RAC has welcomed the new Ride Safe report, which details recommendations following a WA Parliamentary inquiry into safety, regulation and penalties associated with the use of e-rideables.
RAC General Manager External Relations Will Golsby said the report represents an important step forward in making e-rideables and e-bikes safer and more accessible for all Western Australians.
“We are pleased to see recommendations around improved governance for shared schemes, anti-tampering measures, speed limiting technology, improved data collection and reporting, school and community education, and prioritisation of suitable infrastructure,” Mr Golsby said.
RAC’s submission to the inquiry called for reforms that focus on improving safety standards and infrastructure, increasing enforcement, and working with the Australian Government to crack down on illegal devices.
“Our submission called for restrictions on who can import e-rideables, improved information at point of sale, and making it an offence to modify devices,” Mr Golsby said.
“We also support more protected on-road bike lanes in places like Perth CBD, along with comprehensive safety features for all ‘for-hire’ e-rideables schemes.”
“E-rideables will play an important role in our future transport mix in WA, but we need to make sure the transition is done in a safe way.”
There has been an alarming increase in the number of vulnerable road users – including those using e-rideables – being killed and injured on WA roads.
“RAC surveys have shown that only 29 per cent of drivers and just 17 per cent of pedestrians feel confident interacting with e-rideables,” Mr Golsby said.
“Clearly more needs to be done to address safety issues surrounding e-rideables, to ensure this important mode of transport can co-exist safely with other road-users and transport modes.”
“We now look forward to the WA Government's response to the report’s findings.”
Read RAC’s submission to the inquiry here: RAC response to the Inquiry into the safety regulation and penalties associated with the use of eRideables (PDF 811KB)
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Media contact: Laura Gardiner, 08 9436 4889 or media@rac.com.au
