A Melbourne man whose brother was killed yesterday when he was hit by an allegedly speeding e-bike has called for them to be taken off the streets.
William Lothian was walking back to his Hastings home after picking up dinner for himself and his younger brother Ray when he was struck crossing the road.
CCTV footage shows the allegedly illegally modified e-bike speeding down Frankston-Flinders Road on Victoria’s Mornignton Peninsula just minutes before colliding with the 69-year-old.
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William was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with critical injuries, where he sadly died yesterday afternoon.
Ray told 9News he recalled feeling “numb” when police turned up to his house to notify him about the tragic crash.
“I’m sitting there thinking jeez he’s taking his time …[then] I answered the door, and there’s two policemen and they’ve told me about Willie being hit,” he said.
William suffered a fatal brain injury as well as internal injuries after he was allegedly hit by the e-bike at 80 km/h.
The 24-year-old rider remains in a stable condition at the Alfred hospital.
At this stage no charges have been laid.
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Ray is now calling for all e-bikes and scooters to be taken off the streets.
“Recycle them, melt them down or something, but get rid of them. Because they’re a danger,” he said.
Australian e-bike laws are vague and vary between each state and territory, with no consistent minimum age requirement or road rules governing their use.
One of the few things most states and territories agree on is that an e-bike must have a maximum motor-assisted speed of 25km/h to be legally ridden in public.
The NSW government yesterday introduced a proposal to legalise e-bikes on roads and shared footpaths after an inquiry found current rules were “outdated and ineffective”.
The inquiry recommended allowing e-bikes on footpaths and shared paths at up to 15km/h, but the proposal plans to allow the scooters to travel at 20 km/h.
Hired e-bikes were banned from Melbourne’s CBD last year after multiple accidents.
Dangerous riding, a rise in lithium-battery fires and scrutiny over the bikes littering local footpaths form key concerns of the e-transport trend.
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