The Queensland government is holding a Parliamentary Inquiry into personal e-mobility devices (PMD), such as e-scooters and e-bikes, in a bid to improve safety and address community concerns about their use.
The reviews comes after 8 users died last year in Queensland and the number of injuries PMD riders, passengers, and pedestrians jumped 112% between 2021 and 2024.
Queensland’s transport and main roads minister Brent Mickelberg said he wanted to see safety improvements and the committee is seeking public feedback on the issues.
“The increase in injuries and deaths we are seeing because of unsafe and unlawful riding cannot be ignored and I share the community’s concern,” he said.
“The Crisafulli government will hold a Parliamentary Inquiry to ensure we are doing everything we can to boost safety for both pedestrians and riders. We want to hear from community members, road use groups, disability advocates, health and trauma experts, academia, the E-mobility industry, and all levels of government.
“It’s important we consider all research and opinions, to ensure a safe and reliable future for e-scooters and e-bikes, especially as we welcome visitors from all over the world for the 2032 Games.”
The terms of reference for the Parliamentary Inquiry, include:
1. Benefits of e-mobility (including both Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs), such as e-scooters and e-skateboards, as well as e-bikes) for Queensland;
2. Safety issues associated with e-mobility use, including increasing crashes, injuries, fatalities, and community concerns;
3. Issues associated with e-mobility ownership, such as risk of fire, storage and disposal of lithium batteries used in emobility, and any consideration of mitigants or controls;
4. Suitability of current regulatory frameworks for PMDs and ebikes, informed by approaches in Australia and internationally;
5. Effectiveness of current enforcement approaches and powers to address dangerous riding behaviours and the use of illegal devices;
6. Gaps between Commonwealth and Queensland laws that allow illegal devices to be imported and used;
7. Communication and education about device requirements, rules, and consequences for unsafe use; and
8. Broad stakeholder perspectives, including from community members, road user groups, disability advocates, health and trauma experts, academia, the e-mobility industry, and all levels of government.
Online submissions are due by noon, on Friday, 20 June, 2025.
For details see the guide to making a submission.
The inquiry is due to hand down its report by 30 March, 2026.
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