77% Surge In Injuries, 4 Lives Lost: Mounting Public Concern Over E-Bikes

There is growing concern about dangerous and antisocial conduct on e-bikes, as official figures shed light on the physical harm done.

The sight of teenagers — frequently black-clad groups of boys — roaming town on the motorised vehicles has become common. It is not always harmless fun.

According to Transport for NSW, four lives were lost statewide in 2025 as a result of accidents involving e-bikes. In merely the first seven months of the year, 233 were injured.

The rate of injuries was 77 per cent higher than it was during 2024, when there were 226, and no deaths.

Last year, the New South Wales Police issued over 1,880 infringement notices concerning everything from basic traffic offences to riding an unregistered vehicle.

City of Sydney sees most injuries

The city centre and surrounding suburbs were hotspots for crashes in 2025. Of those injuries recorded in the first seven months, 32 happened within the City of Sydney, the most in any council area. It was followed by Waverley, which saw 22. Sutherland and the Northern Beaches were next with 15 injuries each, and the Inner West rounded out the top five with 14.

Those areas accounted for 42 per cent of injuries across NSW.

European motor restrictions adopted

A spokesperson for the NSW Government said, as usage increases, “we are taking major action to integrate e-bikes into the state’s transport system as safely as possible.”

“This is a complex area, and we know there is still work to be done.”

“In December 2025, the NSW Government committed to lowering the legal wattage of e-bikes to make them safer. This means e-bikes with motors above 250 watts will become illegal, and fines and confiscation will apply.”

The spokesperson stressed that not all e-bikes for sale are permitted on roads.

“We support moves at the Commonwealth level to reintroduce the European standard into national vehicle definitions to help ensure all devices imported, sold and used are fit for purpose.”

“It’s also being proposed that approved shared e-bike operators must hold comprehensive public liability insurance.”

E-bikes, riders draw derision

Atticus Sparrow, who attends the Australian Catholic University on Broadway, said that riders of e-bikes are “very inconsiderate and litter our streets, taking up walking space.”

“Every time I see an e-bike user, they have always been inconsiderate, and have zero to little spatial awareness.” Sparrow said that riders try to take up substantial space, as if they were driving a car, and leave the bicycles wherever they please.

Another local did not entirely agree. “It’s the Friday and Saturday night drunks that can get really dangerous,” he said.

“The acceleration is a little scary in the hands of irresponsible people, and I’m not informed on how many models are dumped or thrown into rivers and what that damage amounts to.”

He added that he was a “big fan of regular bikes, though.”

One person said that she had more often seen e-bikes “dumped, graffitied and left under people’s feet than people actually using them, and almost always the helmet is missing.”

The NSW Liberals have promised a licence plate scheme for the vehicles, if elected.

International responses offer insight

Alejandro Castro Darré is an overseas student from Argentina. “Every decently-run city in the world has a publicly-owned bike sharing service that is either free or cheap as peanuts,” he said.

“It should not be more expensive than public transport and exist to fill in the gaps that public transport can’t. You can see it in the Inner West, with east-west trips that are 40 minutes by bus but 15 by biking.”

Whilst a supporter of bikes, Castro Darré does not believe that they need to be electric. “If you give people cheap, normal bikes that they can take and leave at designated docking stations, you take out a huge percentage of the Lime bike usage, especially if it’s under the Opal network and therefore subsidized for students.” Such systems exist in Buenos Aires and Ljubljana, he noted.

As for Sydney? Step outside — there just might be a row of them toppled over or lying in the gutter.