A minimum age to ride an e-bike in New South Wales (NSW) is being introduced to improve safety for riders, pedestrians and the wider community.
Under current rules, a child of any age can ride an e-bike and bicycle riders of any age can carry passengers if the bike’s design allows in NSW.
E-bikes are heavier and faster than traditional bicycles, which can increase the force involved in a crash, heighten the risk of serious injury, and make them more difficult to control and manoeuvre.
An expert review led by Transport for NSW will recommend a legal minimum age between 12 and 16 for riding an e-bike, while also considering whether children and teenagers have the skills, maturity and awareness of potential dangers required to safely carry passengers.
NSW will also adopt the EU Safety Standard in March this year to ensure e-bikes operate like bicycles, and not motorbikes.
Under this standard, e-bikes must have a maximum power output of 250 watts and power assistance must cut out at 25km/h. No power assistance is delivered at all after 6km/h if a rider is not pedalling the bike.
“Police see firsthand the consequences when powerful e-bikes are misused,” said Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley.
“By introducing sensible age settings and cracking down on illegal, high-powered bikes, we are helping police prevent dangerous behaviour before more people are seriously hurt.
“The vast majority of people do the right thing, and these laws are designed to support them.
“This is about getting the balance right so e-bikes remain a useful transport option without putting the public at risk.”
