We love our e-bikes.
We have nearly completed every rail trail in the southern hemisphere, and from someone who hated riding normal bikes because my bum hurt and my legs hurt and my lungs hurt, I have become a cycle convert (sans the attire).
The freedom to use the electric assist means all that pain has turned to only minimal range anxiety. A particular favourite is the ride from Murwillumbah to Mooball on the full moon with dinner at the pub in the middle.
So, having laid my cycling cred on the table, I hope you will excuse my growing concern about the utter mystery of illegal e-bikes. The law is remarkably simple and a great compromise.
E-bike regulation
The starting point is that without recent regulation, almost all e-bikes would be classified as vehicles, and need registering and insuring and having only those with a licence being permitted to ride.
That would effectively shut out e-bikes, because the costs would be prohibitive. And so in NSW, it is legal to ride e-bikes for all ages, provided they meet a few, quite reasonable limitations.
They must be pedal-assisted – in other words, they cannot operate with a throttle only, but you have to be cycling with your feet to engage the power. Second, they are speed limited to 25km per hour when utilising the battery power.
Going down a hill, just like on a normal bike, you will often exceed this speed, but you need to have a limit somewhere, and we all know that the faster the movement the greater the impact, so again it is not a bad middle path. Om shanti.
Finally, the other restriction is that the maximum ‘continued rated power’ can only be up to 500 watts. It is a wee bit complex, but our bikes are 250 watts, and I am not little, and it is ample power for me to scoot around and get up Koonyum Range Road only minimally gasping for breath.
Rules are rules
The rules for riding e-bikes are the same as for unpowered pushies, which means helmets are compulsory and only those under 16 (or supervisors) can ride on pedestrian-only footpaths.
Any yet… everywhere you go, there are kids and adults on e-bikes that don’t meet these rules.
I am overtaken often when driving at 50km/hr in suburban streets, and rushed off footpaths while walking by really fast e-bikes that clearly are not being peddled.
And when I inspect bikes at racks where they say ‘500 watts’, there are some with obviously false labels (when you Google the brand it is way over that).
Local social media pages are full of videos posted by concerned drivers, of really fast non-peddle e-bikes with three kids, no helmets and complete disregard for the road rules – like stopping at a pedestrian crossing.
I know three people who have been knocked down. And people are being killed, especially the riders or pillions, and in our hood I fear it is just a matter of time.
Last week, I was following a paddy wagon in Byron Bay and we were both overtaken by non-peddling, doubling, 50km/hr plus e-bikes, likely rider age 14 to 15 years. I waited for siren and action but there was none.
So to the mystery.
Where re the police?
Where are the police in all this? Riding an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle while unlicensed (i.e. any e-bike that does not fit the limits) is a serious offence.
The police can seize the bike, and prosecute the rider. I have checked in the NSW Children’s Court and adult lists, and asked around my trusty legal mates who all tell the same story. Just nothing. A policing no-go zone.
And to mystery number two – there are several local companies advertising and selling e-bikes that clearly are illegal.
When I rang a couple pretending to be a father wanting to buy my 16-year-old daughter a bike, they fudged around with misleading nudge-nudge-wink-wink sales blurb.
And of course, they have that trusty old fall-back excuse that they are legal on private property.
Well that is true, but they also said that you are fine on rail trails and National Parks and beaches and state forest trails, which is absolutely not true.
They are called ‘road-related areas’ and are just like roads.
So how can they keep marketing these illegal machines without reproach?
What to do?
The reality is that the legal e-bikes represent a great opportunity for young people to gain independence and experience in an area severely lacking public transport and other means of getting around.
The illegal bikes are an invitation to excessive speed, danger to the community and risk of serious injury or death.
With e-scooters soon to be legal, existing laws ought to be enforced.
Perhaps it is time for a standing community consultative committee who meet regularly with local police to talk about community needs and priorities. I reckon drug law enforcement and nude bathing undercover operations would give way to e-bike regulation every time.
On your bike!
David Heilpern is a former NSW magistrate and is now Dean of Law at Southern Cross University.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
