Couple cost with congestion, convenience, COVID-19, and climate change, and it’s easy to see why electric bikes are popping up all over the Peninsula. But what of the undercarriage to this wheely new world? As local homes are blackened by e-bike blazes and footpath collisions pile up, do regulations need to be rethought?
The cruisy crowds on the Northern Beaches are phasing out pedal power and embracing electric like no other after a boom in two-wheel transportation during the pandemic.
Across the country, sales of e-bikes – which can travel at speeds of close to 50-kilometres per hour – spiralled from 9,000 in 2017 to more than 75,000 last year, WeRide Australia found.
The two currently permitted in NSW are the ‘power-assisted pedal cycle’ and ‘electrically motor-assisted cycle,’ which must both be propelled primarily by riders, not motors.
These powerhouses turn Avalon’s hilly slices of terrain into a piece of cake for weekenders, offer Collaroy commuters a low cost, speedy trip to work and school and tick the environmental box. Throw in Neuron Mobility and Beam’s rainbow of for-hire e-bikes that recently rolled onto Sydney streets, and the future looks bright.
Sales of e-bikes have increased significantly in the past year, as for-hire e-bikes spread across Sydney (including at Bondi, pictured).
But what of the dark side to this electric dream? With safety concerns ranging from an uptick in crashes involving pedestrians, fatal injuries to e-bike users, and fire risks linked to lithium-ion battery blazes, does more need to be done to regulate this smoking hot sector?
The growing prevalence of the transport – especially in the food delivery sphere – clearly has a major part to play in the 234 per cent rise in related injuries over the last year, Monash University found, but it’s the severity of the prangs that pose the most pressing problem.
Northern Beaches councillor David Walton has called for an ‘urgent safety audit’ into the use of e-bikes on pedestrian pathways across the Peninsula.
“We need a safety audit looking at risks associated with the increasing use of e-bikes, e-scooters and other bikes on shared paths, bike paths, and footpaths”
E-bike injuries are a far cry from the scraped knee of the push-bike era, says the Australian Medical Association (AMA), with a Narrabeen man hospitalised for a severe leg break after his e-bike collided with a parked car, and another Beaches e-biker in an induced coma following a crash.
“E-bike and e-scooter injuries are different… and require months and months of rehab,” says Sarah Whitelaw, Emergency Medicine Representative at the AMA.
“It is important to shift the culture, so that people understand the dangers.”
The AMA is calling for a database of related deaths and injuries, a public health campaign on rider safety and country-wide regulations regarding limits on the time of day e-bikes and scooters can be ridden.
Image credit: FRSNW An e-scooter recently caused a fire in a North Narrabeen home just days after the owner purchased it on discount due to water damage.
Closer to home, it’s fears from the footpath that have caught the attention of Northern Beaches Council, shortly due to vote on an ‘urgent safety audit’ into the use of e-bikes on pedestrian pathways.
Pushing the probe is David Walton, former police officer and Liberal councillor, who has been rolling in constituent reports of speeding bikes, failure to follow road rules, doubling-up of persons on bikes and a lack of helmets. As many e-bike users are young people, they may be unaware of – or flouting – regulations, which include not exceeding 25km per hour, keeping left, giving way to pedestrians, and, for those aged 16-plus, not riding on footpaths unless with a child.
Image credit: The Guardian Fire & Rescue NSW are concerned by a ‘significant rise’ in e-bike fires, including blazes which have occurred at Mona Vale and Darlinghurst (pictured).
“If an elderly person or young child is knocked over by a large, and speeding, electric bike, my experience in policing tells me it will lead to death or serious injury,” Councillor Walton tells Peninsula Living.
“We need a safety audit looking at risks associated with the increasing use of e-bikes, e-scooters and other bikes on shared paths, bike paths, and footpaths,” he adds.
The local councillor is also calling for speed signs, e-bike specific trails and an education campaign alongside having Council rangers and police target rule breakers.
Image credit: 9NEWS Assistant commissioner for FRNSW Trent Curtin is concerned the rise in e-bike fires ‘could see deaths as a result’.
“I’m really concerned that we are going to see deaths as a result”
Charity, Vision Australia, says it has also been inundated with visually impaired walkers concerned about being hit by e-bikes or tripping over strewn e-scooters.
Targeting the safety of e-bikes in public is one thing, but what of the bike when it’s at home?
While e-bike’s energy-dense batteries are sustainable and last longer, this comes at a cost. They contain highly flammable electrolytes and, if they fail – due to overcharging, extreme temperatures, ageing or cell defects – it can lead to thermal runaway, resulting in intense, tough-to-extinguish fires.
Last year, Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) confirmed a ‘significant rise’ in such fires – from 16 in 2021 to 180 last year – most often in ‘small, portable devices like e-bikes and e-scooters.’
“I’m really concerned that we are going to see deaths as a result,” says FRNSW assistant commissioner Trent Curtin.
One Mona Vale family’s recently renovated house was seriously damaged when an e-bike fire ‘completely engulfed and destroyed’ the garage. ‘Hissing and popping’ sounds were heard as the bike burst into flames which quickly spread, charring the upper level of the home.
In North Narrabeen, a charging e-scooter set a home ablaze just days after the owner purchased it at a discount due to previous water damage. FRNSW Fire Investigation and Research Unit found that 40 other Beaches buyers had also bought water-damaged e-scooters from the same online retailer.
Assistant commissioner Curtin says, “These damaged e-scooters were effectively ticking time-bombs, ready to explode into flames inside family homes. This case should serve as a reminder about the dangers posed by lithium-ion battery devices, especially when they are damaged by water or other means.”
The assistant commissioner is warning owners to store e-bikes and scooters outside, to unplug them once charged and to buy smart from reputable retailers that meet Australian standards – such as the UL 2849 Fire Safety Certification.
The positives to eco-urban micromobility cannot be denied as we ride into an ever-more congested future and, with transport contributing 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, the more that take to two-wheels the better.
But, as future mobility expert, Professor Hussein Dia, says, while embracing electric can be a ‘force for good change,’ we ‘must always prioritise safety’ without which Australia may find the brakes slammed on this green dream.
By Catherine Lewis