Teens are dying on e-bikes. This is how parents can try to keep them safe

Last week, Queensland teenagers Lachlan Jay Henttonen, 16, and Ada Fels-Parker, 15, died in a crash involving the e-bike they were riding and a motorcycle. Tragically, their deaths are among an increasing number involving e-bike and e-scooter users in Australia.

While there is no formal, national mechanism for recording e-bike or e-scooter injuries or fatalities – instead they are often grouped with bicycles, pedestrians or broader e-mobility categories – data from the Queensland government found that in that state alone, more than five people per day are now presenting to emergency departments with e-scooter injuries, with 2000 riders seriously injured in 2025, up from 1626 in 2024.

For e-bikes, figures indicate that New South Wales recorded 233 injuries in the first seven months of 2025, along with four deaths.

Driving these figures is the rapidly increasing uptake of the devices, believes John Duncan, chief operating officer at road safety charity BRAKE Driver Awareness Australia.

“Estimates suggest around four million Australians ride or have ridden an e-mobility device. The real number is likely higher given how rapidly adoption is increasing,” he says.

And it’s young people who are bearing the brunt of these injuries, with e-bike crashes the most common among teenagers aged 15 to 18, and nearly half of e-scooter injuries in Victoria involving young people aged 10 to 14, “despite laws prohibiting riders under 16,” Duncan says.

While the technology and availability have arrived quickly, Duncan says that the education hasn’t, and that gap is costing young people their safety and, in some cases, their lives.

Key to closing the safety gap is education, which BRAKE Driver Awareness, a school-based road safety education program delivered by teachers in classrooms, aims to do.

“If we can reach students early, before they start riding regularly, we can help prevent crashes rather than responding after tragedies occur,” Duncan says.

So far, it has reached more than 90,000 students across Queensland and is now being piloted in additional states. But parents also play an important role in keeping children and teenagers safe.

Why it’s hard for parents to get teenagers to listen

Michelle Olaithe, clinical director at HealthBright, says adolescence can be an important but challenging period for parents trying to get their kids to listen.

“Between the ages of 11 and 15, children enter early to middle adolescence, a phase defined by a biological ‘imbalance’ in the brain,” she says.

“Their emotional systems are highly active, but the part for planning and impulse control [the pre-frontal cortex] is still developing and won’t fully mature until their mid- to late-20s.”

It’s also the period where these tweens and teens are testing boundaries and questioning authority.

“Part of this comes from a natural ‘optimism bias’ in the teenage brain, where they believe they are invincible,” Olaithe explains.

Duncan agrees, citing this as a contributing factor to e-bike and e-scooter crashes.

“Their ability to manage risk and reward is still maturing,” he says. “When that is combined with speed, limited experience in traffic environments and limited understanding of road rules, the risk can increase quickly.”

How to have conversations teens will remember

Despite the push-back, parents remain one of the most influential sources of safety information during adolescence and are critical for having safety conversations, says Dr Alan Ralph, clinical psychologist and the head of training at Triple P International.

“Even if your tween or teen rolls their eyes or insists they ‘already know’, your guidance still shapes their decisions,” he says.

A good place to start is to find out what your child has been told about e-scooter and e-bike safety, including relevant laws on helmets, road rules, speed limits and where they’re allowed to ride.

“This keeps the conversation collaborative rather than feeling like a lecture,” Ralph explains.

Checking your state or territory’s laws and guidelines around e-scooters and e-safety is helpful.

“Laws vary across Australia, so it’s important to check your state’s age limits and rules before your child rides. If you get push-back, gently remind your child that these laws exist for the same reason as laws around alcohol, tobacco and social media: to keep kids safe.”

Choosing the right moment, when you and your teen are calm, is essential, adds Ralph.

“Young people listen best when they’re calm, not tired, stressed or have their heads in a screen. Often the easiest chats happen side by side, like in the car, on a walk or while doing something together.”

Finally, Ralph says, flexibility is key.

“What works one day may not work the next. But some situations make tweens and teens far less likely to listen, especially during conversations about safety.”

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