‘It won’t happen to us’ is a myth: The e-bike safety talk every parent must have

Tragic crashes are happening almost daily. Even if your child doesn’t own an e-bike, they need to know the rules before they ride.

If you’ve been anywhere near the news lately, you’ll have noticed a grim pattern emerging. Almost every day, there’s another report of an e‑bike or e‑scooter crash involving kids. And while it’s tempting to think, that would never be us, the reality is these headlines are no longer rare - they’re a steady drumbeat.

Just this weekend, a 14yo boy in Perth was charged with manslaughter after allegedly riding a high powered, unregistered electric motorbike at more than 100km/h through a suburban park and colliding with a 59yo woman, killing her. Police described it as reckless and entirely avoidable.

Only a few weeks earlier in Sydney’s south, another 14yo boy died after crashing his e-bike, a tragedy that left his family shattered and police once again begging parents to take these machines seriously.

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Even if your child doesn’t own an e-bike, they need to know the rules. Image: Getty

On the Sunshine Coast, emergency doctors now see two children every single week with serious e-bike or e-scooter injuries. Sunshine Coast mum, Lauren Woodcroft has spoken out about the moment her son’s head hit the bitumen: “The helmet saved his life,” she said, urging other families to think twice before assuming their own kids are invincible.

Assistant Commissioner David Driver said, “People riding e-rideables have got to exercise heightened caution… the speeds that some of these vehicles can go is not safe.”

These aren’t isolated events. They are just a handful of the most recent. Tomorrow, there will be another.

“It won’t happen to us” is a fantasy

Parents often tell themselves, My child is careful. My area is safe. We’ve talked about helmets. But here’s the truth: every family in those headlines thought the same thing.

The new generation of e-bikes and e-scooters are not toys. They are fast, heavy and unforgiving when things go wrong. Unlike the bikes we grew up with, these machines can accelerate sharply and reach speeds that leave even experienced riders struggling to react in time. The difference between a grazed knee and a life-changing head injury - or an innocent pedestrian in ICU - is a split second.

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Know the rules - then go further

Australia’s laws on these devices vary from state to state.

Each Australian state has there own set of rules for electric powered rideables, and it's a rider's responsibility to be across those.

But police across the country warn that these rules are being ignored. When a bike has been modified to go 80km/h - or even 100km/h, as in the Perth crash - it behaves less like a bicycle and more like a motorbike, with all the danger and none of the protection.

Knowing your local laws is the bare minimum. For real safety, we need to go much further.

The safety conversation every parent needs to have

Here’s the hard truth: no matter how responsible your child is, they need training and clear boundaries before they get near an e-bike.

Start with the basics:

• Helmets aren’t negotiable. Not loosely fastened. Not sometimes. Always.
• Ban distractions. Phones, smartwatches, AirPods, even a small speaker in a backpack - all of them take attention away from the road and stop kids from hearing cars, pedestrians or sirens. “Look up and listen” needs to be the mantra: both hands on the handlebars, eyes ahead, ears free.
• Drill in road sense. How to cross intersections, how to be visible, why you don’t weave around pedestrians, and why you never ride while distracted.
• Make it clear: no passengers. Carrying a friend on the handlebars, pegs or back rack is dangerous and drastically changes the way a bike handles. One rider per bike - always.
• Model the behaviour. If you ride without a helmet or treat traffic rules as optional, your kids will copy you.
• Supervise at first. Make sure they know how to brake, turn at speed and handle different surfaces before they’re allowed out alone.
• Think hard before buying. Does your 12yo really need a motorised vehicle? Sometimes the safest option is to wait.

And even if your child doesn’t have an e-bike or scooter of their own, chances are their friends do. These conversations need to happen for all kids, because peer pressure, doubling, or a “just a quick go” ride are often how disasters begin.

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A parent’s responsibility

When Detective Sergeant Ollie Edwards fronted the cameras in Perth after that fatal crash, he said: “Another innocent life has been lost through the reckless, dangerous acts of another person.”

And that’s the point. These incidents don’t just put your own child at risk. They put everyone around them at risk - pedestrians, cyclists, other kids.

As parents, we can’t control every rider on every path. But we can control what our kids are riding, how much training they’ve had, and whether they truly understand the risks.

So next time you scroll past one of these headlines, stop. Picture your child on that bike - or picture yourself as the parent of the person they hit. And ask: have we done enough to make sure it’s not us?

Because as these recent tragedies make brutally clear, the idea that “it won’t happen to us” doesn’t hold up anymore.

Originally published as ‘It won’t happen to us’ is a myth: The e-bike safety talk every parent must have