ABC Perth has featured the rise in antisocial bike path behaviour, especially among a small band of young people riding e-motorbikes as well as e-bikes and eRideables.
One rider recounted his experience of having stones thrown at him and other harassment on multiple occasions during his regular rides and commutes along the Mitchell Freeway principal shared path.
“One [rock] hit me in the chest and two hit my bike,” the rider, Steve Gaensler, told ABC Breakfast host, Mark Gibson. “It’s very dangerous.”
Gaensler’s bike camera captured the incident and other riders chimed in with similar experiences after he posted his footage on social media.
“They didn’t just target me, they targeted everyone riding past.”
He said Police had yet to contact him since he logged the footage via Incident Reporting portals.
“We love what the Police do but unfortunately there’s a growing concern with the cycling community that they just don’t have our back.”
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WestCycle CEO Wayne Bradshaw later told Gibson path anti-social behaviour is, “a real issue – we want people to be safe when they are riding at any time – and having anti-social behaviour of this type is really concerning.”
“…I think the parents need to be fully aware of what their responsibilities are in providing these devices in the first place.”
Bradshaw called on greater scrutiny of the retail market to restrict the availability and sale of illegal devices, and welcomed enforcement actions such as the recent Joondalup Police campaign against anti-social behaviour from young people using devices they are too young to ride legally or are themselves illegal.
The ABC Radio segment begins at 1hr35mins with Bradshaw’s comments at 2:13.
