Rider critically injured after allegedly fleeing police

A man who was riding an e-bike without a helmet is in a critical condition after crashing into a telegraph pole while allegedly fleeing police in Sydney’s south-west.

Officers had tried to stop the 39-year-old man after seeing him riding along Bungulla Street, Sadleir, without a helmet about 11pm on Saturday.

After seeing the officers, the rider allegedly rode away before crashing into a pole, police said. He was treated at the scene for serious injuries, and taken to Liverpool Hospital, where he underwent surgery and remains in a critical but stable condition.

Police have declared the crash a critical incident, and an investigation overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has been launched into the circumstances around the incident.

Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden said officers had followed the rider along several streets and were “very close” to the man when he collided with the pole.

McFadden said the e-bike did not have pedals and was solely powered by its motor.

The police officers in the car when the rider collided with the pole had not been interviewed as of noon on Sunday, McFadden said.

McFadden said it was unclear how fast the e-bike was travelling, but that the impact with the pole was “significant”.

Both officers have undergone mandatory drug and alcohol testing. It is unclear if the car was behind the rider or alongside him when he crashed.

The crash comes as emergency doctors welcomed a crackdown on illegal e-bikes after several Sydney hospitals reported a doubling in serious e-bike related injuries.

New figures show trauma doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst last year treated 200 patients for injuries sustained while riding e-bikes.

The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick as of last week had treated 35 children injured by e-bikes and e-scooters this year, ranging from scrapes and fractures to suspected spinal and severe head injuries.

There were at least five e-bike related deaths in NSW last year. In July, a 14-year-old boy was killed coming off his bike, which his parents bought online and believed was an e-bike but was actually closer to a motorbike in its construction. A 65-year-old male pedestrian was killed after being hit by an e-bike in Toongabbie in October.

In December, an e-bike rider in his 30s was killed in a collision with a garbage truck in Ultimo.

Under proposed new laws, police will be given powers to seize and crush illegal e-bikes amid growing concern over the popularity of the high-powered vehicles dubbed “fat bikes”.

The state government will also introduce technology that allows police to carry out roadside testing to determine whether e-bikes exceed power limits.

The new portable “dyno units”, which measure a vehicle’s power output, would be used to determine whether an e-bike’s power assistance cuts at 25 kilometres per hour, the legal limit in NSW.