There are mixed views on electric bikes. Users mostly like them as they are easy to use and convenient. Many in our community dislike them due to safety concerns. The bikes were marketed to the public as a cleaner, healthier way to get around, flatten hills, extend mobility and ease congestion. All these are especially attractive features in a city like Launceston, with its many steep streets.

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Properly regulated, e-bikes do precisely what they were sold to do. But in Tasmania - and across Australia - a growing loophole has allowed some e-bikes to morph into unregistered, unlicensed motorbikes travelling at high speeds on footpaths and shared trails. In any language, that's dangerous.

The consequences are no longer hypothetical. Fatalities and serious injuries are happening nationwide. Disturbingly, there is no formal state or national system for recording e-bike deaths and injuries, leaving policymakers somewhat hamstrung as the risks escalate.

What we do know is alarming.

Legal e-bikes in Tasmania are capped at 250 watts, with electric assistance cutting out at 25kmh. Yet we know from police reports that powerful, non-compliant e-bikes - many capable of exceeding 50kmh - are increasingly........

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