Northern beaches: Police warn teen e-bike riders of looming crackdown
Sydney teens have been warned they risk fines and official police cautions if they continue to ride electric-powered “fat bikes” illegally and dangerously amid a spike in safety complaints.
Manly
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Teenagers on the northern beaches have been warned they risk fines and official police cautions if they ride electric-powered “fat bikes” illegally and dangerously.
The looming crackdown comes after a spike in complaints about e-bikes and concerns from high school principals about the safety of their students and the general public.
Northern Beaches Police, who have been conducting e-bike and pushbike enforcement operations with the Highway Patrol, are set to get tougher on riders who break road rules or interfere with controls to make them go faster.
An e-bike safety audit conducted by Northern Beaches Council last year confirmed concerns about the risk of death or serious injury to walkers by the growing use, size and speed of the popular bikes.
Some riders were clocked doing more than 40km/h along the Manly seafront.
And the most complained about riders were aged under 16.
Northern Beaches Police Area Commander Pat Sharkey said that issues concerning the safe operation of e-bikes had been raised with police by “multiple” high school principals.
Superintendent Sharkey said concerns were also mentioned to police at community safety meetings.
One secondary school, Stella Maris College at Manly, was so worried about the safety of students and the public, it arranged a meeting with Northern beaches mayor Sue Heins and police, to discuss e-bike use.
In an email sent to parents, the Catholic girls school’s assistant principal, Amy Smith, stated it wanted to be clear about where e-bikes could be ridden and at what age, as well as the rules surrounding their use.
Ms Smith told parents that police advised that they its recent safety awareness campaigns would “soon be bolstered with the handing out of fines”.
Parents were also advised that police would “be running random spot checks” to ensure that that e-bike throttles were not unlocked to allow them to reach speeds greater than 25km/h.
Superintendent Sharkey confirmed the safety operations would continue “with a focus on enforcement action in order to support increased public safety”.
“Enforcement action can be taken when an e-bike is being used on a road or road related area,” he said.
“Riders who are under the age of 16 years are dealt with in accordance with the Young Offenders Act.”
Under that Act minors can receive an on-the-spot warning or could be taken to a police station, to be given an official caution in the presence of their parents.
Older riders could be fined.
Superintendent Sharkey urged parents to provide supervision and guidance to their children “in order to ensure that they are riding in a manner that is safe for themselves and the public and that they are complying with legal requirements”.
“It is a timely reminder of the need for increased awareness of public safety as the school holidays are about to commence.”
As part of its move to address safety concerns Stella Maris was requiring, from next term, that parents confirm that their daughters who ride e-bikes to school had twice passed practice Learner-driver permit tests.
Parents have been asked to read the road rules for bicycles with their daughters; lodge the bike’s serial number with the college and; make sure the e-bike’s throttle speed is locked.
Mums and dads must also tell their daughters to wear a helmet; get off and walk her bike before she reaches any footpath or road around the immediate boundary of the school.
Any breach of the school’s e-bike rules could result in the “removal of the privilege for her to park her e-bike” at the college.
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