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In the first week since Queensland began its e-mobility crackdown, more than 60 bikes and scooters have been seized by police.
But the system to allow people to prove their ride is legal won’t be ready for months.
The first stage of the laws began on July 1, and require legal e-bike and e-scooter riders to slow to 12km/h when passing a pedestrian on a shared path or when riding on a footpath. They also created easier seizure powers for illegal bikes.
Queensland now has the world’s biggest fine for not wearing a bicycle helmet at $518, drink-riding fines range from $518 to $6908, and speeding from $345 to $1986.
Police have been highly visible in enforcement, patrolling inner-city Brisbane’s Bicentennial Bikeway and the Gold Coast during the first week of Operation Yankee Surety, which will run until mid-2027.
In its first week, until midnight July 7, police seized 63 e-mobility devices – personal mobility devices and electrically powered bikes – and issued 267 fines.
PMDs can be defined as e-scooters, e-skateboards or hoverboards, but QPS did not provide a breakdown on the type of PMDs and bikes seized, or fines.
Police can seize a bike if they reasonably suspect it is a prohibited bike and it has been ridden in a public place. They can destroy it after 30 days if the owner cannot prove it was legal or was not used in public.
Footage released by QPS on Monday showed officers seizing Fatfish and Surron bikes on the Gold Coast.
“Bike gets taken … 100 per cent, new legislation, mate, we’ve got zero tolerance on it now,” an officer told a 14-year-old Robina boy, who was given a fine for riding a non-compliant bike.
The bikes in the police video do not appear capable of meeting requirements under EN 15194, the standard that sets out various rules for legal e-bikes, such as assistance while pedalling up to 25km/h and a maximum continuous motor output of 250 watts.
While police have seizure powers, the government says people have until February 28, 2027 to ensure their e-bike has a compliance label confirming it meets that standard, or their e-scooter is speed limited to 25km/h, and if the device was legal pre-July 1, they can keep riding it.
An assurance scheme will also certify e-bikes that cannot be ticked off under EN15194, but generally meet the rules, such as e-trikes.
The government has not announced how that will work, and TMR plans to release details about the assurance scheme, including eligibility, key dates, available locations and alternative options before October 1.
From August 31, riders must be 16 years old and hold a driver’s licence to ride an e-bike or e-scooter.
There will be exemptions, including for people who cannot hold a licence for medical reasons, children aged 12 to 17 riding supervised by a parent, guardian or other adult with responsibility, and rail trails and mountain bike tracks.
How to apply for this exemption has not been announced.
Bicycle Queensland estimates about 100,000 otherwise legal e-bikes will require stickers.
Professor Matt Burke, the advocacy group’s chief executive, was consulted on the laws, and said a health professional, such as a GP, nurse or physiotherapist, would likely need to sign off on a licence exemption.
“It’s great that the exemption exists, but it’s going to be a lot of work and a lot of barriers to disabled people to get on a bike,” he said.
From July 1, retailers were banned from selling e-bikes and e-scooters to people aged under 16, and must display a sign to that effect.
However, TMR has not yet created an official poster and bike stores have been told they can – and should – make their own.
“As part of these obligations, retailers are required to display signage advising customers of the new rules, however retailers can display the information in a way that best suits their business needs and ensures compliance,” a TMR spokesman said.
Opposition transport spokesman Bart Mellish said the government had 18 months to get the laws right, and they completely botched it.
“We are hearing from retailers and e-bike users that the rollout of these poorly drafted laws is going terribly,” he said.
Online stores continue selling bikes to Queenslanders with no age verification, with the claim they are EN15194 compliant and road legal because they ship locked to 25km/h and 250 watts, but they also have a 750 watt “private property version” or can be unlocked for private land use.
During Operation X-Ray Surety, which ran under the old laws from November to January, police issued more than 2700 fines, including 2100 for not wearing a helmet, 200 for riding on prohibited roads and 80 for speeding, with 142 non-compliant devices removed from Queensland roads.
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