A woman has been fined more than $2,500 for allegedly riding an electric bicycle with an unrestrained child.
The 42-year-old woman was on a school run in Sydney’s south-west on Monday morning when she was stopped by officers from the Liverpool Highway Patrol.
She was issued four separate fines totaling $2,575 after she was found to have committed a number of offences.
Using an unregistered Class A motor vehicle, not having a license and using an uninsured motor vehicle on the road were among the offences.
The other offense was driving with a passenger under the age of eight who was not in a sidecar.
The 42-year-old Sydney woman was on her school run on Monday morning when she was stopped by officers from the Liverpool Highway Patrol.
NSW Police shared photos of the incident on Facebook and warned the public of the dangers of unsafe riding on e-bikes.
Some social media users praised police for apprehending the woman.
“These e-bikes are a vehicle, so many forget that,” one person wrote.
Meanwhile, others called NSW a “nanny state” and said the woman should have been given leniency.
In November, Daily Mail Australia reported on renewed calls to allow cyclists of all ages to ride among pedestrians in NSW.
Under current rules, children under 16 and adults accompanying them are allowed to ride on footpaths in NSW.
This means children can ride on the footpath unless there is a ‘no bicycles’ sign, but older riders cannot unless they are supervised by a younger person.
Similar rules also apply in Victoria, where riders over the age of 13 must be on the road.
The heated debate was thrust back into the spotlight after Wollongong City Council, south of Sydney, officially proposed a state-wide change this week.
If approved, adult cyclists can share the sidewalk with pedestrians.
NSW Police posted about the incident on social media, warning the public of the dangers of unsafe riding on e-bikes.