Coroner calls for e-bikes to be registered as motorcycles

Victoria Police has said it will consider a coroner’s recommendation to classify e-bikes as motorcycles, rather than bicycles.

In findings released on Friday, coroner Audrey Jamieson recommended that Victoria Police, the state’s Department of Transport and VicRoads consider a “radical” measure requiring all e-bikes to be registered following the death of a Melbourne cyclist.

Coroner Audrey Jamieson described Victoria’s regulations on e-bikes as “suboptimal”.Credit: Paul Rovere

The call follows her investigation into the death of 41-year-old Nitin Haldipur Prabhu, who died from a traumatic brain injury sustained in January last year.

Prabhu, a skilled cyclist and father from Balwyn, had purchased the new e-bike for his daily commute to work just days before his death.

Jamieson’s findings revealed that the bike Prabhu was riding – equipped with a 250-watt motor and a top speed of 32km/h – exceeded the legal limits for unregistered e-bikes in Victoria, where anything more powerful than 200 watts or capable of exceeding 25km/h must be classified as a motorbike.

“As such, [Prabhu] ought to have been wearing additional safety clothing, including a motorcycle helmet which meets Australian requirements,” the coroner’s report said. “This would have provided greater protection from injury, including head injury, upon contact with the road surface.”

Prabhu fell from his bike in Mont Albert Road, Canterbury, during his ride home from work when he collided with another e-bike rider who was described by a witness as riding aggressively and attempting a high-speed overtake.

“According to a nearby motorist, [Prabhu] ‘got a bit of a fright’ and swerved left into the other rider, causing their wheels to collide,” the coroner’s report said.

Both riders were thrown from their bikes. Prabhu died the following day in hospital.

Jamieson found many e-bike retailers were able to exploit legal loopholes by advertising powerful bikes as “off-road” vehicles or by fitting speed limiters that could be easily switched off by riders.

Prabhu’s bike had been purchased from a NSW retailer and complied with NSW regulations, which allow e-bikes to have 500-watt motors. This meant the bike was considered legal in NSW, but would have been classified as a motorbike in Victoria.

Speaking on behalf of the Department of Transport and VicRoads, Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne said the government would take the coroner’s findings seriously and review the recommendations.

“We do have really tough regulations. And so for people who are driving, effectively unregistered motor vehicles, which are vehicles that go over 25km/h, there is an almost $1000 fine,” she said.

“This was a bike that was going over 25km/h, and that, of course, is being imported. That’s where we need to work in partnership with the federal government to be able to manage the way these imports are occurring.”

In Victoria, e-bikes with motors above 250 watts must be registered as motorbikes.Credit: Oscar Colman

Horne said the state government wanted to enhance existing road safety regulations aimed at curbing Victoria’s rising road toll. There have been 174 deaths on Victorian roads this year, an increase from 155 this time last year.

Motorcycle Riders Association spokesman Damien Codognotto backed the coroner’s recommendation for all e-bikes to be registered.

“E-bicycles have a place, and they can be very useful in various ways, reducing traffic congestion and air pollution,” he said. “But when they’re abused, and you can’t readily enforce the rules, then you’ve got to look at the tool that’s going to allow enforcement to take place.”

Codognotto said e-bike crashes were incorrectly grouped into motorcycle statistics, which led to unfair blame on licensed riders.

“We get the bad name and there’s no one pointing that out except us,” he said.

“Two wheels that can go faster than 25km/h suddenly becomes a motorbike … legitimate motorcycle and scooter riders are being bundled into this [illegal e-bike] bag.”

Codognotto said that if police believed an e-bike involved in a crash was going over the speed limit, “it is then deemed a motorcycle”.

“We pay heavily to be on the road. We pay more compulsory third party [insurance] than cars, and we pay all registration fees,” he said.

The coroner described Victoria’s regulation of e-bikes as “suboptimal”, and warned that many riders might be unknowingly using bikes that fell outside legal e-bike classifications.

“There is ample evidence that Australian e-bicycle retailers import and sell vehicles that would be too powerful to be classified as e-bicycles in some jurisdictions, such as Victoria,” she wrote.

“Consequently, these vehicles are regularly being ridden on cycle paths and shared footpaths while the rider is unaware of the risks posed to others, and to themselves, given that they are wearing protective gear not appropriate for motorcycle use.”

Prabhu, described by his wife Soni as a dedicated family man and an experienced cyclist, had regularly cycled on weekends with his daughter. His death, Jamieson concluded, was a tragic reminder of the importance for greater regulations of e-bikes.

Police at the scene of a fatal e-bike crash in Reservoir on Wednesday.Credit: Nine News

On Wednesday, an e-bike rider died in Reservoir after colliding with a car.

Emergency services were called to Edwardes Street following reports a car and e-bike collided about 5pm. The e-bike rider, a 37-year-old man from Yarrambat, died at the scene.

The Department of Transport and VicRoads have been contacted for comment.

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