Queensland transport minister not ruling out total ban on e-scooters, e-bikes amid growing concern
In an interview with the ABC, Brent Mickelberg acknowledged there was "widespread community concern" over the rules and risks surrounding e-mobility devices.
Mr Mickelberg told the ABC he did not believe the existing regulatory framework was meeting community expectations and a total ban on e-mobility devices had not been ruled out.
'I'm prepared to look at any solutions that are going to address safety,' Mr Mickelberg said.
A state government inquiry into e-mobility safety and use in Queensland was announced in May, with the final report due in March next year.
More than 1,200 submissions have been received by the inquiry, including from the Queensland Fire Department (QFD).
Its submission outlined concerns over numerous "fatalities, serious injuries and complete loss of structures," as a result of fires sparked by e-devices.
Since 2022, the QFD suspects that four fires that resulted in death were ignited by e-scooters.
Lithium-ion batteries have sparked 236 fires between July 2024 and June 2025, according to the QFD, with e-mobility devices the largest single cause of battery-related blazes.
Mr Mickelberg said that fire risk concerns also meant police officers were "reluctant" to confiscate e-scooters from riders caught doing the wrong thing.
"[Officers are] reluctant, for example, to seize the device off someone who might be doing the wrong thing, even if it is illegal," he said.
"[That's] because of the storage and disposal of the batteries associated with these e-mobility devices."
However, a Queensland Police Service (QPS) spokesperson said e-mobility devices are regularly seized as evidence and stored in "secure property points and holding yards".
Fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries can be extremely destructive, according to forensic fire investigator Belinda Jones.
"When it does go wrong, the event is violent – they just go off like a cracker," she said.
Lithium-ion battery fires are caused by a chain reaction within the battery's cells, called thermal runaway.
The initial spark can be triggered in multiple situations, including dropping the battery, exposing it to heat or water, or using an incorrect charger.
Once the chain reaction had begun, Ms Jones said it was incredibly difficult to stop.
"If there's more than one battery in the series, the first one will go bang and the next one goes even bigger … bang," Ms Jones said.
"That becomes a serious issue with e-bikes where you've got 100 of those cells lined up."
The risk of fire is only one concern about e-devices, which are growing in popularity across the state.
The number of accidents and injuries was also on the rise, and eight people across the state had lost their lives last year as a result of them, Mr Mickelberg said.
Mr Mickelberg said police were not currently "empowered" to enforce the existing rules, and that was one aspect of the regulatory framework the inquiry was also canvassing.
For example, he said people aged under 16 should not be riding without being supervised by an adult, but he "hadn't met too many 14-year-old boys" who wanted to ride an e-scooter with their mum or dad.
The inquiry will report back next year, and Mr Mickelberg has foreshadowed that more than a "minor tweaking" of rules would be needed to address community concerns around safety, as well as things like fire risk.
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