Children under the age of 16 will be banned from using and storing e-rideables at all WA public schools starting from term one, 2026.<\/p>\n
The government made the announcement following the release of the final report from a wide-ranging parliamentary inquiry into e-scooters and e-bikes, which made 33 recommendations on how to modernise the state’s laws and make the devices safer for riders and pedestrians.<\/p>\n
Education Minister Sabine Winton said the report “clearly highlighted that for many, many parents out there, there’s a misunderstanding about what is legal and what’s not”.<\/p>\n
“It is illegal for anyone under the age of 16 to be riding e-rideables,” she said.<\/p>\n
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Minister for Education Sabine Winton says e-rideables will be banned from WA public schools from next year. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)<\/p>\n
“And so this ban today supports schools, supports principals, and that’s what our principals have asked for to make sure that we can get that message across to communities and make sure that young people aren’t riding these things.”<\/p>\n
The report urged the government to toughen penalties for e-rideable offences and punish retailers who help people modify e-rideables to break the rules.<\/p>\n
The probe was sparked by the death of Perth father Thanh Phan<\/a>, who was struck and killed by a scooter in the Perth CBD in May.<\/p>\n Thanh Phan died after he was struck by an e-scooter being ridden by an English tourist.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n He was believed to have been the first pedestrian to die from an e-scooter accident in WA.<\/p>\n The inquiry’s scope was expanded after a 59-year-old woman was struck by an electric motorcycle<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n So far this year there have been seven e-scooter related deaths in WA, more than the previous three years combined, the committee noted.<\/p>\n E-rideable inquiry hears call for stricter regulation<\/a><\/p>\n The regulation of e-bikes and e-scooters is under the spotlight at a WA parliamentary inquiry, which has heard calls for tougher rules around their sale and testimony from trauma doctors.<\/p>\n Its final recommendations are extensive, from calling for better infrastructure to separate e-rideables from pedestrians and cars, to improving data collection to better understand the scale of injuries caused by e-rideables.<\/p>\n “This mode of transport has an important place in the future transport landscape, so long as it is adequately funded, supported by a comprehensive legislative and policy framework, and provided with dedicated infrastructure to ensure the safety of all road and path users,” the report concluded.<\/p>\n Push to outlaw modifications<\/p>\n To stop devices being tampered with to remove speed limiters, the committee called for “anti-tampering mechanisms” in design standards which are “mandated at the point of manufacture and enforced on importation”.<\/p>\n It found a lack of standards had made it “easier and cheaper to import inferior quality products”.<\/p>\n The hiring of e-scooters in the City of Perth was suspended after the death of Thanh Phan.\u00a0 (ABC News: Glyn Jones)<\/p>\n That work is currently underway and is being led by WA.<\/p>\n In the meantime, the committee said state laws should also be amended to make modifications illegal and “a penalty for retailers who provide advice on, or otherwise assist in, device modification”.<\/p>\n It also called for penalties for speeding or other offences to be beefed up “to reflect the increase in e-rideable use and the risks associated with non-compliance”.<\/p>\n Action against faster devices<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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