Legal E‑Bike Safety in Sydney: Skills, Streets and the Real Risks
E‑bikes are getting a lot of attention right now – and not in a calm way.
Headlines scream about “out‑of‑control” e‑bikes. Editorials demand bans, licences and crackdowns. After a rider on a legal, 25 km/h‑limited Lime bike was killed by a garbage truck at Broadway, much of the coverage implied that the danger lay in the bike rather than in a multi‑lane, high‑speed road with no protected bike lanes.
If you only read the headlines, you would think e‑bikes are one of the main causes of road trauma in Australia. Yet when you zoom out, motor vehicles remain responsible for the overwhelming majority of deaths and serious injuries, here and internationally. Of more than 200 pedestrian deaths in Australia over a recent 12‑month period, only a tiny number were confirmed to involve e‑mobility devices – and those were often riders themselves.
So what is actually going on?
From our perspective at Pedal Set Go, working with everyday riders across Sydney, three truths can comfortably sit together:
Legal e‑bikes are safe by design when used as intended.
Most of the risk sits in streets, and systems designed around heavy, fast motor vehicles. There are many bike friendly options with a little knowhow.
The rest is about habits and skills – which is the part we can directly help with.
This blog unpacks:
What a legal e‑bike actually is in NSW
Why legal e‑bikes and regular bikes move at similar speeds in real life
How media framing hides the real causes of harm
The role of rider skills – braking, low‑speed control and “lurchy” take‑offs
How our private Confident City Rider course supports e‑bike riders with real‑world practice in Sydney
What counts as a legal e‑bike in NSW?
In NSW, not everything sold with a motor and two wheels is a legal e‑bike. Only two main categories are allowed on public roads and paths:
Power‑assisted pedal cycles
Electric motor(s) with a combined maximum of 200 W
You must be pedalling – the motor cannot be the only thing driving the bike
Total weight under 50 kg (including battery)
Electrically power‑assisted cycles (EPACs / “e‑bikes”)
Maximum continuous rated power up to 500 W (soon to be tightened for new imports)
Motor assistance must cut out at 25 km/h, or when you stop pedalling above 6 km/h
Low‑speed throttles (up to 6 km/h) are allowed, mainly to help you start or push off
If it is petrol‑powered, if the motor can drive the bike faster than 25 km/h without pedalling, or if it has been modified so it blasts along at 40–60 km/h under power, it is not a legal e‑bike – it is an unregistered motorbike on a bike path.
This blog is about legal 25 km/h e‑bikes – the kind you can ride on roads and shared paths without rego or a licence, following the same rules as regular cyclists.
Are legal e‑bikes really “too fast”? Let’s talk numbers
A lot of panic centres on the idea that e‑bikes are radically faster than normal bikes. For legal models, that is simply not true.
Everyday speeds overlap
Real‑world data and transport research consistently find:
A typical commuting speed on a regular bike is around 16–24 km/h, depending on distance, terrain and traffic.
Confident riders on traditional bikes routinely sit in the 19–25 km/h range on the flat.
Studies of e‑bike trips in Europe show average speeds in the mid‑teens km/h, with bursts up towards 25–30 km/h in clearer conditions – not wildly different from faster regular riders.
So a legal e‑bike that cuts power at 25 km/h is not teleporting you into motorbike territory. It is sitting right in the band of speeds that plenty of fit riders already achieve on non‑assist bikes.
What changes is not the headline number – it is how easily more riders can reach and hold those speeds, including people who are older, carrying cargo, or riding up hills.
That is exactly why skills and awareness matter: the bike is now amplifying habits that might have been manageable at 15 km/h but feel risky at 25.
Media panic vs actual risk: it is the streets and the vehicles
Jake Coppinger’s deep dive into recent Sydney coverage lays out the problem clearly: media stories often imply that legal e‑bikes are the core danger, while almost ignoring the massive role of street design and motor vehicle mass and speed.
In the Broadway fatality he discusses, the person killed was:
Riding a legal hire e‑bike limited to 25 km/h
On an 8–9 lane, high‑speed state road with no protected bike lanes, just metres from Central Station
Those basic facts alone tell a different story:
When somebody on a 25 km/h bike dies under the wheels of a heavy truck on a multi‑lane arterial road, the risk does not live primarily in the motor in the bike. It lives in the speed, volume and design of that road, and in the mass and priority we give to motor traffic.
Across NSW, and in the national data, motor vehicles remain responsible for the vast majority of road deaths and serious injuries. Yet opinion pieces demand that e‑bikes be banned for kids, registered, plated, insured – with barely a word about lower urban speed limits, protected bike lanes or reallocated road space.
We are firmly in the camp that says:
Yes, we should tackle illegal and unsafe devices.
Yes, we should improve rider skills and understanding.
And, we must stop pretending you can fix a road‑safety system dominated by high‑speed motor traffic by focusing on the people on 25 km/h bikes.
Illegal devices and poor products muddy the waters
Another problem: not all “e‑bikes” on the street are legal. Bicycle NSW and others have been warning that:
Illegal high‑powered bikes and scooters are being imported and sold without proper oversight.
Many can be powered by throttle alone at motorcycle‑like speeds, well above 25 km/h.
Cheap, uncertified batteries and chargers bring genuine fire risks.
Riders are often untrained, riding in complex traffic without basic bike skills.
When these devices crash, or when their batteries fail, the headlines often just say “e‑bike”. Legal, standard‑compliant models and unregulated “rocket bikes” get thrown into the same bucket.
From a skills point of view, our message is simple:
If you want a sustainable, street‑legal transport option, buy a compliant e‑bike, ideally to EN 15194.
If your bike has been modified to go far faster than 25 km/h under power, it is not a bicycle in the eyes of the law – and your risk profile changes dramatically.
Whatever you ride, good control skills, braking and road awareness make a huge difference.
How legal e‑bikes actually feel different to ride
Even though the speeds often overlap with regular bikes, legal e‑bikes change how the ride feels in your body. The main differences we see in our Confident City Rider courses are:
1. Extra weight and stopping distance
Motors and batteries add noticeable weight. That means:
You carry more momentum into corners and downhill sections.
Your stopping distance is longer, especially in the wet.
Sudden swerves or last‑second direction changes are harder to pull off smoothly.
With good braking technique and route choice, this is manageable – but pretending it doesn’t matter is not helpful.
2. Easier acceleration, especially from low speeds
Many riders love that e‑bikes help with:
Hill starts
Heavy loads (kids, groceries, cargo)
Accelerating away from traffic lights
But that assistance can also catch people out:
If the assist is set to “High” or “Turbo”, the bike can feel like it surges forward as soon as you put pressure on the pedals.
That lurch can feel scary at intersections, on ramps, or in narrow shared paths.
This is where we find bike skills training is worth its weight in battery cells.
Taming the “lurch”: riding the brakes on purpose
Some cheaper or poorly tuned e‑bikes really do feel like they leap off the line. The answer is not to panic or write off e‑bikes as uncontrollable – it is to learn how to manage the power with your body and your brakes.
In our private Confident City Rider sessions we coach riders to:
Pre‑load the brakes before you start
Keep light, even pressure on both brakes as you begin to pedal.
This smooths out that first surge and gives your body time to adjust to the assist kicking in.
Feather the brakes to shape speed
Think of your brakes as a fine‑tuning dial, not just an emergency switch.
Light, continuous braking during those first few pedal strokes lets you stay in control while the motor ramps up.
Combine lower assist levels with smooth pedalling
When you are learning a new bike, we recommend starting in a low assist mode.
Focus on even, relaxed pedalling – not stamping on the pedals – so the motor’s response feels progressive, not jumpy.
There is a lot of noise out there about “riding your brakes is bad”. Here is the reality:
Brake pads are consumables. They exist to be used and replaced.
Using your brakes intelligently to keep the bike calm and predictable – especially on a heavier e‑bike – is a perfectly legitimate safety strategy.
What you want to avoid is dragging brakes hard down long descents until they overheat. That is different to light, controlled braking around town.
We would rather see riders wear through a set of pads a bit sooner than go without the braking they need to feel calm and in control.
The crashes nobody counts: low‑speed wobbles and “embarrassing” falls
Most public debate focuses on high‑speed crashes that send people to hospital. But that is not the whole story of how riding feels, or why some people give up.
Self‑report studies in Australia and overseas show that many bike incidents never make it into official crash statistics, especially minor single‑rider falls and low‑speed mishaps.Those are the moments when:
You tip over at the traffic lights.
You misjudge a low‑speed turn on a ramp or driveway.
You try to step off with a loaded bike and the weight surprises you.
Often the only thing bruised is your pride – but enough of these moments can really dent confidence.
On e‑bikes, riders sometimes blame these falls on “how heavy the bike is”. The weight plays a part, but underneath that, there are usually habits that come from learning to ride informally as kids:
Turning the bars sharply while almost stationary.
Leaning the body the wrong way at very low speeds.
Stopping in a high gear so it is hard to push off again.
Looking down at the front wheel instead of ahead, which makes balancing harder.
A bike – any bike – is a pair of narrow contact patches under you. Without momentum, of course it is unstable. That is physics, not personal failure.
The difference is that these habits can be retrained. In our courses we deliberately work on the “embarrassing” bits: starts, stops, U‑turns, tight spaces, ramps and low‑speed balance, including on e‑bikes with child seats or cargo. Once those pieces feel solid, the whole ride feels calmer.
Battery safety without the horror‑movie framing
Lithium‑ion batteries pack a lot of energy into a small space. Used correctly, they are the same family of technology as in phones and laptops. Misused or damaged, they can fail dramatically – which is why fire services and safety bodies are rightly paying attention.
The higher‑risk scenarios are:
Cheap, uncertified batteries and chargers, often bought online
DIY modifications and home‑built conversions without proper protection
Charging in cluttered or flammable spaces (on beds, couches, near piles of boxes)
Continuing to use a battery that has been crashed, dropped or visibly damaged
Safer practice looks more like this:
Buy from reputable suppliers and look for EN 15194‑compliant e‑bikes or batteries.
Use the charger that came with the bike, or a manufacturer‑approved replacement.
Charge on a hard, clear surface, away from bedding or clutter.
Unplug once it is full, and do not leave a suspect battery on charge unattended.
Again, the pattern is the same: it is how we use the technology and what products we choose that matters. Legal, certified e‑bikes used with care have a very different risk profile to over‑powered DIY builds charging on the carpet.
What actually keeps legal e‑bike riders safe?
When you put all of this together, a picture emerges. For legal, 25 km/h e‑bikes:
Street design and motor vehicle speeds are the biggest factors in severe crashes and deaths.
Illegal, over‑powered devices blur the public understanding of “e‑bike risk”.
Within that system, rider habits and skills strongly influence whether close calls, low‑speed wobbles and scary moments happen regularly – or rarely.
We cannot fix Broadway’s lane configuration from the saddle. That requires political choices, funding and design. But at the individual level, riders can:
Choose legal, compliant bikes and quality equipment.
Build strong control, braking and low‑speed skills.
Understand and follow the road rules and local path etiquette.
Learn to read traffic, choose better lines, and plan safer routes.
That is the niche we occupy with our training at Pedal Set Go: the space where individual skills intersect with city reality.
How our Confident City Rider course supports e‑bike riders
Our private Confident City Rider course in Sydney is designed for exactly this moment – where more people are riding e‑bikes, the streets are still car‑dominated, and a lot of riders are self‑taught or returning after years away from bikes.
The course is for regular bikes and legal e‑bikes, and we tailor the session to each rider, each bike and each local area.
For e‑bike riders, we typically cover:
1. Bike and battery set‑up
Checking that your e‑bike is legal for NSW and safe to ride.
Adjusting your position so the extra weight feels stable, not awkward.
Understanding assist modes, displays and what all the settings actually do.
Covering battery basics – charging, storage and what to watch for.
2. Braking, low‑speed control and taming the “lurch”
Practising smooth, strong braking on your actual bike, on real surfaces.
Learning to ride the brakes in a smart way to manage take‑offs and descents.
Tight turns, ramps, and U‑turns with and without load.
Starting and stopping with child seats or cargo, if that is your real‑world use.
3. City traffic skills for assisted bikes
Lane positioning that gives you visibility and space, instead of pushing you into the door zone or gutter.
Approaching intersections, roundabouts and pinch points at sensible speeds.
Using your extra acceleration to merge or move off safely – without over‑doing it.
Reading driver behaviour and communicating clearly with signals and body language.
4. Shared path etiquette and speed choice
Matching your speed to the environment, not just the motor.
Bells, voice calls, and courteous passing around people walking, kids and dogs.
When to roll through, when to sit back, and when to dismount.
5. Route planning for your real life
Linking quieter streets, paths and separated cycleways into a viable daily route.
Building a plan for commutes, school runs or regular trips that feels achievable.
Gradually stepping up to more complex routes as your skills grow.
Everything happens on real streets, at real speeds, in the parts of Sydney you actually ride – not just in a car park, and not just online.
Bringing it back to the bigger picture
Legal 25 km/h e‑bikes are not the villains of Sydney’s road‑safety story. They are a practical, low‑carbon way to move more people by bike – including those who would struggle on a traditional bike – as long as we pair them with safer streets and better skills.
We share the frustration of Jake Coppinger and many others when media coverage fixates on the presence of an e‑bike and barely mentions:
The lack of protected bike lanes on major corridors
High general speed limits in busy, people‑rich areas
The role of heavy vehicles in the most serious outcomes
At the same time, we see something hopeful on the ground: when riders invest a little time in practical skills, the whole conversation changes. They ride more, feel steadier, and are better able to advocate for safer infrastructure because they are actually out there using the network.
If you ride – or are about to ride – a legal e‑bike in Sydney and you:
Feel a bit uneasy in traffic
Have had a couple of “near misses” or low‑speed falls
Want to carry kids or cargo but are not sure how that will feel
Or simply want to know you are riding legally and safely
…then a private Confident City Rider session with Pedal Set Go is one of the simplest, most practical safety upgrades you can make.
Real bikes, real streets, real skills – so everybody riding legal e‑bikes can feel like they belong on the road, not like they are the problem.
