Police given power to ‘seize and crush’ illegal e-bikes in government crackdown

Police will be given new powers to seize and crush illegal e-bikes in response to growing concerns about the growth of overpowered vehicles dubbed “fat bikes”.

But the Minns government has been accused of “tinkering” after revealing it only ordered three of the machines used to test the vehicles.

NSW Transport Minister John Graham announced on Sunday that the government would roll out technology allowing officers to test whether e-bikes exceed power limits at the roadside alongside new laws giving police the power to seize bikes on the spot.

But only three of the machines have been ordered, and the government says the new seizure powers will not be introduced until August.

The announcement comes after the government has faced increasing pressure to crack down on the use of illegal e-bikes — sometimes known as fat bikes — particularly after footage emerged last week of a mass e-bike ride out over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Graham said the government would pass new laws streamlining existing seizure powers, giving NSW police the authority to seize and crush e-bikes that breach legal limits after roadside testing.

The new portable ‘dyno units’, which measure a vehicle’s power output, would be used to determine whether an e-bike’s power assistance cuts at 25 kilometres per hour, the limit in NSW.

But given the rise in the popularity of e-bikes – Minns has previously said there are close to a million in NSW — the government was forced to defend only ordering three of the machines used to test their output.

Graham said the portable machines would be used in “areas where there is high use”, but that police would still be able to seize bikes.

“It will make a big difference [because] at the moment, people simply don’t feel like there are any rules there,” he said.

Concerns about e-bikes have grown as the frequency of injuries linked to the vehicles has increased alongside their popularity.

E-bike and e-scooter injury presentations at the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network increased from 60 across the whole of 2024 to 116 between January 1 and December 2 in 2025.

At the same time, mass ride outs — including at the Long Reef Golf Club on Sydney’s northern beaches in January and the Harbour Bridge last week — have also increased concerns about the vehicles.

The opposition has called for a licensing and enforcement regime for e-bike riders, and the Liberal Party’s opposition transport spokeswoman, Natalie Ward, said the government’s changes would not address rider behaviour and amounted to “tinkering”.

“A kid who tears up a golf course is not going to stop for a dynamometer check,” she said.

“E-bikes do not ride themselves. The community wants accountability for rider behaviour and enforcement of the road rule.”

Minns has previously said the government would introduce regulation to lower the maximum power of legally purchased e-bikes to 250 watts – halved from the 500 watts that have been allowed on NSW roads – but has yet to indicate a timeline for the change.

Graham urged parents to double-check an e-bike’s power output before buying them as gifts for children, noting that many of the vehicles marketed as e-bikes were, in fact, electric motorbikes with excessive power outputs or modified speed limiters.

If a device does not meet NSW’s legal definition of a pedal-assisted e-bike, it can be seized and crushed even if it was bought in error, he said.

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