By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson

Electric bikes could be classified as road vehicles with stricter safety regulations after concerns about high-powered models and illegal modifications in Australia. 

Independent federal MP Sophie Scamps proposed the changes in a private member’s bill in parliament on Monday that could enforce standards such as a 25km/h speed limit and anti-tampering protections.

Two cycling groups have backed the proposal, which comes after reports of increasing injuries from e-mobility devices and as two state governments hold inquiries into their use.

The Safer E-bikes Bill would amend the Road Vehicle Standards Act to include electric bicycles, reversing their removal in 2021.

The federal transport minister would be given six months to introduce national safety standards for e-bikes, including anti-tampering technology, speed and power output limits, and other protections included in European standards.

The changes would help protect more road and footpath users from high-speed, two-wheeled accidents, Dr Scamps said.

“Many new generation e-bikes can be easily modified to exceed legal speed limits and are being ridden illegally, often unknowingly, on footpaths and roads, posing serious risks to riders, pedestrians and drivers,” she said.

The changes were not designed to outlaw e-bikes, she said, but to respond to safety concerns and calls from ministers in NSW, Victoria and Queensland for national leadership on the transport trend.

“We now often see e-bikes that are more motorbike than bicycle being ridden at high speeds on footpaths and roads,” she said.

“They are an important part of the shift to cleaner, more active transport but the technology has raced ahead of safety legislation.”

Cycling groups WeRide and Bicycle Industries Australia support the proposed changes, with both groups worried about a rising number of modified and poor quality e-bikes.

Importers should have to prove their compliance with safety standards, Bicycle Industries Australia general manager Peter Bourke said, to prevent road accidents and risks from inferior equipment.

“The 2021 change increased the access to non-compliant e-bikes and poor quality equipment, causing an increase in battery fires,” he said.

The call to change e-bike regulations comes after several studies showed rising injury rates involving the vehicles.

A project conducted at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital found 500 e-bike riders presented to its emergency department in two years, and Monash University found Melbourne e-bike delivery riders were breaking speed limits, some reaching 54km/h.

In July, the Western Australia government extended a parliamentary inquiry into “eRideables” to include e-bikes, and the Queensland government is holding public hearings into e-mobility devices in September and October.

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