Push to get cyclists, scooters off footpaths – and onto busy roads – behind new laws

E-bike cyclists and e-scooter riders are being pushed to use high-speed roads with traffic, instead of footpaths and shared paths, under Queensland government laws that will be passed this year.

That is the motivation for the 10km/h limit – a jogging speed slower than a toddler on a balance bike – on footpaths and shared paths, as revealed in the explanatory notes for the laws cracking down on e-mobility devices.

Clotilde Belanger bought a legal pedal-assist e-bicycle to ride to work in the CBD in 2019, travelling along the Enoggera Creek and Ithaca Creek bikeways.

The trip takes about 50 minutes each way, averaging a speed of about 20km/h. A 10km/h restriction on shared paths would add an extra 30 minutes to her commute each way, as about half the bikeways are on paths shared with pedestrians.

“To completely avoid using shared paths, I would need to ride on Waterworks Road in peak-hour traffic, which would be a death wish,” she said.

“I am a mother of two and primary income earner for my household, so I would like to stay alive.”

The bill, introduced to parliament on Wednesday night, accepted all 28 of the e-mobility inquiry’s recommendations, and has been referred back to the committee that conducted the inquiry.

The changes were proposed after a spate of injuries and deaths, mostly involving non-compliant e-motorbikes or e-scooters, in 2025. They were welcomed by the RACQ and the local branch of the AMA, but drew criticism from cyclists and the state’s peak tourism body.

Under the laws, e-scooter riders could use any road with a speed limit up to 60km/h, instead of the current 50km/h, to “support rider choice and reduce traffic on footpaths”.

That means within months it would be legal to ride a scooter in traffic on the Story Bridge, Turbot Street, Gympie Road, Kelvin Grove Road, Moggill Road and Coronation Drive.

But despite cars, trucks and buses travelling at 60km/h, e-scooters will be required to have a new maximum design speed of 25km/h.

E-bike riders can ride on roads with any speed limit, unless they are specifically prohibited. This would not change.

But under the new laws, e-scooter and e-bike riders would be required to ride at 10km/h or slower on footpaths and shared paths, unless specifically signed at a higher or lower speed limit – a limit that would not apply to cyclists using non-electric bikes.

“Lower speeds on footpaths and shared paths may deter riders from using these environments in areas with high pedestrian activity or where high-quality active transport infrastructure is available, encouraging riders to select routes that better support higher speeds,” the bill’s explanatory notes said.

About 90 per cent of Queensland’s separated bicycle infrastructure is shared pathways, with very few “bicycle only” or “pedestrian only” paths.

In a guideline for shared paths available on its website, Transport and Main Roads noted that bicycles could become unstable to ride at speeds below 11km/h.

On well-designed paths, though, people riding bikes can travel 15-25km/h with minimum risk or negative impacts for walkers, it said, arguing they were “high cost for little benefit”.

QUT research last year in Brisbane found residents’ biggest barriers to active transport were car and traffic safety concerns, and a lack of physically separated lanes.

Young women are four times less likely to cycle than men the same age, with fears about being hit by a car among the biggest worries.

The bill also introduces RBTs for electric and non-electric bicycle riders, with fines for low-range, mid-range and high-range drink-riding ranging from $500 to $6676.

This would not include demerit point or other licence penalties, even though all e-bike and e-scooter riders would have to hold at least a learner’s car licence or interstate or international equivalent.

Riders would be banned from riding for eight hours after being charged with a drink-riding offence.

The bill’s explanatory notes said there were 12 deaths involving e-mobility devices in 2025, including eight on e-scooters and three deaths involving non-compliant e-motorbikes, which are already illegal to ride on public paths and roads.

There was one fatality involving a legal e-bike. This involved a nine-year-old boy, riding on a footpath with his dad, who was killed when hit by a minivan driver who mounted the kerb.

The committee will accept submissions on the bill from Friday.

When passed, the laws will come into effect from July, with a six-month transition period to ensure devices are legally compliant, including making sure e-scooters cannot exceed 25km/h.

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