After about 40 e-bikes and e-motorcycles swarmed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the federal government warned Australia was facing a “real emergency”.
Health Minister Mark Butler said illegal devices were increasingly putting people at risk. “[Illegal ebikes] are a total menace on the road,” he said. “Kids have done stupid things on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating. “We’ve got to make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them.”
E-bikes have been promoted as a cleaner, cheaper way to get around and a practical alternative to traffic, but the surge in high-powered and illegal models has coincided with a rise in serious crashes. New South Wales recorded 226 e-bike-related injuries in 2024. In the first seven months of 2025, that figure had already climbed to 233 injuries and four deaths. In Queensland, preliminary police data shows legal e-bikes were involved in 239 crashes in 2025, including four fatal crashes.
For teenagers, e-bikes can mean newfound independence. Ben Boucher, 16, bought his in late 2025 with savings from his part-time job and says most of his year now rides to school, cutting commutes to about 10 minutes. “It’s just easier to get around,” the Manly student said. But he worries about younger children riding fast machines without understanding the rules.
Retailers say public concern is also being felt at the counter. Francisco Furman, who runs Manly Bikes in Sydney’s north, said sales took off from 2022, but after another death in December involving a rental-share e-bike, the normally busy Christmas period slowed and cancellations rose.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has said governments are “trying to close the barn door” after rapid growth in e-bikes, with close to a million already on Sydney streets. The boom has been linked to relaxed import settings introduced in 2021, before tighter standards were brought back in late 2025. Road-legal e-bikes are being pushed toward pedal-assist designs capped at 25km/h and 250 watts. NSW has also moved from allowing up to 500 watts back to 250 watts.
Even so, inner-Sydney retailer Tadana Maruta from PedL said customers who have experienced higher-speed devices often resist changing to slower legal models. “They’re not trying to break the law, they’re just normal people that walk in the door and they say … ‘I don’t want it, it’s too slow,” he said. He also warned that bikes can still be altered beyond legal limits, particularly by tech-savvy riders.
Authorities say illegal bikes and e-motorbikes joined the Harbour Bridge rideout, and that non-compliant models have also been a major issue in other states. During a Melbourne police operation in August, more than half of intercepted e-bikes were illegal. “There is a clear lack of understanding, or blatant disregard, for compliance,” Victoria Police assistant commissioner Glenn Weir said.
NSW is now expanding police powers to test, seize and impound illegal devices. Transport Minister John Graham signalled a tougher approach, saying: “Illegal bikes will end up as a twisted wreck so they can’t rejoin the road,” and warning riders to expect non-compliant bikes to be removed and “crushed”. Western Australia has already begun seizing overpowered e-bikes, with more than 30 taken and crushed in January.
The growth of large “rideouts”, popularised during the Covid period and promoted on social media, has intensified pressure for a crackdown. NSW opposition deputy leader Natalie Ward has called for “ebikie gangs” to be barred from the streets.
The NSW government is also moving to introduce a minimum age to ride an e-bike as part of a wider safety package targeting “dangerous behaviour”. An expert review led by Transport NSW will recommend a minimum age between 12 and 16, and consider rules on carrying passengers. The review will consult child development and road safety experts, as well as parents and young people, and will report by June before the government makes a final decision.
At present in NSW, children of any age can legally ride an e-bike and carry passengers if the bike is designed for it. Western Australia has already introduced an age limit of 16, with a $50 fine for anyone under 16 caught riding an e-bike.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the planned age limit and crackdown on illegal, high-powered bikes would help police “prevent dangerous behaviour before more people are seriously hurt”. She said the goal was to keep e-bikes a useful transport option without putting the public at risk.
NSW also plans to adopt European safety standards so e-bikes operate more like push bikes than motorbikes. Under the European model, power and speed limits cannot be modified, maximum output is 250 watts, assistance must cut out at 25km/h, and if a rider isn’t pedalling, assistance cuts out at 6km/h. A three-year transition is planned, with only bikes meeting the European standard considered road-legal in NSW from March 2029.
Bicycle NSW chief executive Peter McLean welcomed the move, calling it “the gold standard,” and said e-bikes are becoming an increasingly easy way to get around Sydney, but public safety education needs to keep up as numbers rise.
