Illegal e-bikes and e-scooters readily available on the market
Shire transport
With months of public hearings during a state inquiry into e-bikes and other e-transport devices now complete, a picture has emerged of a rapid rise in illegal devices being used on Queensland roads in the past few years following a change of federal laws around buying online from overseas suppliers.
The e-mobility inquiry has heard submissions from police, doctors, transport specialists and other interested parties - including Douglas Shire councillor Damian Meadows, who spoke in a “private capacity” last month.
Mr Meadows told a Cairns hearing the biggest issue we are now facing is the ability for people to go faster than the legal limits.
“It is not a state issue; I think it is a federal issue,” Mr Meadows said.
“I think you need to advocate significantly to the feds and say that we need an Australia-wide set of rules and regulations so we are all singing from the same hymn book.”
Cairns Regional Council Deputy Mayor Brett Olds also said he was concerned about “youths using high-powered or modified devices” while not wearing helmets.
“In my opinion, the biggest issue with e-mobility scooters… is the devices that go really fast,” Deputy Mayor Olds said.
“The bigger issue right now is that you have kids on the highway doing 80 kilometres an hour.”
Mulgrave MP Terry James said the issue may call for a “multipronged approach” where council rangers worked alongside police to help better enforce laws such as wearing helmets and making sure devices such as e-scooters and e-bikes stuck to speed limits - which are 12km/h on footpaths and shared footpaths and 25km/h on all other bike paths and roads.
But Deputy Mayor Olds said councils should not be more involved in enforcing road rules, “especially if it is going to cost the ratepayers more”.
Committee chair Jim McDonald asked: “Are people just ignoring the rules, or do you think there are people out there who are buying these things and genuinely do not know that they are illegal?”
Queensland Police Service Deputy Commissioner Cameron Harsley said, while e-devices were valuable because they were more sustainable and accessible, there were “concerns about the growing number of incidents involving unsafe or unlawful use, particularly in high-pedestrian areas and on public roads”.
“Our officers are increasingly responding to reports of dangerous riding behaviour, crashes with pedestrians and the use of noncompliant or illegally modified devices.”
People should not ride after drinking alcohol or while using mobile phones, he said.
“Sadly, our front line is regularly confronted with e-mobility riders and others suffering trauma as a result of a traffic crash, which frequently involves speeding and dangerous behaviour.”
There have been 10 deaths in Queensland this year, including a 12-year-old boy who crashed his e-scooter into a parked car in Mareeba in June.
In August a man in his 30s sustained head injuries after a crash involving a car and an e-scooter on the corner of Grant and Warner Streets in Port Douglas.
Just last night at about 7pm a man suffered a potentially life-threatening head injury and was rushed to Cairns Hospital following an e-scooter crash at Bungalow.
From November 2022 to June 30, Queensland police issued close to 11,000 infringement notices to e-mobility users, with close to 6500 - more than half - being for not wearing a helmet.
The second most common offence, at close to 2200, was riding on a prohibited road.
Trauma surgeon Dr David Lockwood told the hearings Queenslanders present every day to emergency departments with injuries related to e-mobility devices.
“We recorded over 6300 emergency department presentations in a year, which is almost certainly an underestimate of the scale of the problem,” he said.
He said going too fast was a major factor in injuries.
“For scooters particularly, the smaller wheel size means that minor surface irregularities can result in wheel catching and a higher risk of accidents.”
There has been a significant increase in the number of illegal and unsafe devices for sale in Queensland from 2021 after mandatory federal approvals for e-mobility devices were removed, the hearings heard.
The committee is expected to hand down its final report in March.
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