Half of the e-bikes, e-scooters and e-skateboards owned by Queenslanders are illegal, a study funded by Transport and Main Roads has found, but the stereotype of a young, helmetless hooning rider is misguided.
The University of Queensland study found one in three of the state’s households owned at least one e-scooter, e-bike or other device, totalling almost one million across the state, purchased at a cost of $2.2 billion.
Dr Richard Buning, from UQ’s Business School, said adoption was not limited to the inner-city, with 28 per cent of people living in remote areas owning a device.
“For one in four e-mobility users, a private car is their only alternative,” he said.
“Those who own their own devices ride 1.46 billion kilometres [annually], while another 130 million kilometres was travelled on rented e-mobility devices.”
The study found 98 per cent of owners said they wore either a standard or full-face helmet – but 74 per cent of non-users reported concern about riders not wearing helmets.
“This suggests public concern may be shaped by highly visible instances of non-compliance, hire-scheme users, occasional or inexperienced riders, or broader perceptions of e-mobility risk,” Buning said.
“The stereotypical e-mobility rider is a young person on an e-scooter, but our data tells a different story, with more than half of the primary users of privately owned devices aged 50 or older.”
However, the survey classified about half of privately owned devices as non-compliant, based on self-reported speed, power and throttle.
The most common issue was having a maximum powered speed exceeding 25km/h, followed by e-bikes exceeding 250 watts, e-bikes with multiple compliance issues, and throttle-only bikes.
Buning said people reported the advantages were convenient short-distance travel, affordability, reduced reliance on private cars, environment benefits, and increased independence for young people.
The average annual running cost was $140.
But while it was providing real transport benefits, community concern about rider behaviour and injury numbers needed to be addressed, Buning said.
“Injury presentations have also increased as e-mobility has grown rapidly, but until we can reliably relate injuries to the number of riders, trips and kilometres travelled, we need to be careful about interpreting those raw numbers as changes in risk,” he said.
More than 45 per cent of devices currently owned by Queenslanders were bought since 2023, compared with only 9 per cent bought before 2020.
Over the same time, “personal mobility device” injury presentations at hospitals, mostly involving e-scooters, increased by about 85 per cent, from 1083 in 2022 to 2000 cases in 2025.
The Queensland government has launched new laws, including an assurance scheme, which will require compliant e-bike owners to pay up to $70 to get a sticker proving their bike is legal before the end of February 2027, and stronger seizure powers for police.
E-bike riders will not be able to retrofit their bikes to 25km/h and 250 watts, if they do not already meet the standard, but e-scooters can be “locked” to 25km/h under the rules, using software or hardware.
An initial list of authorised verifiers for the e-bike assurance scheme will be released on November 2, when it opens.
The laws also require e-bike or e-scooter riders to have a car driver’s licence – unless they hold a medical exemption letter – a minimum age of 16 for riding solo, and a 12km/h speed limit on footpaths or when passing pedestrians on shared paths.
Researchers collected survey data from March to May 2026 via online platforms and a postcard mailer sent to homes across metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas.
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