Police Minister warns E-hoons: your devices will be seized

Police Minister Reece Whitby has defended police figures showing fines for speeding and not wearing a helmet on e-rideables are down, saying more modified devices are being seized.

The West Australian on Wednesday revealed only 14 e-riders were fined for exceeding the speed limit in the first 10 months of last year.

That compares to 25 in all of 2023 and 34 in 2022.

“The way police have approached this operationally is to be looking at those devices which are capable of excessive speed and have been illegally modified,” Mr Whitby said on Wednesday.

“Police have seized hundreds, hundreds of those vehicles per year and, indeed, it’s increasing year on year and many have been destroyed.”

According to figures tabled in State Parliament, 156 e-scooters were impounded in 2024 up from 75 in 2023, 30 in 2022 and only three in 2021.

WA Police said a total of 598 devices were seized last year, when petrol and electric off-road motorcycles were included.

“Increasingly they are seizing those devices now, whether they’re e-rideables, whether they’re e-bikes, whether they’re e-motorbikes or dirt bikes,” Mr Whitby said.

“Any vehicle that has been illegally modified, whether they’re speeding or not. It could be resting on the side of the road . . . they are seizing those devices now.

“Police are taking very firm action on this issue.”

A State Parliament inquiry investigating whether regulations need to be toughened got underway on Wednesday and has been expanded to include e-bikes, after the death of a nurse who was allegedly hit in an Edgewater park on Saturday.

Fines for parents, licensing registrations and even microchips were suggested on day one of the hearings.

Curtin University urban development researcher Marie Verschuer said chips have proven effective in the Netherlands.

“You could chip every vehicle that came in, whether it was licensed or not and you could catch people who were doing the wrong thing with these dirt bikes or things,” she said.

WestCycle chief executive office Wayne Bradshaw argued against the idea.

“It would be inappropriate and a bureaucratic nightmare,” he said.

“Client devices are safe and can be operated effectively and there’s no need to create a disincentive to use these devices.”

Mr Whitby has called on the Federal Government to do more to stop dangerous imports.

“There is no need for someone to be on an e-rider or a scooter or a e-bike at 60 or 70 or 80 kilometres an hour,” he said.

“You cannot do it legally on a road, or certainly a footpath, so why should they be for sale? So this is an issue I want to take up with the Federal Government in terms of importing devices capable of these speeds.”

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter, over the Edgewater crash.