The Minister for Police has responded to shocking footage of the moment a bus driver narrowly avoids a head-on collision with a group of youngsters, deeming the behaviour as “reckless”.
The video, shared to Facebook by Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone, shows a group of five young people riding along a T-way in Bonnyrigg in Sydney’s west on Thursday night.
One child on a scooter leads the pack, coming within centimetres of the bus, with the driver having to slam on the brakes.
Moments later, four others on e-bikes and scooters swerve as they approach the bus head on in the same lane.
The bus sounds its horn and the young riders can be heard yelling and one raises their arm towards the vehicle as it drives away.
A T-Way is a reserved lane for authorised buses and service vehicles. Driving or stopping on one can incur up to 20 demerit points.
The e-bike riders can count themselves lucky. Picture: Facebook
The group only narrowly avoid a head-on crash with the bus. Picture: Facebook
The Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism, Yasmin Catley said the behaviour captured in this footage is “reckless, dangerous and puts the lives of all road users at risk”.
“We want young people outdoors and active in their communities, but the rules are clear: if a bike is illegal or being ridden dangerously, police will take action and under new laws, those bikes can be removed permanently,” she said in a statement.
“The Minns Labor Government is backing police with stronger powers and practical tools to deal with dangerous e-bike behaviour.
“That includes new laws to allow officers to seize and crush illegal, high-powered bikes that operate more like motorbikes than bicycles.”
She added NSW Police will maintain a strong operational presence across Western Sydney and explained the decisions about the deployment of officers are made based on intelligence, demand and community safety, not politics.
“There has been no reduction in the Government’s commitment to keeping Western Sydney safe,” she said.
A child on a scooter leads the group along the T-way, a road reserved exclusively for authorised buses and service vehicles. Picture: Facebook
It comes after a furious post, in which Mr Carbone said the issue had gone too far and called for more police resources to be dedicated to monitoring e-bikes on the road.
He said the area was experiencing a “serious shortage” of police and claimed there was “growing concern vital police resources are being taken away from western Sydney”.
“Yes, they may be young people making poor choices, not respecting the law, but they need to learn to be accountable, responsibility and respect for the law so they don’t go through life thinking they can do what they like and there isn’t any consequences,” he wrote.
“The bus drivers are the ones forced to deal with the consequences.
“They should not be put in this position, to choose between hitting a kid on a bike or swerving and potentially killing passengers.”
Mr Carbone said between CCTV footage on buses and cameras on the T-way there would be ample evidence of wrongdoing.
“It cannot be ignored until someone is seriously injured or worse,” he said.
The NSW government announced earlier this month that new laws were being drafted to allow police to seize and destroy high-powered and modified bikes that “perform more like motorbikes than bicycles”.
“So-called ‘fat bikes’ and other throttle-only devices like those ridden across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in a recent social media stunt are not legal e-bikes under NSW law and will be able to be seized and crushed under this new legislation,” a spokesman said.
Police will also be given “dyno units” that measure if the power output of an e-bike cuts out at 25km/h – the legal maximum in NSW.
If an e-bike is found to be non-compliant, police will be able to seize and crush it, similar to a program recently launched in Western Australia.
