Shocking toll of Australia’s e-bike and e-scooter crisis spark urgent calls for new national laws
A spike in e-bike and e-scooter deaths has fuelled calls for a crackdown, with thousands of Australians demanding the rides face the same road laws as cars. Have your say
Thousands of Australians are demanding tougher rules for e-bikes and e-scooters, saying they should be subject to the same road laws as cars before more lives are lost.
A special investigation by this masthead revealed how the explosion of motorised bikes has become a scourge on Australian roads and footpaths, with thousands of riders and pedestrians left injured and hospitalised.
In the past five years, almost 40 riders have died and hospital presentations from crashes have tripled – many involving intoxicated riders, fast-food delivery drivers racing recklessly to meet targets, and even children on e-bikes.
At times, survivors are often left with medical bills topping $100,000.
A News Corp reader poll found 92 per cent of Australians believe e-bikes and e-scooters should be held to the same traffic laws as cars, while just eight per cent disagreed.
Hundreds also took to the online comments section to voice their opinion.
“Register them enforce insurance make them get a licence They are electric motorbikes fast quiet and deadly,” one reader wrote.
Another said: “Society is getting more and more out of control because of politicians lack of regulatory foresight and the let's see how things go attitude.”
And another added: “They are dangerous on footpaths and on the roads, that says they are a danger to everyone, governments love to try and protect us unnecessarily but here is something they should actually sort out.”
Our investigation also found:
● E-bikes and e-scooters don’t need registration, aren’t covered by compulsory insurance, and riders don’t need a licence;
● Sales and imports have nearly tripled since 2020;
● Two-thirds of riders do not wear helmets, and alcohol is involved in more than a third of crashes;
● Police lack resources to detect bikes with illegally-modified motors; and
● Speed limits and age rules differ across states.
“We urgently need nationally consistent rules, from clear speed and access limits to helmet compliance and victim compensation,” Australasian College of Road Safety chief executive Dr Ingrid Johnston said.
“If governments want to make a real difference in the next 12 months, they must prioritise stronger regulation and enforcement, safer infrastructure, and consistent national data collection.”
Watch the video above.
Independent MP Dr Sophie Scamps, who introduced the Safer E-Bikes Bill 2025 to federal parliament last month calling for reform, said Australia’s failure to regulate imports was putting lives at risk.
“E-bike technology has raced ahead of legislation. Right now, unsafe, high-powered e-bikes are being imported and sold with little oversight,” she said.
E-bikes are generally meant to have small motors – up to 200 watts unassisted, or 250 watts pedal-assist, cutting out at 25 km/h. But, if modifications are made, they can hit 50 km/h or more.
Australian sales and imports have surged from fewer than 10,000 in 2017 to more than 100,000 in 2022. By 2034, the electric motorcycle market is expected to be worth $159 million.
“The data we have shows a clear and concerning trajectory – injuries and deaths linked to e-scooters … are rising sharply, with children making up around one in three e-scooter fatalities since 2020,” Dr Johnston said.
Since 2020, 39 people have been killed in e-bike crashes, while at least 15,000 have been injured.
Also, in Australia, e-bikes and e-scooters are not covered by compulsory insurance, leaving those maimed by them – often out of work and with medical bills topping $100,000 – unable to claim compensation.
“People assume they’re protected, but they’re not,” Oliver Morrisey, from Empower Law Group, said.
“It’s families who are left to carry the financial and emotional burden.”
LHD Lawyers managing director John Abouchrouche said most cases he handles involve fractures, degloving injuries or brain injuries.
“There are gaps around registration, identification, and insurance, which create significant challenges around compensation when accidents occur,” he said.
“The most serious matter we are currently handling involves a traumatic brain injury … the victim has remained in hospital since the early part of this year.”
Lawyer Zainab Abou-Eid, from law firm Zaparas, has been lobbying for change since her 28-year-old cousin Moustafa Abou-Eid died in 2022, after hitting a speed bump in Melbourne on an e-bike, travelling at twice the speed limit.
“Moustafa’s passing highlighted the government’s failure to appropriately acknowledge or address the substantial risks associated with e-bike and e-scooter use,” Ms Abou-Eid, of Zaparas Lawyers, said.
“No degree of convenience or environmental benefit can justify preventable loss of life.”
Coroner Audrey Jamison has echoed this sentiment for a decade – first, after the 2015 death of Albert May, 86, who was hit and killed by a high-powered e-bike in Victoria, then earlier this year after Nitin Prabhu, 41, was killed in a collision with another e-bike rider. In Mr May’s case, e-bike rider David Katonin pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was jailed for two years in 2017. In Mr Prabhu’s case, no charges were laid.
“What we have are motorcycles masquerading as bicycles,” she said, noting her frustration at the lack of progress since her original findings.
She called for all e-bikes to be registered and for police to be given a dynamometer to detect tampered vehicles.
Dr Scamps said her bill aimed to bring e-bikes under the federal Road Vehicle Standards Act, setting national safety and import rules to stop unsafe, high-powered models flooding the market.
By creating consistent federal standards, the bill would also force states to align their road-use laws.
“I’m terrified we are going to see more tragedies involving both riders and pedestrians unless we act urgently to introduce clear national safety standards,” Dr Scamps said.
Federal Transport Minister Catherine King agreed a “co-ordinated national approach” was needed.
“It’s critical that this is done in co-ordination with jurisdictions, as states and territories regulate the use of e-bikes and e-scooters,” she said.
Meanwhile, a new survey of 5000 commuters by Real Insurance found nearly 90 per cent had at least one concern about e-bikes and e-scooters.
Reckless behaviour topped the list (60 per cent) in the Real Australian Commute Report, to be released later this month, followed by poor infrastructure (42 per cent) and parking issues.
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Originally published as Shocking toll of Australia’s e-bike and e-scooter crisis spark urgent calls for new national laws
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