They’re fast, convenient and a transport game changer, but behind the allure of e-bikes, there’s serious risk.
They’re unclassed and unregulated, and many of them are illegal. No wonder it seems almost every day somebody is dying or getting seriously injured on or by an e-bike.
It’s creating a new crisis for police and hospitals, as the federal government plays catch-up.
Hudson’s story
At first glance, this intersection in Tallebudgera, in the Gold Coast’s south, is like any other. But for Jason and Gillian Gagg, it holds the darkest of memories.
This intersection holds the darkest of memories for the Gagg family. (Nine)
It was here that their 17-year-old son, Hudson Gagg, was thrown from the back of an e-bike and killed in September.
“It’s not a site that you want to be visiting,” Jason told 60 Minutes.
“We’ll drive at times five, six kilometres out of the way just to avoid coming through here.”
Hudson had been on the back of a brand new two-seat electric bike, owned and ridden by his best friend. The boys had ridden this stretch of road many times before.
The bike, which was only purchased 14 days prior, had some trouble with the brakes – and had just been serviced.
Hudson Gagg, 17, was killed in the crash in September. (Nine)
“[Hudson’s friend] was squeezing the brakes and he just said, “It’s not stopping,” Jason said.
They ran a stop sign, and slammed into a car.
Gillian and Jason were called to the scene by the rider’s parents, not realising paramedics were working to revive their own son.
“We’re on our way there ringing Hudson … and then to get there and the rider’s over here and then there was a blue tarp of the services, first responders working on Hudson there and it was like what?” Gillian told 60 Minutes.
“I know twice we made eye contact and I just knew he wasn’t coming back. I just knew he was gone.”
Gillian Gagg lost her son Hudson in an e-bike crash earlier this year. (60 Minutes)
E-bike or motorbike?
Hudson is one of an alarming number of Australians being killed or seriously injured in e-bike crashes.
E-bikes entered the Australian market in 2012 under strict road safety standards. But in 2021, the federal government decided electric vehicles would no longer be classed as “road vehicles”, softening the importation rules and making it easier to buy one that doesn’t meet Australian safety standards.
Compliant e-bikes have a speed limit of 25km/h, and the motor must be assisted by pedalling.
Compliant e-bikes have a speed limit of 25 kilometres per hour. (Nine)
“These products, the moment the motor goes above 25km/h, the moment the power goes above 250, the moment it’s just gone throttle above 6km/h, that’s a motorbike,” Bicycle Industries Australia general manager Peter Bourke told 60 Minutes.
“It’s unroadworthy, unregistered, unlicensed rider – it is a motorbike – and the users have to treat it as such,” Bourke said.
He says the federal government’s softening of import rules in 2021 has exposed Australians to poor quality products.
“Parents may think that they’re buying a road-legal product, and then suddenly it is a bike that can go 50km/h, or in certain situations I’m aware that they’ve gone 90km/h,” he said.
Illegal imports
14-year-old Mohammed Younes was a keen and experienced bike rider, often spending weekends biking on his best friend’s farm.
For months, he’d been begging his parents, Bill and Joanne, to upgrade his pushbike to what they thought was an e-bike, but was actually an e-motorbike.
To grant his wish, Mohammed’s parents bought him a bike online. They say they had no idea that they could even buy a bike that wasn’t roadworthy. It also couldn’t be registered or insured in Australia.
Police reports confirmed Mohammed was doing everything right, but the e-motorbike was simply too powerful and heavy. (Nine)
“We’re allowed to import these bikes to Australia and then they say it’s got to be registered, but finally, you can’t register them anyway,” Bill told 60 Minutes.
“Maybe they should just be banned.”
Just one week after Mohammed unboxed his new e-bike, the teenager went riding at the local park, and his mother received the call all parents dread.
“I get to the park and they’ve blocked off everything … and I could see him lying there dead on the floor,” Joanne said.
“He was doing everything right because the police, I did ask them, and they reviewed some footage and said to me he was doing everything right.”
The police report confirms that Mohammed was riding safely that day, but even so, the e-motorbike was simply too powerful and heavy for the teenager.
Cracking down
Parents aren’t the only ones nervous about the impacts of the influx of e-bikes on Australian streets.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Dave Driver shares the frustration of police officers around the country who are at their wits end about how to stop the rising number of e-bike accidents.
“We don’t want to be issuing lots and lots of tickets. We want to be preventing this behaviour,” he told 60 Minutes.
“We don’t want to be knocking on someone’s door, particularly at Christmas time and … giving them a message their child isn’t coming home.”
Police are cracking down on modified e-bikes in New South Wales. (Nine)
Police frustrations are shared by those who work at St Vincent’s Hospital, home to one of Sydney’s busiest emergency departments. They say it’s been steadily getting busier thanks to the popularity of e-bikes.
“Especially at night-time, they’re drunk, they’re not wearing helmets, going downhill or they think … I can’t drive so I’ll get an e-bike to get home,” a nurse told 60 Minutes.
Head of trauma Dr Anthony Grabs treats the most difficult cases. He and his team were so alarmed by the spike in e-bike injuries coming through emergency that they started tracking the numbers, and it paints a scary picture.
“This year I think we’ve seen probably about 150 people coming through in the first six months,” he said.
“It’s doubling every year at the present time and if it continues to double without any intervention, we will have a crisis on our hands.”
What is the government doing about e-bikes?
When 60 Minutes sat down with federal Transport Minister Catherine King, she acknowledged that Australia’s road regulatory system is set up for cars, not e-bikes. She admits that something needs to change.
What complicates things is that the rules differ from state-to-state.
“We’ve put it on the agenda of the infrastructure transport ministers,” she told 60 Minutes.
The minister will meet with state transport ministers next week, to discuss updating the regulations.
But any changes could take months.
Federal Transport Minister Catherine King. (Nine)
In the meantime, lives are at stake – and for the families of those who have lost loved ones to e-bike crashes, nothing will ease the pain.
Bill and Joanne Younes told 60 Minutes they want tighter importation rules to make it harder for people to buy non-compliant e-bikes.
“Like any parent out there, if you’re thinking of getting your son or daughter an e-bike, just think twice about it,” Bill said.
“Our son was a strong rider … he wasn’t doing nothing silly and tragedies happen.”
Like the Younes, Jason Gagg doesn’t want any other parent to suffer the grief of losing a child.
He’s advocating for tough new laws, in memory of his son, Hudson.
“At the minimum, special licensing, because they are sharing the road with motor vehicles,” he said.
“A lot of these kids aren’t familiar with road rules, they don’t have licences of any type.”
Watch the full episode of 60 Minutes on 9Now.
