Social media and television personality Jack Steele, from The Inspired Unemployed, has questioned how so many Noosa kids are zipping around on expensive e-bikes worth thousands of dollars.
During a recent visit to Noosa, Steele said that when he was growing up, there was “no way” his parents would have spent up to $3000 on a bike.
Noosa Heads Police Sergeant Neil Ashley shared the sentiment, saying he would have been lucky to get “a decent pushbike” as a kid.
“I would never have got an expensive bike like that from my parents,” Sgt Ashley said.
“But as a young kid, who wouldn’t want one?”
Local resident Richard Jordan believes the growing number of e-bikes, including illegal models, reflects Noosa’s affluence, where many parents can afford to spend big.
“It’s saving them running around in their car to drop the kids off,” he said.
“We have lots of hidden footpaths, shared paths and tracks in our National Parks where these kids are riding these easily modified bikes up to 70km per hour. It’s a real problem here.
“A Sydney school recently got the police out to test the kids’ bikes at school and found 95 per cent of them had been illegally modified. They banned them. Why can’t we do the same?”
Sgt Ashley said Noosa police are working with local schools to educate students about e-bike laws, as many are unaware that some models are illegal to ride on roads.
“One of the issues we’re having, and I spoke to them about it, was that bike shops are selling these bikes that are illegal from the start to ride on the road,” he said.
“Look, there’s hundreds of them out there. I went into one of those bike shops myself and and pretty much all those bikes with the fat tires, they were all overpowered.
“It’s not illegal to buy them or sell them or own them. It’s just riding them on the road.”
Sgt Ashley gave a warning to a boy riding an illegal e-bike on Tuesday 21 October, where his father had brought him the bike as a gift.
“The father told me he was told, by the bike shop, that as long as the kid keeps the bike under a certain speed then that’s legal, which is absolutely not true.”
“There’s kids doing wheelies and doing all sorts of tricks on the road and stuff like that. It’s quite dangerous. And there’s been quite a few of them we’ve done a fair bit of work to catch.”
Sergeant Bryant from Coolum Beach Police Station said some of the behaviour is deeply concerning.
“It’s both disappointing and frustrating to see parents not monitoring their children’s behaviour on these devices which is often reckless, disorderly, and dangerous,” Sergeant Bryant said.
“There are illegal e-bikes and conventional bikes that have been modified with retrofitted battery pack conversion kits in our community that are capable of travelling at speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour.
“Allowing a child, and therefore inexperienced and unlicenced driver, access to such a powerful vehicle places their lives at risk, as well as the safety of the wider community.
“Illegal e-bikes may meet the requirements to be considered a motorbike, which means that every time a child rides an illegal e-bike on public roads, they are unlicensed, unregistered, and uninsured.
“If you wouldn’t let your underaged child ride a Harley-Davidson, don’t let them ride an illegal e-motorbike.
“As parents, if you allow your child to ride an illegal e-bike you can also be charged for permitting your child to ride an illegal e-motorcycle unlicensed, unregistered, and uninsured which may result in a court appearance.”
Queensland Parks and Wildlife are cracking down on illegal e-bikes with a combination of patrols, cameras, and education to improve safety.
For more information about the rules and regulations of e-bikes, visit: streetsmarts.initiatives.qld.gov.au/electric-bikes/
