Locals support Palm Beach Currumbin State High School’s decision to have e-bike licence mandate
A Gold Coast school’s radical plan to licence student e-bikes has divided the community, with some demanding an outright ban on the devices. VOTE IN OUR POLL
Locals are applauding a southern Gold Coast school for its plan to make students get an e-bike licence and number plate if they want to bring it on to school grounds.
Palm Beach Currumbin State High School principal Chris Capra shared the details of the new trial at a Queensland parliament inquiry into e-bike safety and usage on Monday.
In term one next year, students will undergo a training program and then receive an e-bike licence and number plate which will allow them to park their devices on school grounds.
The decision was supported by locals who said they had witnessed up to 500 e-bikes leaving the grounds at the end of the school day.
The majority (68 per cent) of Bulletin readers said the new rules were “the best option” as a short-term solution ahead of the inquiry’s expected completion in March.
“They are actually doing something about this massive problem, instead of just talking about it like others,” Nico Williams said on Facebook.
Jennifer Mellifont said “the number of times kids coming from PBC on their bikes with no helmet, extra passengers, weaving into traffic and taking no notice of traffic rules is scary”.
On the other hand, 32 per cent of readers thought the school should ban e-bikes all together, despite Mr Capra saying it wasn’t an option.
Burleigh MP Hermann Vorster said he commended Mr Capra on his decision and willingness to invest $14,000 into the program.
“From day one I have fought for stronger laws to deal with dangerous and illegal e-bikes causing chaos in our streets, at our parks and along the beach,” Mr Vorster said.
“The number plate system and e-bike safety training program at PBC are sensible, practical measures that will make a real difference.
“They’re not a silver bullet – and they’re not meant to be – but they give schools and parents a tool to actually identify who is doing the wrong thing and start changing behaviour immediately while the committee finalises its recommendations.”
Originally published as Locals support Palm Beach Currumbin State High School’s decision to have e-bike licence mandate
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