Police seize 36 e-bikes in northern beaches crackdown

A high-powered e-bike capable of reaching speeds of more than 90 kilometres an hour and ridden by a 14-year-old boy was one of 36 motorised bicycles seized by police on Friday in a crackdown across the northern beaches.

Operation E-Voltage between NSW Police and Transport for NSW was the first of its kind since the Minns state government amended the Road Transport Act last month to allow police to seize and destroy e-bikes with a throttle power alone that allows for speeds of more than 25 kilometres an hour.

NSW Police seized 36 e-bikes and issued 16 penalties on Friday during a crackdown on high-powered bicycles.NSW PolicePolice targeted areas across the northern beaches that have been identified with recent incidents of illegal, dangerous and reckless e-bike use, from Manly and Curl Curl to Dee Why and Avalon Beach.

The new rules allow police to destroy any illegal, modified or similarly high-powered bikes.

The state government has taken an increasingly hardline stance on e-bike usage this year given their proliferation across Sydney, concerns from medical experts and mass ride-outs like the one in February in which about 40 e-bike and motorcycle riders descended on the Harbour Bridge during peak hour.

Operation E-Voltage targeted parts of the Northern Beaches identified with illegal, dangerous and reckless e-bike use.NSW Police Police issued 16 penalty notices and 46 caution notices during Friday’s operation for offences such as not wearing a helmet and mobile phone usage. One of the allegedly modified, non-compliant e-bikes seized during the operation was ridden by a food delivery rider.

“E-bikes must behave like bicycles, not motorcycles. If your bike can operate like a motorcycle under throttle or go more than 25 kilometres an hour while being powered, it is not legal to ride in public,” said Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray.

Murray said most e-bike riders are using them legally and safely, but a small number were ignoring the rules and government warnings.

“Before you or your child jumps on an e-bike, please make sure it’s road-legal, otherwise you risk losing the bike,” Murray said.

Police used a speed-testing dynamometer to detect suspect devices, which identified three of the 36 seized e-bikes as being non-compliant.

Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts on email or turn on notifications in the app.

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.