Pittwater Life May 2024 Issue

E-bikes crackdown:
cops in fines blitz
News
After a year of warnings
and rider education
that nonetheless has
failed to curb rampant illegal
use of e-bikes by Northern
Beaches teenagers, Northern
Sydney Highway Patrol will
start fining those who break
the law and threaten public
safety before someone is seriously
injured or killed.
Inspector Stuart Forbes says
there’s been a “massive escalation”
in e-bike issues since
Christmas – especially the
so-called “fat bikes” – many of
which are being illegally modified
to reach speeds approaching
50km/h – almost double
the 25km/h speed limit.
“We’re fully aware of all the
issues that are rolling out with
more and more e-bikes being
bought and ridden, especially
at Palm Beach, Avalon and
Manly,” he told Pittwater Life.
“No-one’s wearing any safety
gear, they’re not wearing
helmets, and they’re doubledinking
(double passengers),
triple-dinking and sometimes
even quad-dinking.”
He says police and Northern
Beaches Council had worked
hard since last May to educate
local youth on the risks for
riders and pedestrians, with
244 cautions issued for e-bikeand
e-scooter-related offences
such not wearing helmets or
riding on the footpath.
In some cases, police took
riders home and spoke with
their parents.
“But is the community actually
listening?” asks Inspector
Forbes. “We’re not seeing
that. A classic example was
over Easter at Dee Why. There
were the big fat bikes, young
girls of 12 or 13, bikinis, no
safety gear, riding down the
footpath.
“So from a policing perspective
we need to now
go into a lot more engaged
enforcement. If you’re going
to modify the bike or scooter,
you’re going to have a serious
PHOTO: Nigel Wall
number of fines attached to
it.”
Based on current trends,
riders could easily be hit with
more than $1000 in multiple
fines. Amounts range from
$129 for riding on a footpath,
$387 for riding without a
helmet, and up to $772 for
unregistered or unsured illegal
bikes.
Fat bike frenzy
Leading retailer Michelle
Ashton, co-owner of Energy
Electric Bikes at Brookvale,
says she and her husband
West started the store just
before COVID-19 expecting
the target market to be people
aged 40+, with a sprinkling
of teenagers on some classic
hardtail e-bikes.
But teenagers turned out to
be the major market, falling
for the genre-defining DiroDi
Rover – the original fat bike.
It’s been a category killer, the
design all other manufacturers
are channelling to win
market share.
“We certainly didn’t expect
all the teenagers riding. It just
exploded with all the teenagers
during that big COVID
lockdown and once they’re out
there, they just sell themselves,”
she says.
“The Rovers and any of
the fat-tyred bikes with the
bench seats have become the
most popular bike. We try
to encourage people to buy
something different, but they
all come back to that one.
“Even the mums who are
getting one for their kid’s
birthday end up getting one as
well. They end up being used
by the family, or the teenagers
take over and the parents just
allow it – because that’s what
we do as parents, just give in!”
The demand is such that
even Aldi has put out its own
version, retailing for $1199
compared with the $2770 entry
level price for the standard
DiroDi Rover or $3090 for the
Rover Plus. They’re not cheap
but that’s been no impediment
to soaring demand.
“A lot of our other e-bike
suppliers are scrambling to
make their version of a Rover.
So, there’s going to be more of
them out there, it’s not going
away unless there’s a huge
change in the laws,” she says.
The Ashtons are on the
record as saying they won’t
service an e-bike if the owner/
rider turns up without a
helmet.
12 MAY 2024
The Local Voice Since 1991