The law will include things like:
- 1 0 km/h speed limit on all footpaths and shared paths (which makes up over 90% of the “bike paths” in Brisbane)—that’s slower than a jogging speed, and TMR’s own guidelines say it’s unsafe to have to ride below 11 km/h because bikes become less stable
- Age limit of 16, cutting off the ability of kids to ride to school
- Require a driver’s licence to ride an ebike (adding a few hundred dollars every few years and removing the ability of people with disabilities that prevent them from driving from being able to ride a bike)
- Ban all ebikes not compliant with a specific version of the legal specification that only came out a couple of years ago (and which one newspaper report found was basically impossible to buy. The 99 Bikes store they checked only sold one model that complied with that spec, and it was a child’s bike…)
There’s a few good things in the bill too, like
- Give police the power to impound and destroy non-compliant bikes
- Power to charge parents of kids who ride illegal e-motorbikes
but it’s mostly really bad. The fact that most of our footpaths and shared paths are empty most of the time, but it would be completely illegal to ride a bike even as fast as a slow jogger just shows the degree to which this is not a well-intentioned law.
If you ride an ebike, know someone who does, or just like the idea that people should be allowed to ride responsibly, I’d encourage you to make a submission to the inquiry describing your personal experience and saying you don’t approve of the bill. You can find out more information about the bill and how to format a submission here: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-Committees/Committees/Committee-Details?cid=272&id=8575 or by checking out Space4cyclingbne, Brisbane CBD BUG, or Brisbane West BUG on Facebook, or Bicycle Queensland (on their website or on FB).
Or email the committee directly here: SDIWC@parliament.qld.gov.au
I’d encourage you to make a submission to the inquiry describing your personal experience and saying you don’t approve of the bill
What’s the point though? They’re not open to feedback. They’re doing it specifically to encourage car usage and scoring political points with a conservative user base that prefers cars and doesn’t care about bikes. They have zero interest in the actual merits of the law or its impact, and they aren’t going to change course just because a bunch of people who don’t vote for them anyway write angry letters :\
Maybe I’m just getting too cynical… Either way, I can’t wait to get out of here…
No, I completely agree with you Ada, they have no interest in the actual merits. It’s all about punishing the out group. However, I think there are a few reasons to make a submission anyway.
First, I half suspect that the worst parts of this bill (the 10 km/h speed limit and the licence requirement) may be intended as sacrificial clauses. They know it’s overreach to such a degree that they’ve included it only so they can remove it later and say “look, we listened to feedback”, while leaving in the RBTs for cyclists, minimum age, increased penalties for cyclists (including for riding without a helmet), and possibly even leaving in a speed limit albeit a less extreme one. But if they don’t get significant opposition, they might decide to plough ahead with the worst of it included regardless.
I also think it’s important because it helps provide fodder for opposition to point to to demonstrate the LNP’s overreach. It increases the political cost of doing this for the LNP, and also increases the chance that it might be reversed under the next Government.
And mostly, I think it’s just valuable to have been on the record. To be able to say “I did what I could, even if they didn’t care.”
Fwiw, in case you’re not already aware, there is a protest ride planned for 5:00 pm Wednesday starting at Raymond Park in Kangaroo Point, rolling out at 5:30 pm. Would be great to see you there!