E-bikes and scooters are quickly becoming one of the hottest debated topics of 2026, with countless incidents involving the controversial devices taking place in the first month of the year. In Queensland during the school holidays, thousands of fines were issued in just weeks.
Officers announced on Thursday, as children went back to school, that a total of 2,100 fines were issued for failing to wear a helmet ($166 fine), and 200 for riding on prohibited roads ($190 fine), while 142 non-compliant devices were seized from the road.
Photos released by police show a number of modified devices taken by police from offenders. In the state, fines for illegally tampering with an e-bike can exceed $1640, according to police.
Operation X-Ray Surety launched on November 3 and ended as the new school year commenced.
It comes as authorities right around the country grapple with soaring e-device uptake, largely among youths, and especially when it comes to their modification.
That’s driven in part by commuters looking for cheap, fast and flexible ways to get around. As well as a particular appetite among teenagers.
Their convenience, however, has been matched by a rise in serious injuries and deaths, with speed a key factor.
Officers confiscated more than 140 devices. Source: QLD Police
Stark warning as volume of modified e-devices on roads soars
Last week, police in Victoria issued a scathing warning to communities after two brothers riding an allegedly modified e-scooter — above the limit and helmetless — almost lost their lives on the state’s Bass Coast.
They branded the brothers’ injuries “too graphic to describe” but noted they will be “life-altering”.
Aged just 17 and 21, police said the siblings slammed into the back of an SUV at Cape Paterson, caving it in, and totalling both vehicles at the same time.
“The car was written off, as were almost the lives of the brothers,” police said.
“Parents, you need to inspect any e-scooter that your child has and make sure it is legal. The vast majority of the e-scooters we intercept … are not legal.”
Authorities crack down on illegal use
Meanwhile, Police in Western Australia recently announced they had crushed more than 50 e-bikes seized from patrols in Perth’s north, as part of the state’s dramatic crackdown on illegal riders.
Footage released by officers shows they are not kidding around, with several e-rideables literally being crushed by an excavator.
WA Police have cracked down on illegal e-bike use, seizing and crushing dozens of bikes. Picture: WA Police
NSW Police this week handed out 73 cautions for operating non-compliant or modified bikes and failing to wear a helmet correctly after investigating an incident where a group of riders were filmed riding across greens and fairways at Sydney’s Long Reef Golf Club.
Last year, data from The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney showed a 300 per cent increase in NSW e-bike and e-scooter injuries.
In the state, there have been proposals for riders to obtain a licence prior to use.
The plan, aimed at curbing bad behaviour amid a surge in the devices, would mandate licences and number plates on all shared electronic bikes.
There was even a recent push for mandated insurance.
The rule would see riders forced to take out insurance similar to other road users.
That proposal is being led by doctors and lawyers who argue there is a “compensation gap” that is leaving e-bike riders and victims of crashes financially vulnerable.
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