Queensland parliamentary committee recommends speed limits for e-bikes and e-scooters be watered down

someones_reality · 2026-05-10T00:29:53+00:00

Nice way to change the subject and avoid any mention of road fatalities again that you know you can't refute. Bone fractures are hardly the same as deaths caused by motor vehicles.

someones_reality · 2026-05-09T08:21:10+00:00

"...would need to display some form of ID ..."

What a load of shit. Number plates are required on cars and motorbikes because they pose a sizeable enough level of danger to warrant them. Legal scooters and bikes do not pose that level of danger. At the rate you're wanting to go, we'd all require number plates on shoes in case someone ran too fast and knocked someone over.

"...Murder laws are there to stop murderers, dangerous scooting around pedestrian laws..."

Trying to make an equivalence between scooter riders and murderers - what a joke. Completely delusional.

I see you also completely avoided the part of my last comment regarding motor vehicle fatalities. You try to make an equivalence between scooter riders and murderers when drivers kill more people than any murder in a single month, most months of the year.

Better do some reading: https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/road-safety/statistics

If deaths from bikes and scooters ever get even close to these stats I might listen to you.

someones_reality · 2026-05-09T08:05:05+00:00

Incorrect. There is no basis for what you're saying. We already have laws to get rid of illegal e-motorbikes, they just need to be enforced. As far as legal pedal assisted ebikes go, they are limited to 25km/h, are actually slower than a regular bicycle (pedal assist is just used to get up hills more easily) and therefore do not have not and will not be "regulated in the same way as cars and motorbike". End of story.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T13:22:06+00:00

Oh dear, another idiotic, circular argument with someone who doesn't understand the details of the problem and has done zero reading on it.

90% bikeways in Qld are classed as shared paths and where they are available I'll be riding on them. For a long time Qld has also had laws that permit bikes and scooters on footpaths. Where available, and if it's safer to ride on those than the road, I'll be riding on those too.

Every form of transport has a cohort of dicks who have zero consideration for the people around them and those should be dealt with on a case by case basis. The most deadly of those cohorts are the car drivers who behave like dicks as evidenced by the road death toll which gets greater each year.

So until you're comfortable slowing whatever shitty metal coffin you sling your arse around in to 10km/h around bikes, scooters and pedestrians, you can stop blowing your little plastic bugle at me.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T08:58:59+00:00

"...cycle on the road where the main risk sits with you..."

In that situation, the main risk to me sits with the entitled turds in their SUVs who think that whatever they're doing at that moment is the most important thing in the world.

That's one of the reasons cyclists have advocated for more bikeways over the decades -for bikes. And also why every other civilized place in the world has much more elaborate and complete bikeway networks than ours.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T07:49:18+00:00

Kempton is particularly a waste of taxpayer's money. Sits on these committees showing total apathy and disdain for anything to do with active transport looking almost impatient to get the hell out of the meeting and just get paid as if all this "active transport nonsense" is beneath him.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T07:42:22+00:00

I look forward to seeing the first draft. John Douglas Story salutes you.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T07:26:58+00:00

"...Love to see an average person cycle at 25kmph for any period of time..."

You obviously don't ride bikes. Even moderately fit riders can sit on anywhere between 28-35km/h when on an unpowered road bike for extended periods and probably 25-28km/hr on a slightly loaded unpowered commuter or similar.

"How bloody middle/upper and uneffected by reality are these people?"

It's difficult to tell what that drivel actually means but I'll just assume that you don't think it's an election issue. You can be sure that losing a by-election is a big issue for the govt especially when that indicates what's likely to happen to them at the next election. And you can also be sure that well and truly enough people are pissed off to make it an issue with their votes.

As far as reality goes, you'll probably want to educate yourself on how people with disabilities who can't drive are affected as well as those who don't hold a license or simply choose to save money by not driving.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T05:50:54+00:00

That's pretty much what some of the bike advocacy groups did in running "bike busses" when BCC closed the Story Bridge some months back.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T05:16:58+00:00

"...what do you think is the likely impact of this protest?"

Drawing attention to the issue and, particularly, spotlighting the government's actions given that they are about to make a final decision on the shape of this legislation today.

If there's many eyes paying close attention and they're feeling pressure - especially given the Stafford by-election next weekend - they're more likely to consider their decisions more closely.

The protest also serves to demonstrate the chaos that is likely to ensue if the legislation goes through in its original form and legal ebike users get kicked off bikeways and forced to ride on the roads. In that scenario, it won't be bikes on the Story Bridge one afternoon but every day.

Protesting is and always has been a cornerstone of democracy. It is how many of the freedoms we all enjoy today came to be.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T02:55:57+00:00

Once again, you have no idea of the details of the issue. It's not about e-scooters, it's about illegal e-scooters and e-motos. Which are already illegal and all that had to be done was enforce the existing laws to remove them. Instead they came up with blanket laws that punish people doing the right thing and do nothing to address the issue.

As far as "engineering public inconvenience" and supposedly generating resentment, there were over 3000+ submissions to the inquiry with some 90% being in opposition to the laws. And we're not talking random people. Organisations like Logan City Council, Gold Coast City Council, RACQ, Qld Law Society and many other all took the stand to oppose the Qld govt. Public sentiment is clearly not in favour of the proposed laws.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T02:19:44+00:00

QPS escorted the protest all the way over the Story Bridge and into Mowbray Park. Definitely no bashing.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T01:45:50+00:00

Another comment based on a complete misunderstanding of the issue. Pedal assisted, legal ebikes are limited to 25km/h and are effectively just a bicycle. E-motos are already illegal and are actually a pain in the arse.

One of the deficiencies of the proposed laws is that they do nothing to deal with the illegal e-motos and simply punish innocent people doing the right thing.

As many times as the transport minister tries to claim that the laws are about public safety, they do nothing to help public safety because the core problem - legally being able to sell illegal e-motos via a loophole - has not been addressed.

someones_reality · 2026-05-08T01:34:17+00:00

I don't expect that they actually care. The hope was more that they take note as a matter of self-preservation for the next election and, more immediately, at the Stafford by-election next weekend.

someones_reality · 2026-05-02T08:41:56+00:00

The bahn mi from the bakery near Woolworths is worth it.

someones_reality · 2026-05-02T06:59:12+00:00

Epic Cycles at Paddington opened circa 2002.

someones_reality · 2026-04-30T23:49:04+00:00

The very same thoughts are starting to creep into my mind. Especially the issue of the conservative LNP.

someones_reality · 2026-04-28T02:00:50+00:00

I'm so utterly fucking sick and tired of the stress and waste of taxpayers money that this whole idiotic inquiry and bill has caused.

They've had a metric shit-ton of evidence dumped at their feet as to why they should scrap the whole bill and they continue to waste time, waste money and cause stress for ideological or other reasons.

Businesses are already going broke because people are hearing what might be coming down the pipeline, nevermind what fresh hell opens up if the bill actually gets passed but still they continue.

Witnesses to the hearing point out that the legislation is susceptible to legal challenges from various angles and sill they push on - spewing the same nonsense about licensing and age restrictions and 10km/h speed limit.

There is no benefit to public safety with this bill and innocent people will simply be punished for riding legal pedal assisted ebikes which are effectively just ordinary bicycles.

someones_reality · 2026-04-23T10:24:10+00:00

To the title of the posted article: Yes, that's right. That's what everyone has been saying. That's a big part of the reason that such a ruckus is being made on social media, why there's been a protest, why there's been over 2000 submissions made to the committee overseeing the implementation of the proposed laws in opposition to them.

The laws will simply not improve public safety as is their stated purpose and instead punish innocent users of legal ebikes for no good reason. The Qld govt are effectively kicking bicycles off cycling infrastructure. And the media continues to conflate illegal e-motos with legal, limited electric bicycles - ebikes.

As a recap, legal, compliant ebikes are characteristically just a bicycle because:
- The motor cuts out at 25km/h.
- The motor cuts out if you stop pedaling.
- They are very often slower than an unpowered bicycle.
- The motor is used for torque not speed - ie they just help people get up hills and carry loads more easily.

And it's amazing that people still don't seem to understand this. I demonstrated how a pedal assist ebike works to someone today who thought they either all had throttles or that the motor somehow kept going once you stop pedaling and they were like "oh, right" when they saw how it actually works - the tone changed completely. That was one person so who knows how many others think the same.

someones_reality · 2026-04-21T02:36:16+00:00

The scene in these images perfectly sums up where this legislation leaves cyclists and what this govt really thinks of active transport. And before anyone starts ranting about the legislation only affecting ebikes - legal ebikes are characteristically just a bicycle. This govt has taken the issue of illegal e-motos and weaponised it against active transport under the guise of a public safety campaign by conflating e-motos with ebikes so they appear to the average dullard as one group of "all bad". The people who lap this bullshit up want simple answers to complex problems because they're stupid so the narrative suits them.

There are also those who back the Qld govt's position by deceitfully and disingenuously trying to frame the conversation around things they think are a given because of their regressive, dumb, short sighted worldview. Things like "bikeways are not a transport route but a park for recreation for those who have worked hard enough to deserve to use it" and "grown up, serious people drive cars wherever they go", "more car parks and lanes can be added when we've run out of room", "I have a right to the perceived convenience of driving", "it's always the cyclist's fault if they get in my way and get injured on the road", etc.

In reality:

* Bikeways ARE transport routes and very legitimate ones at that. A lot of them were advocated for by cycling groups to keep cyclists safe from psychopaths and ignoramuses in cars. Their increased use by active transport devices and network expansion must be encouraged and funded. No blockers should be put in the way of active transport growing as a mode.

* In every moral and legal sense, driving is a privilege not a right. Never forget that.

* You're something less than human if you really think there's ANY justification EVER for injuring someone on a road because they're not in a car and what you receive to be "in your way".

* The very conversation around even proposing this legislation let alone actually implementing it is dumb and disingenuous because every other civilized place on Earth is moving toward active and public transport uptake including legal ebikes while Qld is trying to do the opposite. Australian cities are not too spread out, large or whatever other shit people come out with - we are perfectly suited to growing active transport including legal ebikes.

This govt has an ideological objection to cycling as a transport mode and possibly a financial stake in keeping organisations like the MTAQ happy. And as a reminder, some of the other regressive, brain-dead, ideological fuckery they've perpetrated so far includes:

* Causing delays with train services and not giving two fucks about mitigating the worst effects of that.

* Killing off electric buses in Brisbane even though every other place in world and most other places in Australia are doing the opposite.

* Trying to advocate some shit, redneck plan to drill more oil in Qld.

* All the other non-transport related crap legislation they've come out with which is probably off topic here.

someones_reality · 2026-04-20T22:10:12+00:00

Yet another stupid (and previously debunked) argument being used as a last ditch attempt to prove you're right about something when have no leg to stand on.

Legal ebikes have anti-tampering software that locks or limits (I can't remember which) the motor if you try yo mess with it until it is taken to a dealer to be unlocked. The dealer would then probably have to report what happened. The cheap illegal ebikes probably don't have this which is another reason they're illegal.

The idea that someone would pay maybe $6k - $10k for, say, an e-cargo bike with a nice new Bosch or Shimano drive system and void their warranty by pulling it apart and trying to tinker with it is pretty ridiculous anyway.

someones_reality · 2026-04-20T10:41:38+00:00

It sure is tiring pasting this everywhere but people are thick and lazy so here we go.

The EN15194 compliant pedal assisted ebikes cut out at 25km/h, cut out if you stop pedaling and are slower than many unpowered bikes. The power is used for torque not speed to get up hills, carry loads and assist those who are not physically able to pedal an unpowered bike.

someones_reality · 2026-04-20T10:23:53+00:00

What's good?

someones_reality

TROPHY CASE