Electric scooter riders will not have to make hand signals for turning and stopping when they are allowed into cycle lanes.

Research shows one-handed scooting is very risky.

A road rules change before the end of the year will let e-scooterists legally use bike lanes for the first time.

Cyclists are subject to a road rule to use hand signals - though do not have to if they risk losing control.

"E-scooter riders are not currently subject to the cyclist signalling requirements in the Road User Rule," the Transport Agency told RNZ.

"While signalling is encouraged as a safety practice, it is not currently a legal requirement for e-scooter riders."

Since that's the case the agency Waka Kotahi has not considered the risks of scooters signalling when it comes to the rule changes.

Scooterists also don't have to wear helmets, unlike bikers.

Some e-scooters have brake and indicator lights but many do not. Public e-scooters have speed limiters on them but privately owned ones do not.

A study last year in Sweden found riding with only one hand on the handlebars increases the risk of crashing by six times.

"It is not possible to steer and brake with an electric scooter in the same way as with a bicycle, so riding with one hand on the handlebar is significantly more difficult - and dangerous - than many people might think," study leader professor Marco Dozza of Chalmers University of Technology said.

Recent ACC data showed claims for e-scooter injuries were on the rise, with children and young people rising fastest.

A recent study in the UK found e-scooter riders had triple the chance of getting a traumatic brain injury than motorcyclists, triggering calls in New Zealand for helmets to be mandatory. They are on bikes, but not on scooters.

The UK has had a ban on any private escooters on public thoroughfares but is struggling with what the rules should be.

The rules reform is being done under a type of secondary legislation called an Order in Council that is more straightforward than primary legislation.

Another of the changes being drafted by NZTA, and subject to Cabinet approval, will allow children to ride bikes on the footpath.