The 15-year-old rider of the other electric bike was not seriously injured and he declined treatment from paramedics.<\/p>\n
Both boys were wearing helmets.<\/p>\n
The forensic crash unit is investigating and police are appealing for witnesses or drivers with dashcam footage to come forward.<\/p>\n
Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the crash was an “absolute tragedy”.<\/p>\n
“We need to have a look at what changes can be made,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Nothing should be off the table \u2014 we have got to keep our kids safe.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Police around the country are grappling with how to deal with teenagers on high-powered electric bikes. (ABC News: Declan Bowring)<\/p>\n
Injuries on the rise<\/p>\n
The incident is the latest in a string of serious accidents involving e-bikes and scooters.<\/p>\n
Eight people died while riding e-scooters or e-bikes in Queensland last year.<\/p>\n
According to Queensland Health, the number of e-bike and e-scooter injuries have more than doubled in the past four years.<\/p>\n
A recent study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found there were 176 children aged five to 15 hospitalised with e-scooter injuries on the Sunshine Coast in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n
A parliamentary inquiry into the safety of the bikes and scooters is underway, with the final report due to be handed down in March.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the Sunshine Coast this morning, Mr Crisafulli said the laws “must” be changed.<\/p>\n
“I just say to the family of the young child involved and the broader community how sorry we are to hear the news,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We are taking it seriously and you will see change. That’s my commitment to every parent, every child and everyone who values community safety.”<\/p>\n
Loading…Community in shock<\/p>\n
Yellow paint markings on the footpath are the only signs of the fatal collision, but residents told the ABC it had shaken the community.<\/p>\n
Belinda Wilson, from the Sunshine Coast suburb of Palmview, said her 10-year-old son had long asked her for an e-bike, and her position had been that he could have one after he had a driver’s licence.<\/p>\n
“Everyone has been affected, even though we don’t know this person,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It’s hard because your kids are so precious to you. When they leave the home, they’re outside of your control.<\/p>\n
“There’s only so much that you can do to control your kids and protect them.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Belinda Wilson says news of the boy’s death on an e-bike has shaken the community. (ABC News: Owen Jacques)<\/p>\n
Pat Knowler regularly rides his e-bike along the same path where the incident happened.<\/p>\n
He said while most e-bike owners did the right thing, he was often concerned by some riders and said they should be restricted to their legal limit of 25kph.<\/p>\n
“That concerns me more than anything I’ve seen [on the bike path],” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s the ones out on the road, you know the speed and the antics they pull. It’s scary. Very scary.<\/p>\n
“They need to be aware that they’re a lethal weapon.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pat Knowler says he was sad to hear of the death on the popular Sunshine Coast bike path.<\/p>\n
Calls for change<\/p>\n
Last month, a 17-year-old was killed and his friend was injured when the e-bike they were riding collided with a car on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate wrote to the premier expressing his concerns about the “escalating dangerous behaviour” of young e-bike riders, calling it a “significant public safety issue”.<\/p>\n
Cr Tate demanded the government fast-track new laws including licensing, registration, increased fines and expanded police powers to impound and crush the bikes of repeat offenders.<\/p>\n
“Education and community appeals alone have proven insufficient. It is time to take a strong stance \u2014 no more Mr Nice Guy,” he wrote.<\/p>\n
“Decisive action is required now to prioritise safety and prevent further loss of life.”<\/p>\n
Sunshine Coast federal MP and Shadow Attorney-General Andew Wallace issued an impassioned plea to parents to keep their kids safe.<\/p>\n
“Please talk to your kids. This is the life of your child,” he said.<\/p>\n
“If they come off these e-bikes doing 50kmh as they are doing, particularly if they’re not wearing helmets and many of them don’t, there is no coming back from that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The death of an eight-year-old boy on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has prompted Premier David Crisafulli to promise to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[28222,1154,1300,38916,149570,149572,11224,43,13908,44,149571,11942,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-252509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-accident","tag-crash","tag-death","tag-ebike","tag-electric-bike","tag-electric-scooter","tag-fatal","tag-headlines","tag-mountain-creek","tag-news","tag-sippy-downs","tag-sunshine-coast","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}