00:00Today we have the Shadow Minister for Transport with us.
00:03E-bikes are a significant issue that we have in the Port Macquarie electorate
00:07and they're just growing surprisingly in numbers.
00:10And the young people that are riding them these days,
00:12safety is such a concern and they just seem to be ignoring those safety concerns.
00:17We've come up with an idea which is a concept for accountability
00:20so that the parents and the police can make sure that we're doing this in a safe manner.
00:24When these bikes are used in a safe way they're a fantastic mode of transport
00:29but unfortunately sometimes they're not.
00:31The other day I was, sorry, on Sunday I was at the diabetes walk
00:35and it was like a flock of e-bikes came through, one, two, three at a time.
00:40They're all popping up on their back wheels
00:42and unfortunately we've got ladies going through there pushing prams, etc.
00:45and it was just done in an unsafe manner and there was no accountability for those,
00:49no accountability to find out who they were at a later date
00:52so we can then talk to them about what is safe and how safe and their safety matters.
00:57Well thanks Rob, it's Natalie Ward, Shadow Minister for Transport.
01:01It's fantastic to be here on the ground in this beautiful community of Port Macquarie
01:05as we hear from community members about the concerns with e-bikes.
01:09We love e-bikes, they're a fantastic way to get around, efficient and available
01:13but they also come with some risk and we've seen with the huge increase in the uptake of e-bikes,
01:18flocks of kids riding unsafely on roads, pedestrians are worried
01:23and police and council have told us that they don't have a way to check this behaviour
01:29so concerns with pedestrian safety, concerns with drivers.
01:33The Liberals and Nationals Coalition has come up with an easy, fast and cheap way
01:38to make this rider behaviour accountable.
01:41We think that a simple licence plate on the front and back of the bike
01:45for those riders under the age of 18, for share bike riders and commercial operators
01:51just those three cohorts will make sure that you can identify the rider
01:54and identify the bike so that the person can be held accountable to their behaviour.
01:59I reckon as a mum, if one of my kids was out riding these bikes unsafely, scaring people
02:04or caused an accident, if the police could identify these licence plates
02:08and come and knock on my door the next day, that behaviour will stop pretty quickly.
02:13So it's important that we have a way that police can tell us
02:16they can enforce simple, effective and consistent road rules
02:19and they can do that with those riders themselves.
02:22We think this is a really good opportunity, quick, easy to implement,
02:26a low fee number plate in the back and front of the bike
02:29and we start to get that rider behaviour in check.
02:32I think it's going to be a fantastic solution and it's going to be cost effective.
02:35We're targeting this at around that $20 to $25 mark
02:38so it's not going to be an impost but just something that's going to help with accountability.
02:41Yeah, and we've heard from the community that they want something to be done
02:44and presently there isn't a lot out there, the council doesn't have powers to do anything,
02:49the police don't want to chase kids on bikes so we think this is a great way to identify them.
02:53We want everyone out riding, I want my kids off screens and out riding their bikes,
02:58it's a fantastic thing but we want them to do it safely so that everyone in the community can enjoy
03:02this together.
03:03Peter, thank you very much!
03:04Mehran, thank you very much, thank you for that!
03:07bumps in the description!
03:07Massey- Can- fried man on the green bike gap,
03:07the centre can decrease in the taş and brake,
03:08the centre can be reduce in trouble if he'd pay for him,
03:09but don't they normally run way but it Viele trees andstattIs.
