{"id":386494,"date":"2026-01-02T08:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386494\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T08:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:51:13","slug":"another-e-bike-death-sparks-renewed-calls-for-consistency-around-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386494\/","title":{"rendered":"Another e-bike death sparks renewed calls for consistency around laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

A boy’s death in an e-bike crash on New Year’s Eve has prompted scrutiny of relevant Tasmanian laws, as advocates say there is confusion about what an e-bike actually is.<\/p>\n

Police believe the 15-year-old is the first Tasmanian to have died in a crash involving an electric bicycle.<\/p>\n

However, there have been multiple deaths and injuries involving e-bike riders and pedestrians on the mainland in recent years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Tasmania Police at the scene on Don Head Road on Thursday. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Governments around the country have responded by making specific laws regulating how fast they can travel, who can ride them, and where they can be ridden.<\/p>\n

And in November, the federal government announced changes that would standardise what is allowed to be imported into Australia and sold as an e-bike.<\/p>\n

\"Photos<\/p>\n

In all jurisdictions, a helmet must be worn while using an e-bike. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

Police continuing to investigate teen’s ‘tragic’ death<\/p>\n

Speaking on New Year’s Day after the boy’s death, Inspector Nick Clark said Tasmanians needed to be aware there were existing laws relevant to e-bike riding.<\/p>\n

It is not yet known if the boy was wearing a helmet, although police said one was found at the scene, or whether what he was riding met the legal definition of an e-bike.<\/p>\n

“He was only 15 years old, so this is tragic,” Inspector Nick Clark said.\"Green<\/p>\n

The federal government has announced changes to standardise what is allowed to be imported into Australia and sold as an e-bike. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Teen dies in New Year’s Eve e-bike crash<\/a><\/p>\n

A 15-year-old boy has died in an e-bike crash on New Year’s Eve, described by Tasmanian police as “tragic” and prompting a call for riders to comply with the law.<\/p>\n

An age limit in Tasmania applies to e-scooters and e-skateboards<\/a>, under laws brought in for personal mobility devices in 2021, but not to e-bikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement, Tasmania Police said there was no age limit in relation to e-bikes \u2014 but they must be pedal-assisted, and motor power must be no more than 200 watts for power-assisted pedal cycles, or no more than 250 watts with pedal assist that cuts out by 25 km\/h.<\/p>\n

An age limit does apply to e-scooters.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

An electric dirt bike, which is in a different class to an e-bike and governed by different laws. (Supplied: Queensland Police)<\/p>\n

Bicycle Network Tasmania spokesperson Alison Hetherington said legal e-bikes were treated the same as regular bicycles, and could be ridden in public by anyone.<\/p>\n

Cyclist Malcolm Cowan said an e-bike allowed him to continue cycling when riding a conventional bicycle stopped being fun.<\/p>\n

“It flattens the hills,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You don’t go any faster on them, but when you get to the hills, you can still get up those hills alright, but you still get a good workout.”<\/p>\n

He said they were “perfect” for commuting around hilly places, such as Launceston and Hobart.<\/p>\n

\"Malcolm<\/p>\n

Malcolm Cowan is very happy with his e-bike.\u00a0 (ABC News: Ashleigh Barraclough)<\/p>\n

What is an e-bike? What is not an e-bike?Putting licence plates on e-bikes<\/a><\/p>\n

E-bikes have become a regular sight in Sydney’s coastal suburbs. Their surge in popularity among school-aged children has been matched by a rise in injuries.<\/p>\n

To anyone without specialised bicycle knowledge, many two-wheeled vehicles look very similar, but can be capable of very different speeds.<\/p>\n

The Tasmanian Department of State Growth specifies that e-bikes can have motors with a maximum power of 250 watts, which cut out when a speed of 25km\/h is reached.<\/p>\n

“E-bikes that meet these requirements do not need to be registered and riders do not need to be licensed,” it said.<\/p>\n

“The road rules for bicycles apply to these categories of e-bikes. E-bikes that do not meet these requirements must not be used on public roads.”<\/p>\n

Bicycle Industries Australia (BIA) general manager Peter Bourke said powered bikes that could be accelerated to high speeds with a throttle and without pedalling were not e-bikes.<\/p>\n

“Most of the problems we’re seeing today are not e-bikes,” Mr Bourke says.<\/p>\n

“The majority of problems we’re seeing around Australia are about unroadworthy, unlicensed riders on unregistered motorbikes.”\"Bike<\/p>\n

Electric-motor-assisted bicycles have surged in popularity. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Ms Hetherington said the Tasmanian laws limiting speed assistance and power were appropriate for e-bikes.<\/p>\n

“The speed limit should be kept at 25km\/h as so much of our cycling infrastructure is shared with people walking,” Ms Hetherington said.<\/p>\n

“We’d like to see consistency of legislation and import controls across the country.”<\/p>\n

Laws examined at state, federal levels<\/p>\n

Mr Bourke said the issue of import controls stemmed from 2021, when laws were relaxed under the Morrison government.<\/p>\n

Last year, the federal Transport Minister Catherine King said import controls would be strengthened again.<\/p>\n

In a statement, a spokesperson for her office said the changes “give consumers clarity on what is a safe and acceptable and allow good operators and importers to start abiding by it”.<\/p>\n

“People will still be able to import any form of e-bike, but if it doesn’t meet the standard, it will not be allowed to be sold in Australia as an e-bike,” they said.\"Person<\/p>\n

Multiple deaths and injuries have increased calls for a nationally consistent legal framework. (ABC Radio Sydney: Declan Bowring)<\/p>\n

Mr Bourke welcomed this announcement and said the BIA had been lobbying the Albanese government to make the change since coming to office in 2022.<\/p>\n

“The lack of federal leadership has pushed the problem to the states, and unfortunately, every state has reacted differently,” he said.<\/p>\n

Tasmanian Health Minister Bridget Archer said the 15-year-old’s death was a tragedy.<\/p>\n

“It is important to obviously monitor this situation as this continues to grow in popularity,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Both e-bikes and e-scooters are growing in popularity in our community.”<\/p>\n

Tasmanian Transport Minister Kerry Vincent said he would continue to work on e-bike regulations with other jurisdictions, informed by the state government’s review.<\/p>\n

“There needs to be a nationally-consistent approach to e-bike regulations, and I will be continuing this work with my state and territory counterparts in 2026,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A boy’s death in an e-bike crash on New Year’s Eve has prompted scrutiny of relevant Tasmanian laws,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[207378,64,63,207381,70263,36394,1154,784,13729,207379,13738,207380,3899,44,62271],"class_list":["post-386494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-are-e-bikes-safe","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bike-safety","tag-bikes","tag-biking","tag-crash","tag-cycling","tag-e-bikes","tag-electric-bicycle","tag-electric-bikes","tag-helmets","tag-injury","tag-news","tag-road-toll"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386494","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=386494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}