NSW has started destroying the illegal e-bikes its police are taking off the road. On Thursday 1 October, 23 e-bikes were crushed and turned into scrap metal at a wrecking facility in Blacktown, in Western Sydney, ABC News reported. The bikes had been seized on the northern beaches under the new powers that let police and Transport for NSW confiscate and dispose of non-compliant e-bikes. It was the first batch to be crushed since the legislation came in.
Transport Minister John Graham attended the demonstration and described the yard as the place where illegal e-bikes go to die. His message to riders was blunt: a bike that is high powered, has been tampered with, or goes too fast will be seized and crushed.
What changed
Police could already seize and destroy illegal high powered e-bikes before this year, but they first had to get a forfeiture order through the courts, a slow and resource heavy process. The new laws, enforceable from 21 August, extended seizure and disposal powers to police and Transport for NSW so a bike can go from the street to the crusher without that step. The bikes destroyed on 1 October came from the northern beaches, where police ran the first big operation under the new rules in September.
The injury numbers behind the push
- The Sydney Children's Hospital Network says child presentations for e-bike and e-scooter injuries rose from 40 in 2023 to 78 in 2024 and 166 in 2025, more than four times the 2023 figure
- So far in 2026, 183 children have presented to the Westmead and Randwick children's hospitals with e-bike or e-scooter injuries, and around one in five presentations has involved major trauma
- At St Vincent's Hospital, about 42% of patients with e-bike related injuries needed a trauma response, according to acting director of rehabilitation medicine Dr Ed Lewis
- Dr Lewis linked the most serious injuries to riding without a helmet, riding impaired, and high speed
An age limit is next
Mr Graham confirmed the government now has the final report of the expert review into a minimum age for e-bike riders, led by Transport for NSW. The review recommended a legal age limit somewhere between 12 and 16. The minister said he did not think it was sensible to have primary school children on heavy e-bikes, and that the report will be released publicly after government consultation. No age has been set yet.
What it means for riders
Under the Transport for NSW rules as reported this week, a legal e-bike in NSW has a maximum continuous power of 500 watts, motor assistance that stops at 25 km/h, and a throttle that only works up to 6 km/h when you are not pedalling. NSW allows more power than most states for now, but the speed limits are the same as everywhere else. A bike that will ride on throttle well past 6 km/h, or keep assisting past 25 km/h, is the kind of bike that is being seized.
- Check the label and the manufacturer's specification for continuous power and assisted top speed before you buy, not the marketing headline
- Do not unlock, derestrict or re tune a legal bike: a tampered bike is treated as illegal and can be seized and destroyed
- Keep your receipt, the spec sheet and a photo of the compliance label, so you can show what you bought
- If you are buying for a teenager, assume an age limit is coming and pick a bike that is legal and light enough for them to handle
Sources
The number of bikes destroyed, the location, the minister's comments, the hospital figures, Dr Lewis's comments, the age review and the NSW power and speed limits are as reported by ABC News on 1 October 2026. A later ABC report on 5 October put the number destroyed at 20; we have used the figure from the report of the crush itself. The hero photo is an ABC News image of seized e-bikes being destroyed at the Blacktown wrecking yard.