaths, following a spate of injuries in cities where their use had been legalised.

"If you want to go for a walk, these things are silent and coming up behind you at 25km/h," Mr Scrubby said.

"It makes the footpaths so hostile."

Mr Scrubby said e-scooters were the "antithesis of active transport" and more oversight was needed.

"The ACT government should do what NSW is doing and set up a review committee before doing any sort of trial," he said.

Since the introduction of e-scooters in Brisbane, there have been 109 hospitalisations.

A man died riding an e-scooter from ride-sharing service Lime in Auckland on Monday. It's believed to be the first fatal e-scooter accident in New Zealand since they were introduced.