Horror Bondi crash prompts e-bike number plate call

1 month ago 16

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“Unaccountable” e-bike riders could be forced to buy number plates for their bikes under a state opposition plan to promote safer use of the devices on public roads.

The call to licence e-bikes comes after two teenage boys were injured in a crash with a Mercedes-Benz in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Tuesday afternoon.

Two boys riding an e-bike were injured in a crash with a Mercedes-Benz at Bondi.

The sedan and the two 16-year-olds on the same bike collided at the intersection of Birrell and Ocean Street. The pair were treated at the scene before being taken to Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, both in a stable condition with non-life threatening injuries.

NSW opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said mandating number plates for specific groups, including those under 18, would change behaviour and prevent crashes.

Other groups may include people using e-bikes for commercial purposes – such as food delivery riders – and shared bike hire schemes.

“For young riders, accountability can’t just be a trip to the hospital emergency room,” Ward told the Herald.

The cracked windscreen of the Mercedes-Benz following the crash.

“The overwhelming community view is to take action on these unaccountable rider cohorts who need enforcement and behaviour change before it is too late.”

Ward said the opposition believed its plan could be implemented by the government without the need for extra resourcing.

The number plate scheme would have to be low-cost to ensure compliance, such as $20 for a set of two plates for the front and back of a bike.

The high-powered style of e-bikes likely to be targeted under such a scheme typically cost up to $4000.

The plan would also include new penalties for non-compliance and expanded safety education for young riders on the risks the bikes pose and how to mitigate them.

An e-bike rider passes the scene of the earlier crash.

Vision of the Bondi crash shows cracks in the windscreen of the Mercedes-Benz as well as damage to the front passenger side.

The woman driving the car is assisting police as inquiries continue. No charges have been laid over the incident.

Local resident Grace Incoll told Nine News one of the boys appeared to have broken bones and “cuts and grazes all over him”.

“I heard a huge bang and a woman screaming,” she said.

The use of e-bikes has come under scrutiny, including recent calls from doctors and lawyers to force riders to be covered by the same green slip insurance as other vehicles on the road.

Parents were warned in the lead-up to Christmas not to buy their children e-bikes after a rapid rise in injuries.

Ward accused the government of tinkering at the edges with plans to halve the power limit on e-bikes to 250 watts – the previous limit before it was raised by the former Coalition government to 500 watts.

No charges has been laid over the incident.

“If a crash or dangerous riding occurs, we can tell you who it was. Under Labor, they will be asking you what the wattage of the bike was,” she said.

Premier Chris Minns said on Wednesday the government “might be” open to considering a similar scheme but that he had not been briefed on the opposition’s plan.

Minns announced the plan to halve the power limit of e-bikes in December.

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