Renewed calls for national crackdown on e-bikes after two deaths on the weekend

ABC NEWS (Australia)

There's renewed calls for a national crackdown on electric bikes after the deaths of two people over the weekend. A man was killed when he collided with a 14-year-old boy riding an e-bike on the New South Wales Central Coast. And a teenager has been charged with manslaughter after a pedestrian was killed in Perth.

Transcript

00:00The problems are twofold.

00:04First, we've got non-complying vehicles out there on the road network.

00:08And secondly, we've got irresponsible use.

00:12We need different actions to address each of those underlying problems.

00:16OK, let's talk about the non-compliance to begin with

00:19when you look at solving the problems here.

00:21Plenty of these bikes are imported.

00:23Is that a good starting point to look at the regulation

00:26of the importation of these bikes?

00:30It certainly is.

00:31And prior to 2021, we were doing a much better job

00:34of keeping the door closed to vehicles

00:37that didn't comply with our regulations.

00:40In 2021, the federal government made a change to the rules

00:44around imports of e-bikes,

00:45and that has opened the proverbial barn door.

00:48First thing we've got to do is get the federal government

00:51back to the table to take action.

00:53It's in their court to do so.

00:56That will stem the flow.

00:57We then need to address the non-compliant vehicles

01:01which are currently out there on the network.

01:04Yeah, and what about...

01:05Just how easy is it to, you know,

01:07upgrade some of these bikes that make them non-compliant?

01:13In many cases, very easily.

01:15It can be done through changing a setting in the app.

01:19And, again, prior to 2021,

01:22importers had to confirm that the bikes could not be tampered with.

01:26We've not only allowed non-compliant vehicles to come in,

01:29but they can then be adjusted either by retailers or by the user.

01:35So are we talking about, you know,

01:38the bikes that you can go and hire, you know,

01:41if you're in a city somewhere?

01:42Or are we also talking about, you know,

01:45these fat bikes that we're seeing a lot of kids

01:47and young adults riding as well,

01:49or actually any ages riding as well?

01:51Very good distinction to draw, Kath,

01:54because we can be almost certain

01:56that every one of those share e-bikes are compliant vehicles.

02:00And the reason for that is the operators would not run the risk

02:04of operating a vehicle that was not compliant.

02:07The problem with non-compliant vehicles

02:10is exclusively to do with privately owned e-bikes.

02:14OK. So what about then, Geoff,

02:16when it comes to road rules and bike rules,

02:21speed, where they're allowed to ride, et cetera?

02:24Who's responsible for making those and enforcing those?

02:29Again, a good distinction,

02:31because now we're into the realm

02:33of the responsibility of the state governments.

02:35And I believe we need to take a couple of steps.

02:38We need to have clearer and more easy to enforce regulations

02:42so that police are better engaged

02:45in enforcing the regulations.

02:47I look to what Queensland's done

02:49with their e-scooter regulations,

02:51and I think there's a lot of potential there.

02:54They defined speed limits by different type of facility

02:57for footpaths versus bike paths versus shared paths.

03:01And then police go out with a speed gun and they enforce.

03:05And it doesn't matter whether somebody's riding an e-bike,

03:08an e-scooter or a conventional bike.

03:10If you exceed the speed limit, you get a ticket

03:14in the same way that we enforce road safety for motor vehicles.

03:18Yeah. So then is there a problem, Geoff,

03:19that you have a patchwork of rules across the country

03:22with state and territories

03:23all being a little bit different to one another?

03:27That is a factor.

03:29The other problem that we've got

03:30is that a major part of our current rules

03:32focus on the power of the motor,

03:35not its maximum speed or its operating speed.

03:38And I think that is a distraction.

03:40It's also a disincentive for police.

03:42It's extraordinarily difficult for police

03:45to be able to try and enforce the power of the motor.

03:48But operating speed is something

03:50that they already do effectively with speed guns

03:52and they can do a better job

03:54and more easily do it on facilities

03:56where these vehicles operate.

03:58OK, so we focus now on the actual bikes themselves.

04:02What about the riders?

04:03How important is it?

04:04And how do you go about educating riders?

04:07That's a very good point as well, Geoff.

04:11In addition to clearing up our regulations

04:14and enabling police to be able to do effective enforcement,

04:18I think there is a responsibility

04:19to do better education and encouragement.

04:23The education part is important.

04:26In Queensland, the police have started to go after the parents

04:29who are buying non-conforming bikes for their children.

04:32And I think that this education needs to be not only the user

04:37but also the people that are making the purchasing decision.

04:40And I think that this education is important.

04:42And I think that this education is important.

04:44And I think that this education is important.

04:45And I think that this education is important.

04:46And I think that this education is important.

04:47And I think that this education is important.

04:48And I think that this education is important.

04:49And I think that this education is important.

04:50And I think that this education is important.

04:51And I think that this education is important.

04:52And I think that this education is important.

04:53And I think that this education is important.

04:54And I think that this education is important.

04:55And I think that this education is important.

04:56And I think that this education is important.

04:57And I think that this education is important.

04:58And I think that this education is important.

04:59And I think that this education is important.

05:00And I think that this education is important.

05:01And I think that this education is important.

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