'They get crushed': WA's drastic solution to e-bike hoons
As footage emerges of gangs of teenagers hooning on e-bikes on Sydney streets, a Western Australian police inspector has described his district's no-nonsense approach.
"They get crushed," Joondalup Acting Inspector Scott Gillis told 2GB's Ben Fordham this morning.
"So far we're up to 54, and that's in a two-week period in our focus district area."
READ MORE: Call for action over e-bike gangs in Sydney
A gang of teenagers on e-bikes have been captured hooning down streets and even a golf club on Sydney's northern beaches, sparking fears it's only a matter of time before there's another fatality. Nine
He told 2GB the issue had gone far beyond kids just having fun.
"They're throwing rocks at cars, they're spraying sand on highways with people doing 80, 90 kilometres an hour.
"Just very, very dangerous stuff."
"We detected one on the weekend doing 75 (km/h) on one of their major beachside footpaths, weaving in and out of people.
"We've had people, unfortunately, pedestrians killed as a result of being impacted by these e-rideables."
READ MORE: Calls for licence plates on e-bikes following several recent crashes
WA Police have seized and destroyed dozens of electric scooters and bikes amid a crackdown on bad behaviour. 9News
He said parents were often defensive, until they were shown the footage of their child's behaviour.
"Some of them have paid up to, you know, $7000 or $8000 for some of these e-rideables.
"But by the time we show them some of the social media footage and exactly what their children have been up to, they become understanding and realise that the behavior is very dangerous and we potentially saved their child's lives."
READ MORE: NSW e-bike crackdown in 2026
He said the message was starting to cut through and he had noticed an increase in the devices being resold via online marketplaces and a reducation in the amount of devices on the road in the past week.
Fordham said new data from Transport NSW showed a 376 per cent increase in e-device related injuries over five years.
There have been 11 deaths linked to e-devices in the past six years.
Fordham said he would suggest of seizure and crushing of illegal e-devices to the NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon on his program tomorrow.
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