Cairns Electric Bikes refuses to sell e-scooters due to safety concerns

An electric bike business manager has spoken of the dangers posed by e-scooters following the death of a young boy in Far North Queensland, and is refusing to sell them over safety concerns.

Cairns Electric Bikes store manager Luke Belik has warned of the dangers of e-scooters following the death of a young boy in Far North Queensland. Photo: Catherine Duffy.

A Cairns bicycle business manager has spoken of the dangers posed by e-scooters and why he refuses to sell them following the death of a young boy in Far North Queensland.

It comes days after a 12-year-old boy died after falling from an e-scooter in Mareeba earlier this week.

Cairns Electric Bikes manager Luke Belik said the business had not sold e-scooters for a number of reasons, including safety concerns and customer satisfaction.

“They’re not really profitable because they break and are unreliable, and we’re also increasingly aware that people aren’t happy with them,” Mr Belik said.

“And … I don’t want to sell an e-scooter and someone ends up in an accident and have that on my conscience.”

Police officer Senior Sergeant Scott Ezzard of the Forensic Crash Unit wheels an electric scooter into the Mareeba police station, following the death of a local boy in a scooter crash on Strattmann Street, Mareeba. Picture: Brendan Radke

Mr Belik said most e-scooters were locked to a standard speed of 25km/h when purchased, however, it was possible to unlock faster speeds.

“Standard scooters are all sort of locked to 25km/h, but there are so many adults willing to unlock (the speed limiter), or kids find a way to unlock it themselves,” he said.

“There are some hyper scooters out there that go 80km/h and they’re obviously extremely dangerous – it’s a motorbike at that stage and more dangerous because of the small wheels and it’s extremely close to the ground.”

Cairns Electric Bikes store manager Luke Belik has warned of the dangers of e-scooters following the death of a young boy in Far North Queensland. Photo: Catherine Duffy.

While the store had stopped selling e-scooters of their own accord, Mr Belik said it shouldn’t be up to retailers to police the sale of scooters.

“I don’t know how to stop it because any law you put in, or any age limit you say, there will be people old enough to buy them or parents will buy it for their kids,” he said.

“It’s a matter of not policing the sale so much, just being more active in stopping these kids, especially if they’re not wearing helmets, or maybe banning (e-scooters) on the road altogether unless you get them registered. That way they have to be a certain age to ride them.”

With increasingly powerful e-scooters becoming available on the market, Mr Belik warned it was more than just powerful engines that posed a safety risk to consumers.

“They don’t seem to hold up in the rain,” he said.

“Even if you get a light sprinkling, once you get water in them, their batteries can start fires if they’re wet so it’s a safety risk inside the home as well.

“They’re not really something people understand. They’re not built for up here.”

Originally published as Cairns Electric Bikes refuses to sell e-scooters due to safety concerns