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A call to force all pedal-assisted e-bike riders to have a learner’s licence is a misstep that will deter Queenslanders from cycling and keep more people in cars, the deputy chair of the state’s e-mobility inquiry says.
Labor MP Jonty Bush, the deputy chair of Queensland’s e-mobility inquiry, said pedal-assisted e-bikes should not have been lumped in the same category as high-powered electric motorbikes when the committee made its recommendations to curb crashes and severe injuries among e-bike users.
Bush said no other jurisdiction, other than North Korea, had a licensing framework for cyclists, and pedal-assisted e-bikes were used safely by thousands of Queenslanders.
The committee heard no evidence that legal e-bikes were a problem, she said.
“The biggest issue I have is that the report doesn’t really clearly differentiate between two really different classes of bikes,” she said.
“By grouping pedal-assist e-bikes in with much more powerful devices, the report risks reinforcing the idea that all e-bikes are the same and that all e-bikes are dangerous, despite the committee hearing no evidence whatsoever that pedal-assist e-bikes pose any kind of safety risk.”
While Bush supported improving safety and believed most of the recommendations “move us in the right direction”, the MP was worried about the future accessibility of pedal-assisted e-bikes.
“They help us get out of cars,” she said.
“They help to reduce congestion, they help us stay active, and they make active transport a much more viable option for so many more Queenslanders.”
Bush said the recommendations would affect people who did not have a car licence – such as older people or those with a disability – who used an e-bike to travel.
The inquiry’s report said 6300 people presented to emergency departments with injuries and 12 people died from e-mobility last year in Queensland, but this was not broken down by e-scooters, legal e-bikes, or electric motorbikes ridden illegally in public.
WorkCover reported a significant increase in claim costs, primarily driven by e-scooter injuries.
Under the recommendations, electric dirt bikes, some capable of speeds up to 75km/h, would either be subject to motorbike licences, VINs and registration, or – if not compliant with the European EN15194 standard – would need to be permanently marked for private property use only.
Legal e-bikes have a motor that makes pedalling easier, but this assistance stops at speeds over 25km/h – a speed that riders of lighter unpowered bicycles often exceed.
The report also recommended that speed limits should be reduced to the slow-jogging speed of 10km/h on all footpaths in Queensland – but not for regular bicycles. Councils were supportive of setting even slower speed limits in areas with high foot traffic.
In a post on LinkedIn, senior Transport and Main Roads advisor Michael Langdon said the recommendation would automatically apply to all footpaths, including shared paths.
All footpaths in Queensland can legally be used by cyclists and e-scooter riders, unless specifically sign-posted as pedestrian-only.
Queensland Transport and Main Roads’ guideline for speed on shared footpaths states that cyclists can travel at speeds between 15-25km/h on well-designed footpaths as “a bicycle can become unstable at speeds below 11km/h”.
Responding to a Facebook comment, Bush described the proposed 10km/h limit as “another big issue”.
The state government has three months to respond to the inquiry’s recommendations.
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