Forget hoverboards, the future has arrived ... with a speed gun.
In Cairns this week, councillors tossed the terms “ridiculous” and “draconian” around like confetti while discussing proposed new e-bike laws for Queenslanders.
The plan is to enforce 10km/h on shared paths for e-bikes and scooters.
Some call it safety. Others label it overreach. Either way, Cairns has entered the great Ten Kay Debate.
Before we drill down on the laws, a confession. My first bike came from the dump. Another family tossed it out, and my grandfather hauled it home for me like treasure. It was a pink low-rider, something out of a bygone era.
In an era where kids are gifted brand new e-bikes, there’s generations who started their peddling from treasures found at the local dump.
You know, one of those ones with the long banana seat and high handlebars. Other kids gave me a hard time for riding it. I rode it anyway. It wobbled, it creaked, and it was still better than walking.
Maybe that’s why e-bikes and scooters still feel like sci-fi delivered.
Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, we wore out videotapes of Back to the Future. Marty had the hoverboard, Doc had the wild hair, and I had scabbed knees and a no-brand magenta beast that looked like a penny-farthing’s embarrassed cousin. E-wheels were the future we daydreamed about while patching up old tubes in the carport.
Still, we fanged it around the neighbourhood on cobbled-together, rust-speckled trikes.
Riding at 10km/h is pretty slow going – the kind of pace where a pram with a tailwind overtakes you.
What’s stopping kids from “fanging” it on regular bikes and still getting hurt?
So that means a lot of riders – including kids, oldies and people with disabilities – will be pushed on to the road or risk facing a fine upwards of $700. A quartet of Cairns councillors said forcing riders on to the road was dangerous, and that a 10 km/h crawl can unsettle balance – more slow wobbles than speed wobbles.
Others cited the spike in injuries and the hoons – better a rule book now than a eulogy later. A decision to support the new laws was carried 6-4; somewhere, helmet buckles drooped.
Both truths stand. A noisy minority, some barely taller than the bars, blast along two-across, scrolling as they go. The quiet majority of workers and non-drivers ride calmly and safely, without torching cash on petrol or parking. New tech always brings teething issues, but these ones are deadly serious. Lives have been lost. Banning everything isn’t the answer, but we’d be careless not to review the rules with safety front of mind.
Can you have one blanket rule for all e-mobility devices?
One speed to rule them all? It might sound tidy on paper.
Picture Arlington Esplanade at Clifton Beach on sunrise. Runners, dog walkers, cyclists and a pretty horizon. Now picture a tight suburban footpath at 3.05pm, school bell just gone, a jar of beads across the tiles. As Division Two councillor Matthew Tickner said, treating both the same is like using a hammer where a scalpel’s needed. And the fines: up to $751 for barely tipping over 12 km/h on a clear stretch. That’s a night out, the weekly shop and a tank of petrol, gone, because you paced a jogger.
If the point is to scare people slow, consider that box ticked. Not everything has to be banned, if we can just teach some decency around how to operate.
Let’s be clear: safety first. Helmets on. Bells used. Lights at night. Give way to feet, prams and wheelchairs. Dismount where it’s snug. That’s just being decent.
Instead, use variable limits (low in CBD and school peaks, higher on wide trails), set clear categories (high-power v everyday bikes), fix design pinch points (wider paths, better sight lines, centre lines), and back it with education and targeted blitzes – save the big fines for true hoons.
We can do better than a blanket 10km/h rule. Herd the sensible into traffic and we lose safety without gaining sense.
Plus, the kids will still ride, so let’s be sensible about speed limits, keep them on paths and out of harm’s way.
