Dear QLD LNP MPs,
I heard on the radio about the proposed (e-bike) legislation.
Once I stopped laughing at the stupidity of it, I believed that some obvious yet ignored points should be made.
Please consider the following:
There are disabled kids under 16 who now have the ability to ride a bike with their able-bodied friends due to the availability of e-bikes.
The Queensland government has now disadvantaged disabled kids by taking this freedom away from them.
This is just cruel.
Parents of Queensland kids have spent a fortune on these e-bikes and e-scooters for their children, and the Queensland government has now rendered that investment completely worthless.
You should at least have the decency to offer a buy-back scheme.
Will the Queensland government take steps to ensure that e-bike and e-scooter hire services only make their devices available to licensed 16-year-olds?
Will there be penalties for companies failing to restrict access (unless) to qualified riders?
The Queensland government has deemed that licences are required by 16-year-olds to ride an e-bike limited to 25km/h, while there are thousands of adults on pedal bikes breaking laws every day and every weekend at speeds well over 60km/h with no licence required.
David Crisafulli, have you ever driven along Banyula Drive, Nerang, on a weekend?
Can the Queensland government explain what magic occurs in teenagers when they turn 16 that alters their riding behaviour overnight from when they were 15 years, 11 months and 29 days old?
Is the Queensland government saying that all 16-year-olds are safer riders than every 15-year-old Queenslander?
Can the Queensland government explain how differences in teenage behaviours magically alter when they cross the border at Coolangatta?
Please, make it make sense.
It’s ridiculous to think that politicians will make e-bikes disappear off the face of the earth.
These things are well and truly a part of the future.
Try banning mobile phones.
Anyway, best of luck with the LNP denying disabled children and teenagers the freedom to own a piece of universally accepted technology.
The 16-year-olds and a portion of 15-year-olds will be voting in the 2028 elections.
LET THAT SINK IN!
– Trevor Arthurson
Gold Coast
