eBike Crackdown

[red750]

Following a spike in accidents and deaths, Queensland is putting new laws before parliament to crackdown on the use of ebikes.

 

Faster, more powerful e-bikes — anything over 25km/h — will now be treated like motorbikes or mopeds, meaning they can only be ridden on the road and must be registered and insured.

 

On footpaths, riders will have to slow right down to 10km/h, and a new offence will make it illegal to ride near pedestrians without proper care.

 

There’s also a broader push behind the scenes, with plans to tighten rules on retailers, crack down on tampering, improve lithium battery disposal, and roll out education campaigns to try and get on top of the growing issue.

 

Parents could also be held responsible, with fines able to be passed on if their child breaks the rules.

 

Police are being given stronger powers too, including random breath testing, and the ability to seize and impound illegal devices on the spot, with repeat or serious cases potentially seeing bikes destroyed.

 

There’s also a broader push behind the scenes, with plans to tighten rules on retailers, crack down on tampering, improve lithium battery disposal, and roll out education campaigns to try and get on top of the growing issue.

 

E-wheelchair users will be exempted from these rules.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg branded the suite of changes "nation-leading reforms".

"We are banning under-16s from these devices because the safety of kids is paramount," he said.

 
"We've taken the time to get this right, and our reforms strike the right balance between keeping Queenslanders safe from those who do the wrong thing, while backing the Queenslanders who do the right thing."

 

 

[facthunter]

Typical Of Benito's "over the top" response but some appropriate  action is Needed..  Putting Kids in Bluestone College makes them Criminals for Life and costs the earth. Nev

[Siso]

Putting kids on e bikes on the road or footpaths puts people in hospital

[facthunter]

It gives people cheap Mobility. Pushbikes are dangerous and home made Planes, Powerful Motorcycles too. Lets ban the Lot and be even handed eh! But Guns, they ARE made to Kill People. They are allowed. Isn't it an ODD World? Nev..

[willedoo]

It's not before time, it's been getting out of control. One of the worst areas is my local town. It's the high school kids who are the worst offenders. The police have tried a crack down but it doesn't seem to have helped much. If you go to town you really have to keep a good eye out for them as it's quite scary when you're walking along the footpath and a gang of them roar past at 30kph only inches away. I can't say I blame the kids; it's a no-brainer what will happen if you give kids what is in effect an electric motorcycle and let them ride it anywhere they like. I saw a couple of kids outside the shopping centre the other day with those big ones that have tyres the size of a Harley front wheel. There's been people killed around here, mainly the kids colliding with each other.

[octave]

As a regular e-bike rider, I think there may be a case for sensible regulation.   There are many e-bikes that are very fast and powerful, and at this stage, not even legal.  I think there could be a use for these bikes, but we just have to work out a way of making them compatible with other traffic and pedestrians.  Micro transport has many benefits for a city.  The majority of bike riders, electric or not, are taking a vehicle off the road for that particular journey. When I ride to my local supermarket, which has limited parking, someone else can park in my car park. On a recent walk around Melbourne CBD, I noted how many delivery bikes were on the roads.  Each one of these is likely displacing a car or motorcycle. There can be friction between the different travellers, but we just need to work out sensible rules to coexist.  I regularly ride on Rail Trails, which are shared between bikes, walkers and sometimes horses; it seems to work well.

E-bikes are a relatively new technology. We need to sensibly work out how to use them and not throw the baby out with the bathwater, and we definitely don't want to turn it into a culture war.  

 

[willedoo]

I think some of them can get speeds up to 100kph with illegal chips, if the motor is big enough to do it.

Edited 14 minutes ago by willedoo

[octave]

4 minutes ago, willedoo said:

I think some of them can get speeds up to 100kph with illegal chips, if the motor is big enough to do it.

I think these bikes (which are illegal) could probably be made legal with adequate regs, more like a motorbike.  I believe at the moment 250watts is the limit for road use.  I think that a bike that does 100 kp is a motor vehicle and should be regulated as such.

Edited 10 minutes ago by octave

[willedoo]

That's the thing, they're sold legally with a motor capable of those speeds but by law have to have a speed limiter. It doesn't seem very hard for the kids to get their hands on a black market chip to override that limitation. If kids under 16 are totally banned from riding them in public it would negate a lot of that. I think back to when I was 13 or 14 and how great it would have been if your parents bought you something like that and let you loose with it. That's why I don't blame the kids fror the temptation; I would have done the same thing at their age, hotted it up to go as fast as possible.