Australia is witnessing a surge in the popularity of electric bikes, commonly known as e-bikes, leading to growing concerns over safety and regulation. The popularity of e-bikes has taken over our streets at an unprecedented pace. Sadly, this increase means that people are being injured and killed in e-bike crashes in greater numbers. The situation has led to calls nationwide for tougher regulations. People may be more amenable to restricting vehicle modifications to speed beyond the legal speed limit.
At the moment, e-bikes in Australia are limited to a top speed of 25 kilometers per hour (km/h). Some of the world’s fastest riders are actively hacking their bikes to save time. Daniel is a passionate advocate for e-bikes. Faster commuting On his heavily modified e-bikes, which he’s very proud to have boosted up to 45 km/h, Martin normally rides at a pretty comfortable 30-35 km/h speed on his morning commute. He did support stricter regulations on imported e-bikes, though he said the current speed limit of 15 mph made the scooters and bikes “non-competitive.”
“I don’t have any issue with a crackdown on those bikes. I do however feel strongly that the 25km/h speed limit is too slow,” – Daniel.
This surge in e-bike adoption has gone hand in hand with a disturbing increase in serious accidents. Between 2018 and 2021, e-bikes were associated with over 500 fatalities — a staggering increase. In fact, they have begun to exceed the deaths linked to conventional bicycles. In May of this year a heartbreaking situation played out in Victoria. A rider on an illegal, modified e-bike hit and killed the elderly pedestrian, 69-year-old William Lothian. The tragic circumstances of this incident have led to calls for safer e-bikes or greater regulation.
Dr. Tom Crofts, an emergency medicine specialist, began to explain the life-altering injuries from e-bike crashes. According to him, ERs are seeing more cases of the kind of “blunt force trauma” that comes from rapid deceleration during crashes. He mentioned that most injuries occur when riders are doing well over the speed limit.
“Some of the injuries that we do see, you can safely assume that they’re going faster … above what they are capped at, which is the 25 kilometre an hour speed limit,” – Dr. Tom Crofts.
Dr. Crofts commented on the concerning proliferation of larger modified e-bikes that look like motorbikes. His reflection on the increasing frequency and severity of trauma cases around e-bikes in our emergency departments.
“We see quite severe trauma almost on a weekly basis now associated with e-bikes,” – Dr. Tom Crofts.
Bike advocacy organizations from PeopleForBikes to the League of American Bicyclists are doing their part. Specifically, they are advancing legislation that prohibits imports of certain types of e-bikes into Australia. Many advocates argue that the current regulations fail to adequately address the dangers posed by modified e-bikes capable of speeds well beyond legal limits. Recent articles indicate that many of the most popular online videos instruct users on methods to hack e-bikes. Even worse, this can boost their speeds up to a shocking 90 km/h.
So much so that Allison McCormack, a Cycling Advocate with the Alliance for Biking and Walking, just testified for stronger rules. She noted that these illegal e-bikes can be going up to 60km/h to 90km/h. The lack of external testing creates a dangerous situation on our public roadways.
“What we’re seeing is illegal e-bikes travelling up to 60,90km/h,” – Allison McCormack.
McCormack continued, emphasizing how critical federal legislative action is to stopping these harmful practices.
“This is why legislation is so important. We need to stop the ability to simply buy something that is an illegal motorbike and bring it into Australia and then subsequently they’re being used on the roads,” – Allison McCormack.
As the discussion around e-bike speed limits increases, the stakes are high. Other advocates are calling for an increase to 32 km/h, the top speed now allowed under standards in the United States. Proponents of this change contend that the current 4-foot minimum is simply unsafe for riders who need to be able to operate in lane with faster moving traffic.
Daniel reiterated his concerns about the inventory issues and the interaction between slower, more visible e-bikes and regular traffic. He emphasized that large disparities in speed between vehicles and other road users often lead to the most dangerous environments for everyone.
“When you are mixing with cars, we find the speed limit of 25km/h too slow. This is particularly a problem on the road,” – Daniel.
In the United States, states and territories control speed limits and other roadway regulations. As specialists including Sophie Scamps point out, the federal government has a key part to play in these issues.
“While states and territories are responsible for setting speed limits and writing regulations on our roads and footpaths, the federal government also has a clear role to play in regulating and supporting safe e-bikes,” – Sophie Scamps.
So far in 2023, St Vincent’s Hospital emergency services have been treating 45 trauma cases directly associated with e-bikes. This included both illegally modified bikes and bikes complying with the lawful statutes. The increase in e-bike crashes is especially concerning. To truly make progress in preventing further tragedies, it requires immediate legislative reform to address safety standards and lack of import regulation.
The heated debate over e-bike regulations is symptomatic of newer, larger issues related to public safety and transportation infrastructure in Australia. With more riders taking to the streets every day, officials need to move quickly and find solutions. They need the freedom to disrupt personal transportation while implementing industry-leading safety standards.
