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Queensland police have issued more than 1700 tickets to riders of electric scooters and e-bikes in the past two months, as laws banning under-16s and forcing riders to get a learners licence come into effect.
In a crackdown that kicked off at the beginning of July, police seized almost 400 scooters and bikes that were not compliant, meaning they were too powerful or not-pedal assisted, and stung 1747 people with infringements.
Of those, just 54 infringements were people riding while drunk, with 31 in Brisbane.
The laws are a first of their kind in Australia, and will see parents punished if their children are found breaching them, but there are exemptions for children aged 12-17 who are riding with their parents.
Adults who do not drive will have to get a learner permit if they want to continue using e-mobility devices unless they have a medical reason for not holding a licence.
The changes also affect anyone with a suspended or disqualified driving licence, who will also be banned from riding the e-bikes and scooters.
Of the 400 non-compliant devices taken by police in the past two months, more than 100 were on the Sunshine Coast, where people have complained of gangs of young people riding what are essentially electric motorbikes on the streets.
The change comes after a 13-year-old boy died following an e-scooter crash in Childers, south of Bundaberg, last week, which police have said occurred when he was not wearing a helmet.
The boy suffered serious head injuries in the crash on Wednesday, and died on Saturday after being airlifted to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in a critical condition.
Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said it was this type accident the government was trying to stop.
“It’s one of the reasons that our government has pursued changes to e-mobility legislation to crack down on those who are doing the wrong thing and to provide a framework to ensure that Queenslanders can use immobility devices in a safe way.”
The laws were born out of a parliamentary inquiry into e-mobility laws following a sharp rise in hospitalisations and deaths that occurred in line with the devices’ rise in popularity.
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