Logan police this week launched a high-visibility safety operation targeting electric bikes and scooters following the deaths of two teenage riders at Greenbank.
The operation at Flagstone and surrounding suburbs comes as Logan residents prepare to face tighter rules on e-mobility devices, including e-bikes and e-scooters, as police step up enforcement and the Queensland Government moves to introduce new laws.
Officers patrolled around a Flagstone school zone during the morning drop-off on Tuesday, 24 March and focused on riders who were speeding, riding illegal high-powered devices and not wearing helmets.
Acting Senior Sergeant Duncan Hill said the crackdown responded to a growing number of dangerous incidents involving e-mobility devices.
“E-mobility devices, particularly e-bikes, are becoming increasingly popular, but we are continuing to see dangerous and illegal behaviour that puts riders and others at risk,” Mr Hill said.
The Flagstone operation was introduced less than a fortnight after two teenagers died when the e-bike they were riding collided with a Harley Davidson motorcycle on Carlton Road and Middle Road in Greenbank.
A week before the fatal crash, a parliamentary inquiry into e-mobility device safety report recommended that riders must be over 16, should be required to hold a learner’s licence and that devices with the capacity to travel more than 25km/h be reclassified as motorcycles.
The Queensland government announced on 24 March that it current e-mobility device laws would be reformed to meet the report’s recommendations.
The new laws will be enforced from 1 July 2026.
Speed limits of 10km/h on footpaths and the ability for police to seize and destroy illegal devices will be introduced in the new batch of laws, while random breath testing for riders is still being considered.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Brent Mickelberg said the reforms were designed to address the rising risks associated with e-mobility devices.
“From the start, we said we would make the tough decisions to deliver nation-leading reforms and get dangerous e-scooters and e-bikes off Queensland streets,” he said.
Road casualty data, including fatalities and hospitalisations, is publicly released by the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
But tracking the e-mobility device fatalities and injuries is often more complicated, despite a dedicated personal mobility device user data category being used in TMR’s road casuality database.
A spokesperson for the department said crashes involving legal e-bikes were often logged in the bicycle rider and pillion data category, while non-conforming e-bikes and e-bikes registered as motorcycles could be logged in the motorcycle/moped rider and pillion data category.
Ultimately, categorising an e-bike is a matter for officers attending or investigating the casualty.
As of 22 March, 14 motorcycle/moped riders and passengers have died, four bicycle rider and passengers have died and no deaths have been recorded in the personal mobility device user data category for the south eastern police region, of which Logan is a part.
Police say high-visibility patrols will continue across Logan during the school holidays, including at skate parks and shopping precincts at Flagstone, Yarrabilba and Greenbank.
Mr Hill said parents must ensure children understand the rules before riding.
“Something as simple as making sure a helmet is worn, or that the device meets legal requirements, can prevent serious injury or worse,” he said.
Police spoke directly with students, parents and road users about the laws governing e-bikes and e-scooters, including where they can be ridden and the importance of wearing helmets.
