News
11 February, 2026
E-bikes not just a city problem
Don’t think for a moment that e-bikes are just a city problem.
Don’t think for a moment that e-bikes are just a city problem.
As the NSW Government announces a major crackdown on e-bike ‘hoons’, local police and members of the public are reporting an increased number of incidents involving e-bikes.
Late last month the bike of a 13-year-old in Bowral was seized after he was allegedly part of a group that tried to evade police.
He was dealt with under the Young Offenders Act.
A 49-year-old Welby man will face court on January 17 after being stopped by police riding on the Old Hume Highway near Owen Street on January 22 for not wearing an approved bicycle helmet and talking on his mobile phone whilst riding.
The NSW Government has announced a major crackdown on e-bikes – particularly in relation to speeding – following an outcry from members of the public and medical professions.
Under the crackdown, speed detection devices will be rolled out across the state allowing police to detect illegal speeding e-bikes.
The portable devices will be able to determine if an e-bike’s power assistance cuts out completely at 25 km/h as per the current NSW law.
Bikes found to be travelling over the state’s e-bike speed limit of 25 kilometres per hour will be seized and destroyed.
More changes will be announced in coming weeks as the government focuses in on illegal e-bikes and what has been described as associated “antisocial behaviour”.
One local parent prompted a string of responses after posting on Facebook about the dangerous behaviour of e-bike riders on shared pathways.
Her concerns included speeding, riders not wearing helmets, riders texting or looking at their phones and riders doing ‘wheelies’ and other stunts in close proximity to playgrounds.
“I know I’m not the only one who has felt uncomfortable lately with this erratic behaviour right next to our little ones,” she wrote.
Other Facebook users have described e-bike ‘gangs’ in the Southern Highlands with “no fear or common sense”.
The Southern Wire has also received complaints about e-bike riders forcing pedestrians to duck for cover in Bong Bong Street, Corbett Plaza and outside the Coles supermarket in Bowral.
“We’ve heard loud and clear the concern in the community about souped-up e-bikes and the anti-social behaviour that seems to go hand in hand with them,” Minister for Transport John Graham said.
“Riders and owners of illegal e-bikes should now hear us loud and clear: if you are breaking the rules and your bike does not meet the very clear specifications of a pedal-assisted e-bike, expect it to be removed from your possession and crushed.”
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said it was a case of the NSW Government “drawing a line in the sand”.
“Illegal, high-powered e-bikes aren’t harmless fun and anyone thinking they can slip under the radar should take this as their final warning.
“If your bike does not meet the rules, it will be destroyed,” she said.
The Minister said it was not just a police responsibility and parents in particular had a responsibility to ensure their children were riding legal e-bikes and were not being put at risk.
Minister for Roads Jenny Aitchison said it was a crackdown “plain and simple”.
“Let’s not forget, this is not just a city problem,” the Minister said.
“Communities across regional NSW are dealing with illegal e-bikes being ridden at dangerous speeds on footpaths, local roads and town centres – and too many people are being seriously injured.”
Medical professionals across the country including leading trauma doctors have reported seeing a rapid increase in injuries to e-bike riders as well as pedestrians.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has described some of the injuries resulting from e-bike and e-scooter accidents as “absolutely devastating”.
University of NSW research has found that e-bike users are more likely to sustain injuries to their spine and lower extremities (hips, legs, ankles and feet) when involved in an accident compared to regular cyclists.
When injured they are more likely to be admitted to hospital wards or intensive care units, where they also have a higher chance of undergoing surgery – or of dying.
Read More: Southern Highlands, Bowral