Mother calls for new age limits after 8yo son killed in e-motorcycle crash

Zeke William Hondow lived on wheels, from red plastic push-trikes to balance bikes as a toddler, then riding bigger and better things as he got older.

His snowy blonde hair often poked out from under a helmet, making his excited blue eyes shine even brighter.

So when Zeke's big sister, Tiana, rang to say he had crashed on the way home from his school, but was OK, their mother Kloe Weedon expected grazes and scratches.

Moments later, her world was ripped away.

Her eight-year-old boy and his 15-year-old sister had been riding home from Palmview State School to their Brightwater home.

It is alleged an e-motorcycle, ridden by a 15-year-old boy, struck Zeke head on.

Ms Weedon said Zeke's helmet protected his skull and brain, but the damage to his internal organs was immense.

Zeke was taken to hospital in a critical condition just after 3:30pm on October 30.

His life could not be saved. 

The schoolboy with a sharp wit, and even sharper haircuts, was farewelled at a funeral last week. 

A giant Pikachu toy sat smiling near his small coffin as family and teachers told of a cheeky boy who loved "shit-stirring" his big sister.

Zeke's bedroom remains largely untouched, with his mother not yet ready to visit the world he left behind.

"I'm still in disbelief – we're numb," Ms Weedon said.

"Everyone around the town knew him."

The grieving mother is among a growing chorus of parents, doctors and politicians calling for stricter rules on motorised bikes. 

Teen charged

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with multiple offences over Zeke's death, including dangerous driving causing death, and charges relating specifically to the allegedly illegal bike: driving unlicensed, driving uninsured and driving an unregistered vehicle.

The matter will return to court in March.

While police have confirmed Zeke's e-bike was illegal due to a lack of pedals, "he was under the supervision of a family member at the time", and there was no suggestion he was riding dangerously.

Police will allege the 15-year-old was "to blame" for the crash.

If found guilty, the Buderim rider will face up to 14 years in prison, under harsher Adult Crime, Adult Time laws introduced in May.

Ms Weedon said while she was not "anti-e-bike", there needed to be better education and new state restrictions, particularly with Christmas looming.

"We need to have stricter rules in place," she said.

"They [e-motorbikes] need to be capped at certain speeds, especially at different age limits.

She is not alone. Bicycles Queensland, the Australian Medical Association Queensland, RACQ, Queensland Law Society and multiple councils are just some of those publicly calling for change.

Seeing injuries 'every day'

Andrew Hobbins King is the medical trauma director at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

Dr Hobbins King said his team was now treating patients injured on e-bikes, e-scooters or e-motorcycles "pretty much every day".

Queensland Health does not collect data on e-bike or e-motorcycle injuries, but from January to August this year, the state's emergency departments treated an average of 156 e-scooter injuries each month.

Whether e-scooter or e-bike, the destructive impact on human bodies remained.

Dr Hobbins King told how the worst cases arrived at the hospital by helicopter, with patients injured in so many ways that an entire emergency team would rush to try to save their lives.

Some would have "catastrophic and life-changing, multi-system trauma", with paramedics desperately trying to restart their hearts even on the way to hospital.

"Then they are going for emergency, life-saving surgery, which we call red-blanket surgery, so straight from the ED, straight into theatre," Dr Hobbins King said.

Brain surgery by video

The closest neurosurgeons to the Sunshine Coast are 100 kilometres away in Brisbane, a short flight by emergency helicopter.

Dr Hobbins King said some young patients needed to have brain surgery almost on arrival because they would not survive the brief journey to specialist care.

Skilled general surgeons locally are doing the life-saving procedures as out-of-town neurosurgeons watch on and offer guidance by video link.

If patients have severe injuries to their torso, they may require a chest drain, a deeply uncomfortable but critical procedure that relieves the pressure of air or blood building up inside their bodies.

Others will need to be intubated and ventilated – their breathing taken over by machine – and put into an induced coma.

"We're seeing younger adults and teenagers in this age group," Dr Hobbins King said.

"For those who have catastrophic, life-changing brain injuries, you may not be able to return to your normal function of life.

"They are becoming increasingly more common."

E-bike injuries catching up on scooters

Dr Hobbins King said e-scooter injuries were still outnumbering e-bikes and e-motorbike injuries, but the latter were catching up fast.

E-bike injuries are coming into his emergency room "every three or four days".

While Queensland Health does not track injuries caused by e-bikes and e-motorcycles, Queensland Ambulance does publish a daily report of overnight call-outs, which is updated to include whether they involved e-devices.

Listed below is a small sample of those recorded across Queensland since Zeke's death.

Dr Hobbins King said he understood why parents bought the machines, despite some of them being against the law.

"Parents want to look after their kids, parents want to make sure their kids get on with their social groups," he said.

"We're able to manage these injuries and we manage them very well.

"All of those from pre-hospital to LifeFlight to emergency department to in-patient surgery staff, we just wish they didn't happen."

What happens now?

Zeke's death occurred about 10km from the office of Buderim MP Brent Mickelberg, the state's transport minister.

A parliamentary inquiry into e-mobility devices is due to report at the end of March, with action to follow from there.

Any e-bike or e-motorbike without pedals is already illegal in Queensland, but they remain easy to advertise and sell.

Pedal-supported e-bikes are legal for all ages but are limited to a maximum power rating of 250 watts and speed limited to 25 kilometres per hour.

Some e-motorbikes sold "for off-road use" in Queensland have more than 20 times that power, with top speeds of almost 100km/h.

The federal government has announced that restrictions on e-bike imports will be in place by the end of the year, including speed and power limits, and an anti-tampering protocol.

'How many kids have to die?'

Mr Mickelberg said parents needed to "consider the welfare of your children" when buying e-bikes or e-scooters that might be illegal unless kept off public roads.

"When any young person loses their life on our roads or using e-mobility devices, it's a tragedy," he said.

"And as a father of four young children, I can only imagine the grief."

It is the grief that Ms Weedon is now enduring and, for her, March is too long to wait.

"[Change] needs to come in sooner," she said.

"How many more kids have to die?”