Toddler v e-bike: We put 10km/h speed rule to a race with a two-year-old

Charlie is two and he can already ride his balance bike faster than you’ll be allowed to ride your legal e-bike or e-scooter on a path, under proposed laws recommended by Queensland’s e-mobility inquiry.

The inquiry’s committee recommended e-bikes, e-scooters and e-skateboards be banned for under-16s and all riders hold at least a learner’s licence.

Footpaths and shared paths would have a 10km/h speed limit for pedal-assist e-bikes and e-scooters – but not for bicycles – and councils empowered to set even slower speeds.

This masthead met up with Nicky and Ben Cole and their son Charlie, who have been car-free for four years, to put the 10km/h limit to the test.

We tried a four-way “race” between an e-bike, e-scooter, jogging and Charlie, 2, on his balance bike with no pedals.

The conditions: The e-bike and e-scooter would stay at 10km/h or slower, and Nicky (jogging) and Charlie could go as fast as they like.

How slow is 10km/h? Charlie left the e-scooter and e-bike riders in the dust on his balance bike, and jogging was faster too.

“We’re going to get a lot of tickets from speed cops chasing him,” Ben joked.

The family travels via e-scooter, public transport and walking, and laugh that people often ask if they need a lift.

“The cycleways we use a lot, so it’s quite easy, honestly, and 50¢ fares and public transport is just a game-changer,” Nicky said.

She said the family was not anti-car, but pointed out a quick drive to the shops could easily be replaced with walking or public transport, and they enjoyed the flexibility of going somewhere on the bus and returning on the ferry, and being able to stop at parks along the way.

Ben said the family saved thousands of dollars each year, and could spend that money on holidays, the mortgage or a new bike for Charlie.

“I’m all for going four-wheel driving up in Straddy [Stradbroke Island],” he said.

“But do you need that for your daily commute?”

The deputy chair of the e-mobility inquiry last week said there was no evidence legal e-bikes were a safety risk.

Legal e-bikes have a motor that makes pedalling easier, with assistance stopping at 25km/h, allowing riders to arrive sweat-free, tackle hills, travel far, or carry children.

There have been deaths, injuries and concern about young people riding high-speed electric motorbikes, which are already illegal to ride on public roads and paths but are often dubbed “e-bikes”, adding to the confusion in public sentiment.

The Queensland Trauma Clinical Network reported the rapid increase in e-scooter use was accompanied by a substantial rise in injuries, and most scooter crashes were “single-vehicle”, where riders fall rather than collide with something.

One in three private e-scooter riders in emergency departments admitted they were speeding over 25km/h when they crashed – faster than allowed.

Worldwide hospital studies report up to half of injured e-scooter riders were drinking alcohol before riding – already illegal – and doctors reported riders not wearing mandatory helmets were more likely to receive serious head injuries.

A 10km/h speed limit and licensing may deter legal riders, and will ban older people and people with a disability who do not hold a licence, rather than change the behaviour of people already doing the wrong thing.

A child on a pedal bike can ride faster than 10km/h on a shared path, but if their parent followed at the same speed on an electric cargo bike, that’d be illegal.

A Transport and Main Roads guideline on shared paths says a bicycle can become unstable at speeds below 11km/h and on well-designed paths people riding bikes can travel 15-25km/h with minimum risk or negative impacts for walkers.

TMR found speed limits had proven “high cost for little benefit” and were difficult to enforce due to technological limitations in measuring speeds.

Austroads’ Guide to Road Design recommends shared paths be built to a design speed of at least 30km/h when possible.

You shouldn’t ride furiously, close-pass walkers along a crowded path or speed along in spaces designed for place rather than movement, but I’d argue most people do the right thing.

Cyclists and e-scooter riders are not above the law, and there are already strict penalties, such as a $1251 fine for using a phone, $500 for failing to stop at a ‘stop’ sign and $166 for not wearing a helmet.

Last year was the deadliest on Queensland roads in 16 years, with 308 people losing their lives.

People rightfully call for measures to make our roads safer, but society accepts driving as a necessary risk.

If there were calls to lower the speed limit on the M1 to 50km/h to make driving safer, there would be an outcry it would make trips too slow and impractical.

Imagine you ride an e-bike 10 kilometres to work, and eight kilometres is on shared paths, and you normally average 20km/h, but you’ll have to ride at jogging speed of 10km/h.

That turns a 30-minute commute into 54 minutes.

For some, riding a bike or e-scooter is their main form of transport, not a weekend hobby, and that means less congestion for people who drive.

However, the recommendations may be popular among some who already love to hate cyclists, or at least don’t care if they go away.

Amid a fuel crisis, and farmers urging commuters to ditch their car for public transport, I would have thought making active transport prohibitively difficult was not the solution.

Perhaps the government could put some more thought into recommendation four: “That the Queensland government embed e-mobility into strategic transport infrastructure planning and work with local governments to achieve greater investment and delivery of high quality, connected and separated pathway networks.”

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