These are not great metrics, but are useful heuristics – including for verifying and comparing claims of density and network length metrics per council (a pertinent topic!) with deterministic, open source calculations on human-verified consensus-based data (OpenStreetMap – which I contribute to almost daily).

A better metric, perhaps the most important, is cycling access using safe streets and cycleways – and one I am deeply passionate about. Affordable homes where people want to live need safe access to destinations people want to visit (without burning oil). Measuring this metric is important – almost as important as increasing it.

UrbanSpectra is open to work for evaluating, modelling, visualising and communicating urban data – and has an exciting product in development. If your private or public organisation is looking for rigorous analysis or tools using such data, or is interested in an early demo of this product – get in touch!

UrbanSpectra‘s capability statement is published at urbanspectra.com/capability-statement/

The post Updates to Australian Cycleway Stats first appeared on Jake Coppinger.

I’m pleased to share the completion of a recent commercial engagement by UrbanSpectra in collaboration with the Cooks River Alliance: the Cooks River Catchment Map.

The Cooks River Catchment Map is a user-friendly interactive map, designed to maximise the visibility, accessibility and accountability of improvements in the Cooks River catchment.

This easy-to-use catchment map effectively creates a 24/7 planning and reporting mechanism, increasing visibility for the public and providing information, accountability and tracking for decision makers.

The Cooks River Alliance is a partnership between organisations in the Cooks River Catchment, including Bayside Council, Canterbury-Bankstown Council, Inner West Council, Strathfield Council and Sydney Water.

The map is published at ourbackyardriver.com.au, and includes a table displaying the status of projects taking place in the catchment.

UrbanSpectra is a studio building data-driven mapping and urban analysis software for cities with a vision, founded by Jake Coppinger. UrbanSpectra brings a digital-native approach to understanding and improving cities, with great respect for direct observation and community engagement.

Table of contents

The Map

Drawing on examples like the Los Angeles River Revitalization program, the Cooks River Catchment Map is designed to be a tool for the public and decision makers to understand and advocate for a healthier river.

The map was built by UrbanSpectra, however editorial control of what is displayed on the map (and ongoing updates) remains under the care of the Cooks River Alliance.

The Cooks River Alliance aims to address the complex environmental problems of the Cooks River Catchment. The river runs through some of the most heavily urbanised and industrialised areas in Australia, but much of the catchment takes in popular walking trails and cycle paths, parks and facilities and significant native flora and fauna.

The map enables users to quickly see all proposed, under construction or completed projects across the entire catchment at one click. The features on the map remain an ever-improving work in progress, with continued updates and additions by the Cooks River Alliance as new projects are completed or data becomes available.

If you have feedback on the map, the Cooks River Alliance would love to hear from you – please contact them at info@cooksriver.org.au.

Community Efforts

The condition of the river has improved considerably in recent years, in large part due to persistent efforts by local community groups and stakeholders.

The map pinpoints bushcare sites under the care of the well-known Mudcrabs, a local community group caring for the Cooks River, regularly restoring bushland and removing rubbish. The map highlights bushcare sites by the Wolli Creek Preservation Society, a wholly volunteer organisation caring for the bush since the 90s (which also saved the Wolli Creek Valley from the proposed surface M5 expressway along the Wolli Valley past Turrella). The map points to the Cooks River Paddle Trail, which assists canoe and kayak enthusiasts to explore the river – and whose volunteers have removed at least 1.2 tonnes of litter.

Showcasing the information and efforts of work by local community groups is a critical function of the map, which links to these organisations and helps users learn about nearby efforts they could join.

The map also visualises the extent of the sheet steel piling along the river, which has been a significant focus of the community and was extensively discussed at the recent forum hosted by the Cooks River Catchment Community Collective in November 2025.

Council Projects

There are lots of great projects happening in the Cooks River catchment, by a number of distinct councils and organisations. Varied projects include park upgrades, new boat ramps, new footpaths, cycleways and lighting improvements. All the data on the map is also displayed in a tabular format on the about page for easy stakeholder reference.

Engineering

UrbanSpectra undertook product and software development for the map, working closely with the Cooks River Alliance through regular check-ins and a structured evaluation of potential solutions and platforms before build. CRA staff tested the map and admin tools in blitz-review sessions, and the team kept a shared feedback register to prioritise fixes before launch.

A significant challenge in the initial brief was empowering non-technical Cooks River Alliance staff to create and continuously update map layers, including the ability to import data from external sources (such as council documents) which are typically published as non-georeferenced raster images.

UrbanSpectra developed an innovative solution to enable CRA staff to georeference maps in documents using a browser-based tool without any software installation required, integrating with the existing CRA data storage to load data into the map – all without the need for any technical geospatial or GIS expertise.

A map is only useful if it is accurate and up to date. Along with existing data held by the Alliance, the Cooks River Catchment Map enables CRA staff to ingest features directly from OpenStreetMap, as well as georeferencing documents as they become available and from their own and other sources. This enables up-to-date layers from community and government map contributors, such as proposed and under-construction cycling infrastructure. The flexibility of running queries on OpenStreetMap data supports unlimited flexibility for future features and layers.

The project was originally only required to investigate and evaluate options for a draft map solution and a beta version, however thanks to initial prototyping and the flexibility of the solution it has evolved into a functional production-ready map.

UrbanSpectra approached the project in an iterative manner, with early prototypes and spikes to align stakeholders amid a wide-open project brief to identify necessary functionality. UrbanSpectra assisted with branding and defining the scope of the project.

Initial prototypes leveraged familiar interfaces for the team like spreadsheets and Airtable before developing a more flexible custom backend – which takes non-technical users step-by-step through the process of georeferencing maps and adding data to the map. UrbanSpectra also delivered detailed technical and user training documentation.

From a technical perspective, Jake Coppinger led all aspects of the solution design and delivery, including:

• Product co-design and scoping with the Cooks River Alliance team
• Project management and delivery oversight, using an incremental approach with a rapidly improving deliverable and tight feedback loop.
• Full-stack software development, from the frontend design, serverless backend with authentication, hosting and ingestion of data from external sources.
• Graphic design
• Technical and user training documentation

The result is a reliable, easy-to-use (and easy-to-maintain) custom map built on industry-standard technologies, with comprehensive documentation and extensive flexibility for future feature development.

What’s Next?

If you have an interesting challenge in the urban analytics, planning or community consultation space and would like to collaborate – let’s chat: jake@urbanspectra.com

While currently developing software, UrbanSpectra is available for new projects.

UrbanSpectra founder Jake Coppinger writes about policy advocacy and open-source projects on his personal blog at jakecoppinger.com.

This blog post has been reviewed with the client before publication.

The post Introducing the Cooks River Catchment Map for the Cooks River Alliance first appeared on Jake Coppinger.

Have you heard of the Southern Arterial Route in Sydney? I hadn’t either – but you won’t be able to unsee the scar through Ultimo, Chippendale, Redfern and Waterloo. Here’s a ~12,000-word Wikipedia article with 153 references – with page numbers, for every sentence – to bring you and your search engine up to speed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Arterial_Route?useskin=vector

Only a few years after the Erskineville Uprising of 1985 there were substantial protests against this urban arterial road. Clover Moore opposed it in her 1988 campaign for the Bligh electorate and described it as a “Claytons freeway” – 38 years ago. 150 people attended a meeting to fight against it, and there were direct action protests after the opening, with 60 demonstrators in the street blocking Redfern traffic for an hour. “Guerilla acts hit the DMR” said the headlines. There were at least 36 Sydney Morning Herald articles on the development. It’s hard to oppose something if you don’t know the name of it.

After the partial opening in 1992 there was a “dramatic increase in traffic”. The traffic was so heavy residents’ walls cracked and caused structural damage to several homes. Noise interfered with conversations inside homes and disturbed sleep of residents. Crossing the street became difficult “in particular for children, the aged, disabled and mentally ill”. Residents moved out due to high lead levels in the blood of their daughter. The supermarket suffered a 30% decline. A resident was told their house value dropped by $50,000 in 1993 dollars (when the median Sydney house price was ~$188,000). The principal of the Alexandria Public School (Alexandria Park Community School) stated he was “not game” to have his pupils tested for lead levels in their blood – “if they’re high over in Balmain, there’s no way they aren’t going to be as high here”.

There were so many car crashes “Mike”, who lived on a busy corner of Wyndham, ran “a kind of unofficial St John’s Ambulance station from his house” – coming out to look after the victims lying on the road. He said “Since I’ve lived here I’ve lost 5 blankets.. and saved two lives.” – before a car crashed into his own house. Mike stated “They are crucifying the people who live here”.

The Southern Arterial Route should not be extended (as assumed in Future Transport 2056). “if people count, Stage 3 of the Southern Arterial will not be built” (Citizen’s Report for proposed Stage 3, 1993). It should be at least partially reverted, per the 2021 Botany Road Corridor Urban Design Study (or perhaps even more ambitiously). The Citizen’s Report for the unbuilt stage 3 continued “on the same grounds, Stage 2 will be undone or significantly modified.”

Reviewers considered the draft neutrally written. In the spirit of Wikipedia, I hope you may agree the facts speak for themselves.

After two rounds of peer review through Wikipedia’s Articles for Creation review process (it was initially light on secondary references), my draft received a B-Class quality rating, placing in the top 4% of accepted articles. Personal compliments are not permitted on Wikipedia; review feedback included the article “…is, to say the least, very well documented”.

But now – this page is yours! If you spot any errors, notice something I missed, or find something I didn’t, hit that edit button! (you don’t need an account and your IP address isn’t even shown) It hopefully won’t remain only my writing for long. In the AI era, Wikipedia has never been more valuable. Thanks so much to the pseudo-anonymous editors who reviewed it and have made corrections.

This route threads the histories of the Green Bans and Wran’s 1977, Clover’s 1988 political campaign and the Darling Harbour opening that year, Anzac Bridge, the growth of Green Square and ongoing story of urban renewal in Waterloo.

Construction of the Southern Arterial potentially made traffic worse than doing nothing at all. The “Wyndham Street Residents’ Alternative” proposal, dismissed in the 1987 EIS but approximately matching the as-built design today, performs “significantly worse” (for cars) than if it was never implemented at all (according to the traffic modelling). The implementation of Stage 2 created such congestion that it drove people to support Stage 3 on the grounds that it would abolish the bottleneck at Henderson Road/Raglan Street/Wyndham Street. At this intersection it can be faster to catch the metro from Central to Waterloo than walk across this road, due to traffic signals timing. (Why Did the Chicken Catch the Metro? Because It Was Faster Than Crossing the Road…”, 2024)

More recently there have been proposals to partially revert the damage. Improvement seems politically or organisationally challenging – even the Redfern Waterloo Authority, created by “the most draconian and arrogant bill” Clover had ever seen and the “most draconian” agency she had encountered, was not able to wrestle the Roads & Traffic Authority to improve the street. The Citizen’s Advocate for the proposed Stage 3 claimed in 1993 that “some RTA personnel” have confidence that “not enough people care enough for there to be any danger of their plans not being realised.” I hope times have changed.

Keep the Southern Arterial in mind when you are late to uni and seemingly wait forever at the Broadway traffic lights, as you queue outside Radio Taco, as you risk your life crossing Cleveland Street mid-block amid missing crossings (or just give up visiting businesses on the other side), as you exit ABC’s headquarters looking up to the UTS pedestrian overpass, as you awkwardly balance on your bike waiting to cross from Mary Ann St to the Kelly Street cycleway, as you emerge from a carpark labyrinth in an uphill slog on Allen Street and face a (new) fence on Ultimo St, take a breather late at night on the Abercrombie Hotel balcony overlooking over that strange triangle island (perhaps during a dystopian city concept album), and when you pass the vacant shop fronts on Regent Street and Botany Road.

The proposal for this high-traffic, one-way pair urban vehicle arterial along urban shopping streets (a stroad) seems to have resurfaced every few years since at least 1969. It was resuscitated after the Wran government’s 1977 sell-off of road reservations put to rest terrifying plans to raze vast tracts of inner city housing to build surface expressways, Robert Moses-style. It appears the city council pushed for the arterial as an alternative to stave off these horrifying expressway plans (see 1974). As plans for road widening requiring “extensive property resumption” the council pushed a one-way scheme instead (1983). Eventually the DMR moved forward (1987) with such proposals, and there was opposition from a (perhaps transformed) council (1988).

The Pyrmont-Alexandria Traffic Management Proposal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was approved in 1987 “amid controversy” (SMH), seemingly intentionally the least worst option against an alternate elevated expressway callously struck through the heart of Redfern (The Public Transport Option was dismissed as “Diversion of car drivers and passengers to the existing rail network is not considered likely”) and because “neither rail or bus public transport satisfies the objectives of the Proposal”.

The immensely unpopular project was never completed and seems to have lurked just under the surface in the state roads department ever since. The unstoppable force of road building met an immovable object in the 1990s recession (with the official reason being uncertainty of the M5 exit blocking traffic modelling for the EIS) – only to re-emerge in a 2003-2006 gasp for air (I don’t know what happened in 2006 – let me know or even better, edit the page).

Plans to expand this arterial perhaps still lurk in the deep. There are lukewarm public documents published within the last 6 years which assume extension of this urban high-vehicle-capacity arterial. The unbuilt Stage 3 extension of the Southern Arterial was predicted to cut average delays by only 12 seconds, from 24 to 12 seconds (and rising from 12 to 25 seconds by 2005). Such numbers remind me of the modelling to increase vehicle capacity at Epping Bridge, causing induced demand.

As recently as 2023 the state government removed a pedestrian crossing at Allen Street and Harris Street against their policy – to save motorists an estimated 8 seconds in the AM-peak (according to the modelling). In January 2025 even more slip lanes were added at Cleveland Street and Regent Street with unclear consultation, but in 1987 this wasn’t just an intersection: “A focus on city views” was emphasised on a drawing titled St. Paul’s Place. The polluted confluence of the Cleveland Street and Regent Street traffic sewers was a public square/place, but this non-place still has a name. This urban arterial has flown under the radar for far too long.

Wyndham Street residents – cling to your zebra crossings! The Southern Arterial does, after all, take in one of only two ‘unimproved’ surface AusRAP 2-star segments in the City of Sydney (the other one, City Road and Newtown’s King Street, will be a “traffic nirvana” any day now). History is not over.

On the sunny side, there are also proposals floating out there to partially revert the damage and turn the Regent Street stroad back into lively shopping street – and improve the amenity for the substantial density of new housing being constructed nearby. Further north, perhaps the long-overdue removal of the Wentworth Park greyhound track and new homes nearby will spur a rethink of Wattle Street. Currently this road cuts residents off from their hard-won parkland (so dangerous the adjacent school needs an overpass). Perhaps it’s time for road-space reallocation for buses (and active transport) with safer speed limits, now we have a parallel heavy rail, metro, a second airport, no more Port Jackson freight, and of course – WestConnex.

The least we owe the residents of Redfern and Waterloo is to improve the safety and amenity of this street.

You might like to check out the Sydney Morning Herald Archives site. For a very reasonable fee you get time-limited search access to some fascinating history, and the results are still accessible for free afterwards. The (newly renovated) State Library is a wonderful place – I’d like to spend more time there. I’ve learned a lot about Sydney’s planning and transport history and why things are the way they are. I was originally going to publish this last year, but terrible events occurred so I postponed.

Wikipedia is wonderful – it’s like OpenStreetMap but an encyclopaedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Arterial_Route?useskin=vector

After four weeks of talking to people and reviewing the evidence, my chief
conclusion is simply this: if people count, Stage 3 of the Southern Arterial will not be built. Further, on the same grounds, Stage 2 will be undone or significantly modified.

This inclusion of Stage 2 is important for the reason that abandonment of Stage 3 alone will not solve the traffic problems in this area. The implementation of Stage 2 to the Henderson Road/Raglan Street intersection has, for example, created such ugly congestion, especially in Wyndham Street, that it drives people to supporting Stage 3 on the grounds that it will at least abolish this awful bottleneck. Stage 3 (in its unimplemented form) can appear as the lesser of two evils. Ideally we need a solution to the problems of Stage 2 which does not involve the evils of Stage 3.

Hall Greenland (1993-06-30). “Citizen’s Response to the proposed Stage 3 of the Southern Arterial (Citizen’s Advocate Report)”.

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The post Have you heard of the Southern Arterial Route? first appeared on Jake Coppinger.

On Tuesday, a man in his 30s riding a Lime e-bike, motor-limited to 25km/h, was struck^[1][2][a] by a 28-year-old man driving a garbage truck at Little Regent Street and Broadway, Ultimo – and died at the scene.^[3][4][5][6] This is a legal e-bike – and the man was just a few hundred metres from Sydney’s Central Station – so why did the man die? Why aren’t the media calling for safety improvements to Broadway – an 8 to 9 lane dual-carriageway TfNSW-controlled state road without any bike lanes, just a few hundred metres from the Sydney CBD and Central Station, and on the doorstep of the Tech Central precinct hosting some of Australia’s most successful tech companies?^[7]

Not a single one of the articles, from SMH (news^[8] or editorial^[9]), ABC News^[10], The Guardian^[11], AAP^[2], 9 News^[12], Pedestrian^[13], Sunrise^[14], 7 News live blog^[5], News.com.au^[4], The Daily Telegraph^[1], Sky News^[15], The Daily Mail^[16], or The Nightly^[17], mentions that there is no protected bike lane on George Street / Parramatta Road / Broadway, or that the man who died was on a legal, 25km/h limited Gen4 Lime e-bike.

In fact, most of these articles give the impression that the rider was on an illegal or high-powered e-bike travelling at high speed. Safe cities which have achieved Vision Zero (yes, they exist^[18][19]) do not ban e-bikes – they make streets safer so that people aren’t killed by motor vehicles. Of the 205 pedestrian deaths recorded across Australia in the year ending 31 July 2025^[20], WalkSydney is aware of two that are confirmed to have been caused by people using e-mobility devices.^[21]

Wednesday’s Sydney Morning Herald editorial^[9] titled “We need to rethink the use of e-bikes, especially by children”^[b] went so far as to say “even drivers” need to be protected from e-bikes, and that “delivery drivers who rely on these machines must follow road rules” – no mention of the mass of the vehicle involved or that Little Regent Street is one-way southbound at that intersection^[22] (SMH even deleted the exact location of the crash from the first article version at 10:45am – in print you wouldn’t know what street it was on). While Everybody Limes^[23], gig economy delivery riders are in one of the most vulnerable economic positions in our society.^[c] Too often it feels like media coverage depicts delivery riders as villains, singling them out for special treatment. In Australia we pride ourselves on a safe workplace environment as a given.

Where are the bike lanes? Why is funding for safe cycling and walking infrastructure ~0.2% of total NSW transport funding? (has any journalist even written^[d] what percentage it is?) Why isn’t it 20% as recommended by the UN^[25], as per recommendation 16 of the Parliament of NSW inquiry into “Use of e-scooters, e-bikes and related mobility options”^[26] which the NSW Government “Support in principle”?^[27] Why was the federal $100m active transport fund at least 10x oversubscribed^[28], and ~74% of Get NSW Active grants rejected?^[c] Where is the focus on Western Sydney access inequality?^[30][31][32] Why is TfNSW so resistant^[32] to road space reallocation on state roads (when supported by councils^[33], their own strategy^[34] and supported by that Grattan report^[35][36])? Why does Paul Nicolaou publicly argue against safer 30km/h speed limits on high streets^[37][38] when a previous Business Sydney report stated^[39] it would be beneficial for businesses? (even 2GB agrees 30km/h is “going to be safer”^[40]) Where is the TfNSW PRUAIP^[41][42] post-Westconnex or PUTP C6^[43][44]? In other words, where is the detailed journalism? I write this with the utmost respect for the craft, of reporters who are “in their late twenties or early thirties”^[45], are “young enough to breathe that kind of air”^[45] and go up against “unmovable forces”^[45] (as surely the “Boulevard of broken dreams”^[46][47] and traffic signal prioritisation are^[48]) – but this isn’t it.

In my downtime, I have been maintaining a detailed list of every pedestrian and cyclist fatality in NSW in 2025 (with 292 references and counting), because even our beloved ABC “inaccurately suggested that e-scooters and e-bikes played a significant part in the rise in pedestrian deaths”, when “the fatalities were in fact the riders of e-scooters” (ABC Correction^[49]). I am not a journalist, and this is not my job. It has been harrowing sitting down each morning to read the TfNSW “NSW Road Toll [sic] – Daily” report – which TfNSW removes access to daily – and NSW Police news reports – which seemingly disappear after some months. These systems make it almost impossible to keep a contemporary record of crashes and road trauma using official statistics and Police information. Quite frankly, I wish an actual journalist did this instead of me – I am exhausted.

This man and anyone else in his position deserved to get to his destination safely, and to his family for the holidays. The NSW Government wants walking and bike riding to be the preferred way to make short trips and a viable, safe and efficient option for longer trips.^[50] So why isn’t it, and why aren’t we talking about that? Not only has our state government failed to make Parramatta Road / Broadway safe for anyone outside a car, and perhaps most inner city state roads (Oxford Street excluded), but the media has also failed to call this out. The least we owe this man is to address the root cause. In ‘world cities’ like London, Paris, Helsinki, Oslo and Copenhagen people even can even ride safely without helmets thanks to safe streets and protected separated cycleways.

I’m not interested in laying blame on involved individuals; I want to support systemic change so people walking or riding safe bicycles aren’t killed on our local streets – so that I or someone I care about won’t die on this street one day.

I dare you to go for a bike ride down Broadway (or Parramatta Road, or Cleveland Street^[c], or King Street (Newtown), or Victoria Road, or the Southern Arterial Route) and tell me e-bikes are the problem.

Journalists: please seek advice, background or quotes from Bicycle NSW, Better Streets, WalkSydney, or the Committee for Sydney on stories about road safety. They will be more than happy to assist you with best-practice, policy-informed, evidence-backed commentary.

Accuracy and language

If you have any concerns, feedback, corrections or additions regarding this post, please contact me at jake@jakecoppinger.com. I have disabled comments. While I am not a journalist, I have made every effort to use accurate, factually correct and appropriate language, and have followed Australian and international road safety communication guidelines.^{[51][52][53][54][55][56]} Any corrections or suggestions on language are much appreciated.

Review of media coverage of the death

Note: See full list of every pedestrian, cyclist and personal mobility device road deaths in NSW in 2025 here: https://jakecoppinger.com/2025/11/list-of-pedestrian-cyclist-and-personal-mobility-device-road-deaths-in-nsw-in-2025/

News that this death was a person on an e-bike appeared to reach the NSW Premier Chris Minns while he was live, mid-interview^[e], on 2GB radio (see transcript below). This was to announce a pre-planned and reasonable proposal to reduce the maximum power of legally purchased e-bikes in NSW to 250 watts, in line with European standard EN-15194^[58] and other Australian states.^[57] This import rule change was reported by ABC News on the 27th of November.^[58]

The media then proceeded to link, without presenting evidence, this death of an e-bike rider (on a legal, 25km/h limited Lime bike) to the proposal to reduce the maximum power of legally purchased e-bikes in NSW.

While “It is unclear how fast the rider and garbage truck were travelling in Tuesday’s incident.” (an earlier, now deleted sentence from a Sydney Morning Herald article^[8]) and “We don’t know the circumstances of that crash”^[57], the title of several news articles made possibly misleading inferences about this death of a person riding a legal e-bike:

• Speed limits urged after e-bike rider dies in crash (AAP News)^[2]
• NSW Premier Chris Minns considers reducing e-bike speed limits after fatal Sydney crash (9News)^[12]
• E-bike laws: Chris Minns announces 250-watt limit after rider killed in Sydney’s CBD after collision with garbage truck (webpage title / previous article title), ‘Terrible’: Minns announces 250-watt e-bike limit after rider killed in Sydney CBD (early home page title^[59]), E-bike power limits to be halved after rider dies in Sydney crash (article and home page title as of 2025-12-02 17:51) – Sydney Morning Herald^[8]
• NSW considering plan to halve power and top speed of ebikes as rider dies in collision with garbage truck (The Guardian)^[11]
• NSW Premier Chris Minns flags new e-bike regulations after man killed in ‘terrible’ collision with garbage truck in Sydney (Sky News)^[15]

A Lime e-bike (appearing to be a Gen4) was at the scene with the front wheel separated from the front fork.^[2] The bike was taken away from the scene on a truck.^[11] Gen4 Lime e-bikes have a maximum continued power rating of 350W and have a power assist speed limiter at 25km/h.^[60]

Sunrise (Liam Tapper) stated the person on the bike was “potentially a delivery driver”^[c] and “…a man believed to be in his 30s, a delivery driver, …”. The Police press release does not mention this, and with the exception of an image caption on The Nightly, no other news outlets reported this.^[14]

NSW Police Press Release

The NSW Police press release is dated 07:13:46am.^[3] It states the crash occurred at “about 6am”. While light on details, it is factual and uses accurate and appropriate language, as one would expect.

Daily Telegraph

First article

The Daily Telegraph published an article titled “Man dies after being struck by garbage truck while riding an e-bike in Sydney’s inner city” at 7:10am, by authors William Tyson and Rory Williams.^[1]

Second article

The Daily Telegraph published a second article at 6:35am on the day after the crash^[61] (authors Eliza Barr, James O’Doherty, Josh Hanrahan, Amy Jackson, Jordan Miller). This article was published on the front page, and titled “Cycle of Madness”, “Fresh calls to curb out-of-control e-bikes”. ^[62]

The Daily Telegraph reported the death alongside comments from Harold Scruby, who called for banning under 17-year-olds from riding e-bikes, while the man who died was in his 30s. It included “Calls for tougher rules came as a Lime bike rider was killed after being hit by a garbage truck in the CBD.”^[61](this was not an illegal or unsafe e-bike). It also included “In the wake of the death, Pedestrian Council of Australia CEO Harold Scruby called for under 17-year-olds to be banned from riding e-bikes.” (however, this death was of a man in his 30s). The Daily Telegraph states “It’s understood the garbage truck had been collecting bins on Little Regent St before pulling out onto George St, where it collided with an e-bike rider.”^[61]. Little Regent Street is a one-way street southbound at the intersection of George Street (Broadway).^[22] It includes “…calls for tougher rules to keep riders and motorists have been sounded, after a Lime bike rider was killed in a CBD crash.” The exclusion of the word “safe” in that byline appears to be a typo. Motor vehicles cause the overwhelming majority of road deaths and serious injuries in Australia and internationally.

Sydney Morning Herald

Breaking news article

Digital (2025-12-02)

The Sydney Morning Herald (Jessica McSweeney) published an article on the crash, titled “E-bike rider killed in Sydney’s CBD after collision with garbage truck” at 8:19am.^[8] At 10:45am the article was updated , titled “E-bike power limits to be halved after rider dies in Sydney crash” (as of the `20251202062725` snapshot) to remove most details about the crash, appearing to link the death to the e-bike power limits announcement, and removing the sentence “It is unclear how fast the rider and garbage truck were travelling in Tuesday’s incident.” The only remaining mentions of the crash in the 14 paragraphs are “The announcement was made just hours after an e-bike rider in his 30s was killed in a collision with a garbage truck in Ultimo on Tuesday.” and “After Tuesday’s fatal crash between the e-bike rider and a 28-year-old garbage-truck driver, police said it was believed the rider was not wearing a helmet. A report will be prepared for the coroner.”

The current Sydney Morning Herald article as of 2025-12-02 17:51 shows an unrelated photo of teenagers safely riding in a bike lane on an unnamed (unrelated) street. It does not even mention the street the crash was on, let alone identifying systemic issues which may have contributed to the crash.

Print (2025-12-03)

The 2025-12-03 Sydney Morning Herald print article was titled “Power cuts ahead for the state’s easy riders” and displayed at the top of the front page. The photo is captioned “”Fat tyre” e-bikes on the streets of Kurnell, Photo: Janie Barrett”. The subtitle is “Maximum e-bike speeds will be slashed from 60 to 30km/h under new laws to make the streets safer”, prompting the reader to turn to page 4 (no article text is displayed on the front page). Note that Chris Minns’ 2GB interview did not state a 30km/h limit, but implied bikes with 250W would likely not make it up to 60km/h.^[57]

On page 4, the article is the first on the page (top left). It is titled “E-bike power to be halved after fatality”. It included the Harold Scruby quote.

Editorial article (2025-12-03)

Wednesday’s Sydney Morning Herald editorial^[9] was titled “We need to rethink the use of e-bikes, especially by children”. The title in the SMH source code, perhaps a prior print or A/B tested title, is “E-bikes in NSW: As Chris Minns cuts maximum power and speed, we still need to think about the children who ride them”.

In print, this editorial appeared on page 18, under Opinion, and was titled “Rethink e-bike use, especially for children”.

I include criticism of this article in the initial section.

Opinion Article (2025-12-03)

On Thursday, the Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion article titled “An e-bike for Christmas? That would be a big fat no” at 5am. (author Alexandra Smith, State Political Editor).^[63]. It states:

“On Tuesday, Premier Chris Minns promised he would bring NSW in line with the rest of the country and halve the maximum battery power from 500 watts to 250 watts and reduce the top speed to 30km/h. He made the comment just after an adult e-bike rider was killed by a garbage truck in Ultimo.”^[3]

Breaking news article (2025-12-04)

On Thursday, the Sydney Morning Herald published a breaking news article titled “Man critical after being knocked off e-bike” (author Jack Gramenz).^[64]

Knocked off by what? According to the Northern Beaches Advocate, “multiple Triple Zero (000) calls were made to report a man riding an e-bike had been hit by a four-tonne (4t) delivery truck”.^[65] Why is four-tonne truck not in the title, or in the first paragraph?

“The white 2022 Hino 300 delivery truck was driven by a man in his 20s, and was in the kerbside lane travelling at approximately 60 km/h down Newport Hill, when it has impacted a Dirodi Rover e-bike ridden by a 55-year-old man. The significant force of the impact ripped the rear wheel from the e-bike. The truck is then believed to have gone over the e-bike, with the rider going under the wheels.”^[65]

Why is the title not something like “Man driving four-tonne truck strikes bike rider on 6 lane road”? This could have been any bike rider on this road; this could have been me. Barrenjoey Road at Grandview Pde is a 6 lane (dual-carriageway) 60km/h road with no separated cycleway and there is no viable alternative route for cyclists^[f] travelling to/from the entire Palm Beach peninsula. From personal experience on a non-electric bike (3 months ago) this road is terrifying to cycle on.

As of midday Friday (5th December) the man remains in a critical condition in intensive care.^[65]

The article includes “Premier Chris Minns on Tuesday announced plans to halve the power limit on bikes sold in NSW to 250 watts, hours after a rider in his 30s was killed in a collision with a garbage truck.”^[64]

Weekend Opinion Article (2025-12-06)

On Saturday, the Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion article titled “That $4000 e-bike for your teenager almost killed me (but worry most for your kid)”^[66][g] (author Malcolm Knox). While raising reasonable and important concerns around gig-economy delivery app policies, and risks of illegal or high-powered e-bikes (which, as I have mentioned, is absolutely irrelevant to the fatality on Tuesday), this article also included othering of e-bike riders and unverified assumptions. Unhelpful and unnecessary comments such as:

“[safety] Concern for helmetless teens doubling or tripling on a $4000 gift from their parents does not come automatically.”

Why does the presence of a helmet^[h], or two people on a bike^[i], or the price of the bike, or the wealth of the parents qualify the journalist’s empathy? Is the death of someone not worthy of empathy or compassion if their bike costs $4000? Of the 205 pedestrian deaths recorded across Australia in the year ending 31 July 2025^[20], WalkSydney is aware of two that are confirmed to have been caused by people using e-mobility devices.^[21] Concern over “nearly getting bowled over” is reasonable, but this insensitivity was not necessary. I expect this from the dregs of the Facebook comments section, not from the good people at the Sydney Morning Herald – and certainly not from a two-time Walkley Award winning journalist.

“It’s important to distinguish between two kinds of e-bike riders. One is the adult food delivery rider… e-bikes are the conveyance of choice for your incoming pizza or pad thai. Riders, already exploited by the services that use them, are often the victims in incidents where car and truck drivers aren’t used to, or prepared to put up with, sharing the road … The other e-bike riders are children with parents wealthy enough to let them risk their lives on what are in effect ridiculously expensive unlicensed motorcycles.” (emphasis mine)

This is extremely reductive, to temper my language, to state there are only “two kinds” of e-bike riders – a “conveyance” for “your incoming pizza or pad thai” [sic] or children with “parents wealthy enough”. Have you not been to school drop off in the Inner West or on Bourke Street, or cycled around the city center or in Green Square? Or even just to the unbelievably cool showroom down at Omafiets? Have you not heard of people living with a disability who struggle to walk due to pain and use e-bikes as an accessibility device, of parents riding their kids to school – or I don’t know – a commuter? Stop othering people who ride e-bikes.

“Riders … are often the victims in incidents where car and truck drivers aren’t … prepared to put up with sharing the road.”

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “put up with” as “to accept or continue to accept an unpleasant situation or experience, or someone who behaves unpleasantly”.

If I rephrase this sentence using active voice, it comes out something like “Car and truck drivers often crash into people riding bicycles because they don’t accept the unpleasant situation of sharing the road with cyclists.”

I really hope the author is not excusing this behaviour as acceptable and to be tolerated. If not, perhaps condemnation of this mentality should be in the first paragraph. There are reams of papers on the dehumanization of cyclists.

“In New York, newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani aims to regulate the unreasonable demands on food-delivery riders that prompt them to ride recklessly. We could do with similar protections. This week’s announcement followed the death of a man in his 30s when his e-bike collided with a garbage truck.”

We absolutely could do with more protections – but this week’s announcement had nothing to do with food-delivery rider reform, and as this post discusses elsewhere, the announcement was not in response to this fatality.

Sunrise said verbally the person was “potentially” a delivery driver (and wrote “believed to be a delivery driver”) in the video description.^[14] While the SMH editorial included a hyperlink with the text “a delivery rider died”^[9], the SMH article this text links to (ie. the breaking news article) does not mention delivery rider (in either the 8:19am or 10:45am version).^[8] ABC^[10], AAP^[2] (who were present early enough to photograph the blue tent being erected) and The Guardian^[11] either (very reasonably) did not consider it relevant if the man who died was a delivery driver, or did not consider it was confirmed. I do not consider it sufficiently established as fact to write (or imply) if this man was a delivery driver.

Perhaps as the author only identifies “two kinds” of e-bike rider, and the rider who died wasn’t a child with “parents wealthy enough”, they assumed this man was a delivery driver. We should expect better journalism, and at the very least basic fact checking from the highly-respected and “most widely read masthead in the country”.

(among other measures, Mamdani’s “Regulating Delivery Apps & Protecting Delivery Workers” policy platform includes “improve street infrastructure”^[69] and “support street design strategies to improve cycling and e-bike safety”. To “create safer streets for deliveristas and all New Yorkers, the Mamdani administration will … Invest in and expand DOT’s e-bike programs, … Invest in and expand DOT’s innovative street designs to improve e-mobility and deliverista safety, such as: wider/additional bike lanes, passing zones, bicycle speed signal timing progressions (e.g. greenwaves), bike parking, and more.”^[70])

Please also note: In between the Chris Minns announcement and this opinion article, on Thursday (2025-12-04) a man driving a four-tonne truck struck a man riding an e-bike in Mona Vale. The man was critically injured. Barrenjoey Road at Grandview Pde is a 6 lane (dual-carriageway) 60km/h road with no separated cycleway and there is no viable alternative route for cyclists^[f] travelling to/from the entire Palm Beach peninsula. From personal experience on a non-electric bike (3 months ago) this road is terrifying to cycle on. As of midday Friday (5th December) the man remains in a critical condition in intensive care.^[65]

Warning on illegal e-bikes (2025-12-07)

On Sunday, the Sydney Morning Herald published an article titled “Doctors urge parents to stop buying illegal e-bikes as children’s injuries double” (authors Jessica McSweeney and Mostafa Rachwani).^[71]

This article was published after this blog post.

While it doesn’t discuss what percentage of walking or cycling fatalities are caused by motor vehicles (Motor vehicles cause the overwhelming majority of road deaths and serious injuries in Australia and internationally) or the lack of safe infrastructure for cycling, it does include this sentence I haven’t seen in any other article this week:

“Last Tuesday, Premier Chris Minns announced e-bike power limits would be lowered from 500 watts to 250 watts in NSW. The announcement came in the moments after a share-bike rider was fatally hit by a garbage truck at Haymarket. There is no suggestion the e-bike rider was speeding or riding an overpowered bike.” (emphasis mine)

I appreciate this addition.

Australian Associated Press

AAP News published an article at 10:25am (author Kat Wong)^[2]. Changes AAP News made at 1:14pm include (view Internet Archive diff from above the loginwall):

• changing the title from “Speed limits urged after e-bike rider dies in crash” to “E-bike rider killed in crash as safety warning sounds”
• replacing the text “An e-bike rider has died after slamming into a garbage truck, fuelling calls to regulate the increasingly popular form of transport.” to “An e-bike rider is dead after being hit by a garbage truck as authorities sound the alarm on the increasingly popular form of transport.”
• Inserting as a third paragraph “A man in his 30s was not wearing a helmet when he attempted to cross the road on an e-bike.”

The Daily Mail

The Daily Mail published an article titled “Sydney CBD traffic grinds to a halt after e-bike rider dies in crash with garbage truck” at 7:49am (author Kylie Stevens).^[16]

International road collision reporting guidelines state “Be mindful if reporting on traffic delays not to overshadow the greater harm, of loss of life or serious injury, which could trivialise road death.”^[72][73]

The Guardian

Live blog

There were two entries in The Guardian’s Live blog. The first, dated 7:54am, was titled “Ebike rider dies after collision with garbage truck in Sydney CBD”.^[74] The second was “Chris Minns says NSW considering ‘serious’ change to maximum power of ebikes amid safety concerns” at 8:59am (updated at 09.22am).^[75]

Article

The Guardian published an article titled “NSW considering plan to halve power and top speed of ebikes as rider dies in collision with garbage truck” at 10:27am (authors Nick Visser and Daisy Dumas).^[11] It stated “New South Wales is considering a plan to halve the maximum power and top speed of ebikes, after a rider died in a collision with a garbage truck in central Sydney.”

Sunrise (Seven Network)

The Sunrise segment spent a significant amount of time focusing on traffic disruption.^[14] At least one live broadcast was around 10:08am.^[j]

ABC News

ABC News published an article currently titled “E-bike rider killed in collision with garbage truck in Sydney CBD as NSW premier announces new legislation” (author Miriah Davis) at 12:18pm, and updated it at 1:34pm.^[10]

This article did, however, describe “He [Chris Minns] described today’s incident as a “tragedy” but reiterated the changes had already been commissioned…” (emphasis mine).

The Nightly

The Nightly published an article currently titled “Ultimo: Traffic chaos after e-bike rider killed in garbage truck collision near Sydney’s Central Station” (author Amy Lee) at 2025-12-01T20:39:55.000Z, and modified at 2025-12-01T22:34:23.608Z.^[17]

As with the Daily Mail article, the Nightly headline focused on the traffic impact before even mentioning the rider’s death.

7 News

7 News published a video segment titled “NSW pushes e-bike crackdown after fatal crash” at 7:16am on 2025-12-03.^[76] The segment started “Calls for a crackdown on dangerous e-bikes are growing louder and louder by the minute aren’t they after yet another crash claimed a life of a rider in Sydney.”

Crash site on 2025-12-03

By the day after, there was not a single indication someone had died. No 30km/h Emergency Street (as studied by Meredith Glaser and Kevin J. Krizek^[77][78] and presented at the USyd Festival of Urbanism in September^[79]), no temporary traffic-calming tools, no road closure, no flowers^[k].

Apart from a few people stopping and gesturing to their partners when crossing at the intersection, there was no sign anything had ever happened.

Broadway / Parramatta Road is unsafe

Note: This is far from a detailed or bullet-proof analysis. I hope a journalist might write one.

Parramatta Road has been dubbed the “boulevard of broken dreams”.^[46][47] I am not aware of a detailed analysis of crashes along the corridor, however it lights up like a Christmas tree on road crash maps (https://crashmap.carto.au/nsw, https://crashdash.crowdlab.com.au/app) Along the roughly one-thousand metres of Broadway/George Street from City Road to Lee Street, CrowdLab’s CrashDash shows 33 crashes (10 minor, 22 serious, 1 fatal) in just 3 years (Jan 2022 – Dec 2024).

“Enhance active transport experience along and across Broadway” is a goal of the TfNSW Pyrmont-Ultimo Transport Plan May 2024^[43]. “Action C6 is to “Investigate feasibility of cycleway connection along Broadway”.^[43] The Committee for Sydney also recommends a bike lane along the street.^[80], along with the stunning City of Sydney Access Strategy and Action Plan.^[81] The authority for Parramatta Road is TfNSW (the NSW State Government).

While Broadway sits in the middle of the economic powerhouse of Australia, walking along it is also a harrowing experience for people walking. Huge numbers of people walking to multiple universities are squeezed onto narrow footpaths. Improving pedestrian connectivity and “prioritising pedestrian crossings” is action 4D of the Tech Central Economic Strategy.^[82] I myself have felt unsafe on multiple occasions whilst walking as a pedestrian in the area and have noted and reported multiple near misses.

Sometime between 08:00 – 09:59 in Apr 2020^[l] a “light truck” reversing in a southbound direction on Little Regent Street (at Broadway) seriously injured a pedestrian (crash id 1231369).^[83] I have not found media reports on this, and as NSW Police press releases are deleted after some months I am unable to verify if there was a Police media release detailing the crash.

People walking along Broadway must wait multiple minutes to cross traffic signals at the Southern Arterial Route – another indicator of how our government prioritises cars over people walking.^[m] Fences are installed^[84] to stop people crossing mid-block, while in Hobart increasing the number of pedestrians crossing mid-block is considered a success metric indicating perceived safety.^[85] Traffic cycle times are typically over 110 seconds (almost 2 minutes) along all of Broadway. Giving people more time or opportunities to cross at traffic lights can reduce unsafe crossing by 34% – we don’t need an expensive sensor to tell us this. “Any delays in excess of [30 seconds] are not just inconvenient; they are hazardous.”^[86][87]

Just over 200 metres from the crash site, concerns were raised about pedestrian safety at the left-turn slip lane from Broadway into Wattle Street, Ultimo over at least 15 years or more. In the five years to June 2012, there were 32 reported crashes at the intersection of Wattle St and Parramatta Rd.^[88]. The RTA added more pedestrian signals rather than remove the slip lane because “of the unacceptable congestion and delays” (for cars).^[89]

Transcript of Chris Minns interview on 2GB, 2025-12-02

Segment titled “EXCLUSIVE – Speed limits coming for electric bikes”. This extract from the radio show does not state the start (wall clock) time of the segment.^[57] It references a NSW Police press release, titled “Parents urged to only buy legal e-bikes this Christmas” and published 09:05:25am.^[90] Transcribed using OpenAI Whisper Large v2 (offline), verified manually word-by-word. Punctuation is arbitrary.

Ben Fordham (Host)

Well there’s a warning for parents today. If you’re thinking of buying your kids an e-bike for Christmas, make sure it’s a legal one. Police are urging families to do their research and buy reputable e-bikes. The popularity of those ‘fat boy’ bikes has spiked over the past few years and that’s due to boost in numbers as well this Christmas.

And there’s a warning from police, there’s a growing number of dodgy e-bikes doing the rounds. The Police Assistant Commissioner Dave Driver says high-powered and illegal e-bikes are a big problem. He says what we want as Christmas approaches is that parents only purchase bikes that comply with New South Wales law. He’s told the Daily Telegraph we don’t want someone to make a mistake on an e-bike that they’ve never ridden before, we don’t want that mistake to cost them their life. So it’s a timely reminder as we make our way into Christmas because the cheaper alternatives can be unreliable when it comes to safety and they’re more likely to lead to fires when batteries are being charged.

And we understand the New South Wales Government is in fresh talks to introduce some new e-bike regulations, that’s what we’re being told. And the New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, is live in the studio right now. Premier, good morning to you.

Chris Minns – Premier of NSW

Good morning, Ben.

Ben Fordham (Host)

Have you bought your kids an e-bike for Christmas?

Chris Minns – Premier of NSW

No, I haven’t. No, I haven’t. And I worry about them. I’ve driven, we spend a lot of time on the road in my job and I’ve seen some particularly young kids on bikes that are more like motorbikes. There’s very little pedalling going on. They seem to be keeping up with the traffic which means that they’re traveling at 50 or 60 kilometers an hour and I suspect that there’s the limiters have been removed but in some cases they’re legally sold e-bikes it’s just that we’ve got a far higher limit in New South Wales compared to every other jurisdiction in the country.

Ben Fordham (Host)

We went out to Maccas recently for Mac Happy Day and we were dining in and we were there with the kids and I noticed and I said to my wife Jodie at the time I went look at the bikes turning up at Maccas every three or four minutes another e-bike turning up, parking, going inside, getting their food, really young kids on them and they do move quick and don’t get me wrong – I’ve had a go on one riding around a park not far from my place there a lot of fun but I would be really worried if it was one of my kids on one of those unregulated bikes.

Chris Minns – Premier of NSW

Yeah that’s right and as a result we are contemplating a pretty serious change. New South Wales is the only state where you can legally purchase an e-bike with 500 watts of power and we want to make a change to reduce that to 250 watts. It’s a significant change but it means that the highest limit that you can travel at is between currently between 50 and 60 kilometres an hour. That’ll be reduced to 25 and 30 kilometres an hour using pedal power. Every other state, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia has removed, limited to that model, the 250 watt model. We think we need to do it in New South Wales too.

Ben Fordham (Host)

So our bikes are traveling faster, legally they’re allowed to than in other states at the moment.

Chris Minns – Premier of NSW

Yeah that’s right, I mean there’s two variations, there’s the hotted up ones where the limit has been removed and they can travel incredibly quickly, far faster than moving traffic. They’re currently illegal but even legally purchased, in some cases ‘fat bikes’ have a 500 watt limiter which means that they can go as fast as a car, and as a result people are going to get hurt.

Ben Fordham (Host)

This has just come through right now and it’s timely considering the conversation we’re having. This is New South Wales Police communicating to us that an e-bike rider has just died in a collision involving a garbage truck in Sydney CBD this morning. So that’s the one that I mentioned just after 6 a.m. We’re now being told that an e-bike is involved. Emergency services were called to the intersection of Little Regent Street and George Street, Ultimo. Following reports of a crash, officers from Surrey Hills have attended. They found an e-bike and a garbage truck has collided. The e-bike rider, a man in his 30s, was treated by paramedics but died at the scene. The driver of the truck, a 28-year-old man, taken to hospital. Police have established a crime scene. A report will be prepared for the coroner.

It just underlines the point. We don’t know the circumstances of that crash, but it underlines the dangers out there right Premier?

Chris Minns – Premier of NSW

Yeah I think that’s right I mean this is obviously terrible and your..your heart goes out to that man’s family on the eve of Christmas for this to happen. Um. I mean it underlines the point, these are…these can be very dangerous there’s young kids that are using them. We want to make sure that people are safe particularly during the holiday period.

I mean don’t get me wrong Ben, obviously we want children out of the house, we want them off electronic devices, we want them playing with their friends but if they’ve got hotted up bikes that are as quick as a motorbike it can be incredibly dangerous.

Ben Fordham (Host)

So will you be seeking support from your opposite number Kelly Sloan in the opposition and other crossbench MPs to say if we want to change this we need your help or are you just able to do it yourself as Premier?

Chris Minns – Premier of NSW

I’m told when it comes to this one we can do it via regulation, so it doesn’t require legislation.

Ben Fordham (Host)

When do you expect that you’d be able to do it?

Chris Minns – Premier of NSW

In the coming months. I mean there’s obviously…there’s obviously a situation where people have legally bought bikes in good faith thinking that they’re completely compliant and they were so we’ll have to grandfather the scheme in, but I don’t want perfection to be the enemy of the good here. We do need to make a change and we want to do it.

Ben Fordham (Host)

Premier Chris Mins is with us live in the studio. If you’d like to ask him a question, you can dial the number 131873.

I’ve got Jim who wants to ask you something. If you want to throw your headphones on Premier.

And Jim, you can go right ahead because Chris Mins is listening.

You want to ask a question about e-bikes, do you? Go right ahead.

Jim (caller)

Yeah, good morning, Premier. I’d like to know when is the government going to get fair dinkum and introduce registration and insurance for these things?

Chris Minns – Premier of NSW

Well, Jim, I think we got fair dinkum about five minutes ago. I mean, that’s a big change for New South Wales. It puts us in line with the other states and we think it’s a necessary change.

Registration and insurance is incredibly expensive and timely. I’d rather do this in a stepped way. At the moment, the last thing New South Wales needs is more regulation. If you speak to most people in the state, they’ll say to you, We have to fill in a form to basically do everything in New South Wales. To add another registration for riding a bike, it seems like a step too far for me, but that doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything. This is a big change that I’m announcing today.

(discussion on coal fired power station)

Footnotes

References

The post Why Won’t the Media Report Accurately on Road Deaths? first appeared on Jake Coppinger.

This page is a list of pedestrian, cyclist and personal mobility device road deaths across New South Wales (Australia) in 2025, sourced from NSW Police press releases and daily government statistics. It is not guaranteed to be complete or up to date; BITRE monthly bulletins should be referenced for complete statistics (though preliminary and subject to revision).^[2]

Recently there have been several misleading media articles (in reputable sources) regarding these deaths in Australia.^[3] Some have “inaccurately suggested that e-scooters and e-bikes played a significant part in the rise in pedestrian deaths”, when “the fatalities were in fact the riders of e-scooters” (ABC Correction^[4]). Of the 205 pedestrian deaths recorded across Australia in the year ending 31 July 2025^[5], WalkSydney is aware of two that are confirmed to have been caused by people using e-mobility devices.^[3] Meanwhile, an article last weekend victim-blamed^[6] people riding bicycles without helmets for their deaths^[7], comparing this behaviour to smoking and suggesting we portray them like those who drive a car while drunk – no mention of an international perspective or the most important step in the hierarchy of risk control measures when discussing PPE: elimination of risk.^[8][9] Motor vehicles cause the overwhelming majority of road deaths and serious injuries in Australia and internationally.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15]: 7}

The intention of this reference is to assist journalists, advocates and the wider public by providing a clear and concise list with links to police press releases and daily road fatality statistics. Currently, NSW Police press releases are deleted or disappear after some months, and daily road death statistics are also deleted daily. All urls have been saved to (or retrieved from) the Internet Archive, a non-profit, where possible. I believe a reference of this information is in the public interest. Unfortunately it is currently almost impossible for an individual to keep track of press releases of road deaths across all modes.

For the avoidance of any doubt, the intent of this page is not to highlight or blame individuals involved in crashes, but to highlight the prevalence of these crashes and their commonalities, and the need for systematic change to address this road safety ‘blind spot’.

If you have any concerns, feedback, corrections or additions, please contact me at jake@jakecoppinger.com. You can also make a pull request on the git repository (which contains the Wikitext source) to edit this page.

Image: NSW Road Fatalities 12-month moving total, 2020 to 2025-11-10. Published in the Daily report on the NSW Centre for Road Safety website – this one will quickly become outdated.

Overview

The Transport for NSW 2026 Road Safety Action Plan has a target of 50% reduction in deaths and 30% reduction in serious injuries by 2030^[16], reiterated as the first strategic pillar in the October 2025 Connecting NSW Strategy.^[17]: 11 Eliminating road trauma is the number one priority listed in the Connecting NSW Strategy.^[17]: 5 The NSW Government has just started a review of the Road Safety Action Plan.^[a]

By 11 November 2025, pedestrian fatalities in New South Wales had increased by over 52% year-on-year^[b] (compared to 5% for driver fatalities^[c]) and pedal cyclist fatalities have tripled^[d] (2025 prelim to 2024 final, 12-month period ending 11 November).^[18] Pedestrian road deaths in Australia have risen nearly 50% in the last four years (to July 2025).^[19] In the combined 384 pages of the 2024-2025 TfNSW Annual Report there was one sentence on road fatalities.^[20][21]

More than 1100 pedestrians are struck by motor vehicles on NSW roads each year.^[22] Speed management is embedded within all 3 themes of the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30^[23] (and is a pillar of Vision Zero^[24]).

In December 2025 a federal proposal to reduce default speed limits on poor-quality country roads was released for public comment after consideration for 7 years.^[25] A paper by the federal Office of Road Safety argued a reduction in default speed limits from 100km/h to 80km/h on unsignposted roads would save 123 lives and prevent 4,182 serious injuries per year^[26]: 11 and save the economy $2.697 billion per year.^[26]: 67 More than 150 experts sent an open letter to government supporting the speed limit proposal. Only 11 days after consultation concluded, with about 11,000 submissions, the proposal was scrapped by state and federal transport ministers. The proposal attracted opposition from farmers, truckers and rural residents who said it would decrease productivity and rob them of valuable time with their families.^[25]

If you are struck by a car at 50km/h there is just a 10% chance you will survive. Your chance of survival increases to 60% if the car is travelling at 40km/h, and to 90% if struck at 30km/h.^[15] Wales cut local speed limits to 20mph (~30km/h), with a reduction in casualties of 26%^[27] on local roads – and over 100 Australian academics have called on Australia to allow the same.^[28]

Switching 50km/h speed limits to 30km/h would protect cyclists while barely affecting commutes.^[29][30] Transport for NSW does not permit local councils to independently reduce speed limits to safe speeds on any streets, including local residential, high streets or outside schools.^[31][32] While requests have been made^[33], I am not aware of any 30km/h request being approved since Manly in 2020.^[34]

Kobi Shetty introduced an ambitious 30km/h bill in NSW Parliament on the 13th of November 2025, endorsed by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the Australasian College of Road Safety, the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation, Safe Streets to School, 30Please, Better Streets, Bicycle NSW, WalkSydney, Road Sense Australia and Doctors for the Environment Australia.^[35][36][37] Some commentators have misrepresented^[38] statistics of crashes in which speed ‘is considered a factor’^[39][40] (ie. ‘speeding’^[41]) with the impact of speeds on fatalities (speed is not “30% related to fatalities”), the statistics of pedestrian fatalities occuring on streets with 50km/h speed limits^[42], and misrepresented the non-linear safety benefits of reducing speeds from 50km/h to 30km/h.^[38] After previously supporting 30km/h to improve safety and increase economic activity,^[43] Business Sydney now oppose safer speed limits on residential streets, claiming they would cause “red tape and confusion”.^[44][45]

Messaging and infrastructure also encourages cars to take a dominant position on the road.^[46][47] While Australian advertising campaigns market truck-like utility vehicles as weapons^[48][49][50] there are cities around the world which have already systematically reduced road deaths to zero.^[51][52]. There will never be a helmet strong enough^[53][54] to protect you from a person armed (Thinkerbell’s word choice^[50][55][e]) with a 2 tonne truck. Recent data from Manly shows giving people more time or opportunities to cross at traffic lights can reduce unsafe crossing by 34%^[57][58], however I am not aware of plans for wide-area improvements like in 2018^[59] (or open data on signals^[60]).

The NSW Government wants walking and bike riding to be the preferred way to make short trips and a viable, safe and efficient option for longer trips.^[61]

List of pedestrian, cyclist and personal mobility device road deaths in NSW in 2025

The following table includes media reports for fatalities of people walking, riding bicycles or using personal mobility devices, or as recorded in daily NSW Centre for Road Safety statistics. This table was last updated on 2025-12-19.

As of 2025-11-16, 51 pedestrians and 11 pedal cyclists were killed in the calendar year to midnight (up to and including November 16th).^[62] It is not possible to ensure completeness as past NSW Police press releases are currently deleted or disappear after some months and daily road toll statistics are deleted daily. There appear to be some fatalities with a Police press release^[63] which are not captured in the daily road toll statistics^[64][65], perhaps due to being outside a surveyed road reserve.^[f]

List of pedestrians, cyclists and personal mobility devices road injuries in NSW in 2025

Incidents with NSW Police press releases

This list was last updated on 2025-12-19. It is not possible to ensure completeness as past NSW Police press releases are currently deleted or disappear after some months.

• 2025-02-18: On 2025-02-18 a 35-year-old woman driving an SUV struck a 10-year-old boy at North Liverpool Road, Mount Pritchard. The boy was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[208][209]
• 2025-02-24: On 2025-02-24 a car struck a 63-year-old man riding a bicycle at the intersection of Sackville Street and Hamilton Road, Fairfield. The car left the scene following the crash. A 69-year-old woman was later arrested. The man riding the bicycle was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[210][211]
• 2025-04-14: A woman standing was hospitalised, and a man driving was killed, while the man was parking their car near the boat ramp at Manns Point in Greenwich. The car struck the woman and then entered the water.^[212][213]
• 2025-04-23: On 2025-04-23 a person driving a grey 2012 Ford Falcon struck a 28-year-old woman at the traffic lights at Barrenjoey Road, Mona Vale, near Park Street. The woman walking was taken to hospital in a serious condition.^[214]
• 2025-05-04: A woman, believed to be in her 20s, was struck by a car at Maxwells Avenue, Ashcroft. The car had left the scene. The woman was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[215][216]
• 2025-06-01: On 2025-06-01 a 34-year-old man driving a truck struck a 40-year-old man riding a bicycle at the intersection of Bourke Street and Rainford Street, Surry Hills. The man riding the bicycle was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[217][218]
• 2025-07-01: On 2025-07-01 a 45-year-old man driving a car struck a 58-year-old man walking at Cabramatta Road, Mount Pritchard. The man walking was found unconscious and was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[219][220]
• 2025-07-14: A person riding an e-bike was struck by a car at the intersection of Clinton and Dalton Streets, Orange. A 19-year-old woman was arrested and a car from the same location was seized for investigation.^[221][222] The man riding the e-bike was taken to Orange Base Hospital in a serious but stable condition and has since been released.^[223]
• 2025-07-14: A 29-year-old woman walking was struck by a car at the intersection of Woodville Road and Kirrang Avenue, Villawood. She was taken to hospital in a critical condition. Police were informed “that the woman was allegedly on a pedestrian crossing facing a green walk signal when she was struck by a blue Hyundai hatch back that had proceeded through a red traffic control signal.” The driver allegedly failed to stop. A 34-year-old man was later arrested.^[224]
• 2025-07-19: On 2025-07-19 a 33-year-old man driving a car struck a 86-year-old man walking at Botany Road, Botany. The man walking was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[225][226]
• 2025-07-25: Police charged that on 2025-07-25 a 39-year-old male constable struck a 55-year-old woman walking in a carpark in Dubbo before driving from the scene.^[227]
• 2025-08-07: On 2025-08-07 a 32-year-old man driving a car struck a 29-year-old man walking. Police were told the vehicle was allegedly performing burnouts. The man walking was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[228][229]
• 2025-09-03: On 2025-09-03 a 24-year-old man driving a car struck a women, believed to be in her 60s, at Taber Place, Bradbury. The woman walking was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[230][231]
• 2025-09-06: On 2025-09-06 police were told 37-year-old man driving a car crashed into another vehicle before continuing into a fence at Bourke Street, Dubbo, and then collided with an 87-year-old and 85-year-old woman. The 87-year-old pedestrian was found laying on the road with serious internal injuries and a hand injury. The 85-year-old woman had suffered a head injury. Both people walking were taken to hospital in a stable condition.^{[232][233][234]}
• 2025-09-25: On 2025-09-25 a 56-year-old man driving a car struck a 61-year-old man crossing Victoria Road, Rozelle. The man walking was taken to hospital in a stable condition.^[235][236]
• 2025-10-28: A 36-year-old man driving an A-Double truck struck a 12-year-old boy riding a bicycle at King Street, Warrawong.^[237] ABC News reported that the truck was a B-Double and the boy was treated for injuries to his head, hand and pelvis before being airlifted to a hospital.^[238]
• 2025-10-22: A 26-year-old woman riding an e-bike crashed into a stationary caravan on Cowper Street, Carrington. She was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.^[239]
• 2025-11-05: On 2025-11-05 a 59-year-old woman driving an SUV struck a 24-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man on the footpath outside the entrance of Concord Hospital on Hospital Road, Concord. They were both seriously injured. They were both employees of Concord Hospital.^[240]
• 2025-11-06: On 2025-11-06 police received reports of a car striking a 53-year-old male walking at the intersection of Endeavour Place and Solander Street, North Albury. The man walking suffered serious injuries to his leg and was taken to hospital. The car allegedly left the scene. On 2025-12-17 a 24-year-old man was arrested in Victoria on unrelated matters, extradicted to NSW on 2025-12-18 and changed with relevant offences.^[241]
• 2025-11-07: On 2025-11-07, two people in their 20s or 30s driving an SUV and a sedan car crashed at the intersection of Bungaribee Road and Lock Street, Blacktown. One car mounted the kerb and struck three people standing. All three people standing were believed to be in their 20s and 30s. All people who were standing are in a critical condition.^[242][243] On 2025-11-12, one of the car drivers was arrested and charged.^[244]
• 2025-11-12: On 2025-11-12, police were told that a woman allegedly drove her car at a 14-year-old boy riding an e-bike at Elsdon Street, Redhead (Lake Macquarie). The 14-year-old boy jumped from the bike to avoid the impact, however the e-bike was dragged for approximately 30 metres and extensively damaged. The boy sustained minor lacerations and bruising. The woman driving the car allegedly left the scene, and was later arrested.^[245]
• 2025-11-14: On 2025-11-14, a young person riding a moped struck a 3-year-old girl on a footpath at Popondetta Rd, Dharruk. At the time the child was in company with a 31-year-old woman who was uninjured. The young person riding the moped continued without stopping. The child was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. The moped was allegedly found abandoned at a reserve near Luxford Avenue, Whalan, and a 13-year-old boy was arrested nearby.^[246]
• 2025-11-15: On 2025-11-15 a 27-year-old man^[247] driving a car at the Walcha showground on Derby Street crashed through a fence and hit a mobile grandstand, striking a crowd of people. The driver may have been unconscious.^[248] Thirteen people were injured. Police reported that one was injured critically and one man sustained serious injuries. 11 people were taken to hospital.^[249][250]. The Guardian reported two people were in a critical condition and six had serious injuries.^[251]
• 2025-11-16: Police were told on 2025-11-16 that men (56-year-old, 39-year-old and a teenage boy (15-year-old) become involved with an argument with the driver of a ute at Lakes Way at Darawank, 10 km from Forster. Police will allege that after the ute driver deliberately rammed the sedan, the two men in the sedan got out and the driver of the ute drove over them. Both the adult men who were run over were taken to hospital and as of 2025-11-17 are in a serious but stable condition. The 15-year-old boy was treated for facial injuries.^[252]
• 2025-12-01: On 2025-12-01 a person driving a vehicle struck a 10-year-old boy riding an e-scooter at Broughton Street and Stanley Street, Concord. Police were informed the boy was on a crossing at this location.^[253]
  • At the junction of Broughton Street and Stanley Street there is a raised zebra crossing, and a (segregated) cycleway crossing next to it (OSM Map, Google Street View). Cycling or scooting across a bike lane crossing (ie. a green painted crossing) without dismounting (walking) is legal.
  • The Burwood Policy Area Command used the post announcing the crash to remind “the public to exercise caution when using e-scooters and to ensure they are operated safely and legally”, to “obey road rules, and avoid high-risk areas”.^[253]
  • A new raised pedestrian and cyclist crossing was constructed on Broughton Street in early 2024.^[254]
• 2025-12-04: On 2025-12-04 a man, in his 20s, driving a truck struck a man in his 50s riding an e-bike at Barrenjoey Road, Mona Vale. The man riding the e-bike was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[255] “multiple Triple Zero (000) calls were made to report a man riding an e-bike had been hit by a four-tonne (4t) delivery truck”^[256]
• 2025-12-08: On 2025-12-08 a man driving a 48-year-old man was involved in a “minor crash” with two 15-year-old boys riding e-bikes at the intersection of New South Head Road and Newcastle Street, Rose Bay. All parties then allegedly became involved in a physical altercation where a number of bystanders intervened. NSW Ambulance paramedics treated the driver at the scene before he was taken to hospital for minor head injuries. One of the boys has been charged with destroy or damage property and common assault.^[257]
  • Further details of the crash are unclear. The Sydney Morning Herald reported “Police were called to Rose Bay following reports two 15-year-old boys on bikes had crashed into a car driven by a 48-year-old man, sparking a physical altercation with bystanders.”^[258] Contradictory eyewitness accounts were published on an OnScene Bondi Community News Group post. One claimed “Near Parisi the car driver did not give the 1 meter distance from the bikes which lead to arguments with one of the two boys. The driver tried to run over one of the boys and he did even reverse into the bike which led to retaliation by the older boy”.^[259]
• 2025-12-09: On 2025-12-09 a man driving a ute (believed to be in his 20s) struck a man (believed to be in his 40s) riding a bicycle at the intersection of Ramsgate Road and The Promenade, Sans Souci. The man riding the bicycle was treated for serious injuries before being taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[260]
• 2025-12-10: On 2025-12-10 a 17-year-old boy driving a ute struck a 86-year-old man at Pioneer Drive, Blackbutt (Shellharbour). The man walking was struck while crossing a driveway, and was taken to hospital in a critical condition.^[261]

Incidents reported in the media

Note: This section is not complete or up to date, and it is impossible to ensure completeness. Some geographical areas may be over-represented due to availability of local media reports in the absence of press releases. It is less complete than the above lists – Transport for NSW states that more than 1100 pedestrians are struck by motor vehicles on NSW roads each year.^[22]

• 2025-01-27: On 2025-01-27 a person driving a car struck a 15-year-old boy at North Steyne, Manly, at The Corso. The person driving the car allegedly left the scene without stopping. The boy was taken to hospital in a stable condition.^[262]
• 2025-03-27: On 2025-03-27 a teenage boy riding an e-bike, who appeared to be around 15-years-old, struck a 7-year-old girl at Bungan Street, Mona Vale. Bystanders said the boy had been riding through the arcade between Bungan Street and Akuna Lane. The girl was taken to hospital in a stable condition.^[263]
• 2025-03-31: On 2025-03-31 a young female driving a black 2012 Mercedes sedan struck a 62-year-old woman at Pittwater Road, Collaroy, between Ramsay and Frazer Streets. The woman had been sent flying by the collision and was found unconscious on the road. The woman remained with the Intensive Care crew for transport to hospital in a stable condition. There are no pedestrian crossings on Pittwater Road between Collaroy Street, Collaroy, and Mactier Street, Narrabeen, and it is common for people to cross the six lane road using the median strip as a pedestrian island.^[264]
• 2025-07-11: On 2025-07-11 a person driving a car struck a 6-year-old boy riding an e-scooter at Musgrove Crescent in Doonside. The boy riding the scooter was taken to hospital in a serious condition.^[265]
• 2025-10-03: On 2025-10-03 a 28-year-old man driving a motorcycle struck a 53-year-old man crossing the road at Condamine Street, Manly Vale, near Koorala Street. The man walking was in a critical condition and placed into an induced coma. The man driving the motorcycle had minor injuries.^[266]
• 2025-11-03: On 2025-11-03 a person driving a car struck a man in his 80s walking at the intersection of Pittwater Road and Mitchell Road, Brookvale. NSW Police and NSW Ambulance attended. After assessment by paramedics he was taken to hospital in a stable condition.^[267]
• 2025-09-15: On 2025-09-15 a 20-year-old male riding a bicycle downhill struck a roadside barrier and was knocked unconscious near West Head lookout at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The man was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition. There is no indication a motor vehicle was involved.^[268]
• 2025-09-15: On 2025-09-15 a person driving a car struck a person walking near Yerin Bridge, Springfield. The person walking was taken to hospital.^[269]
• 2025-10-17: On 2025-10-17 an 81-year-old man driving a car struck a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl walking at Main Street, Lithgow. Both girls were taken to hospital. One girl was transferred via helicopter from a local hospital to Westmead Children’s Hospital.^[270][271]
• 2025-11-06: On 2025-11-06, a person driving a car struck a 34-year-old man at Kite Street, outside Factory Espresso, Orange. The man walking was pinned against a wall and was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.^[272]
• 2025-11-14: On 2025-11-14, a person driving a car struck a 10-year-old boy riding a bicycle at Avalon Parade, Avalon Beach. The person driving was reversing out of a driveway. The boy was taken to hospital in a stable condition.^[273]
• 2025-11-14: On 2025-11-14 a person driving a motorbike struck a 4-year-old girl walking at Popondetta Road in Dharruk. Officers allege a young person on the trail bike continued riding without stopping. The girl was taken to hospital.^[274]
• 2025-11-15: On 2025-11-15 a person driving a vehicle struck at woman, in their 50s, walking at Ferguson Street, Forestville. The woman walking was assessed by paramedics for possible hip and spinal injuries, and taken to hospital in a stable condition. NSW Police and NSW Ambulance attended.^[275]
• 2025-11-16: On 2025-11-16 a 35-year-old man riding an e-bike struck a 25-year-old person walking at Flood St in Bondi. The woman walking was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.^[276]
• 2025-12-10: On 2025-12-10 at 19:04:58, a person riding a motorbike was recorded allegedly pushing Daas Jabbour off his bicycle while he was riding on the M7 cycleway (an off-road bike path) at Rooty Hill. Daas stated one motorbike rider filmed while a second motorbike rider used his leg to push him off his bike, and footage of him in hospital is shown. 7 News reported 3 other cyclists reported being attacked on the same night, one of which suffered serious injuries.^[277]
• 2025-12-13: On 2025-12-13 a 78-year-old person driving a car crashed into a busy Vietnamese restaurant in Campbelltown. A 45-year-old woman walking past was struck. Eyewitness accounts describe the woman being face down and unable to move, and was taken to hospital with minor injuries. No people were dining in the car’s path when it crashed through the restaurant.^[278]

NSW Centre for Road Safety Statistics

Eligibility of fatalities reporting in daily statistics

Fatalities are removed from daily NSW Centre for Road Safety statistics^[279] if subsequent police or coronial investigation shows that they did not fall within National reporting guidelines. Fatalities are added from a crash occurring prior to the day’s date where a person subsequently dies within 30 days or the crash is reported late. Fatalities are deaths which occurred within 30 days of a crash as a result of injuries received in the crash. The crash must have occurred within the surveyed road reserve.^[161]: 1

Daily publication of statistics

Daily road fatality statistics are deleted daily. Updates are published in the morning and afternoon. Morning statistics documents are one page long.^[280] Additional information about the change in fatalities across all modes, such as road user class, age group, gender and urbanisation (metropolitan vs regional) is included in documents published in the afternoon.^[161]: 5

Publication of Police press releases

As of November 2025, NSW Police press releases are deleted or disappear after some months, and return “Oops, we appear to be experiencing technical difficulties”.^{[70][74][77][101]} NSW Police press releases are republished by other news organisations. For example, Mirage News articles republishing these press releases include a link to the original press release, and where NSW Police press releases are still available, the body text is identical.^[156][63]

Language

It is my goal to use accurate, factually correct and appropriate language in this page. I have followed Australian and international road safety communication guidelines.^{[281][282][283][284][285][286]} Any corrections or suggestions on language are much appreciated.

Use of the term ‘road toll’

‘Road toll’ is a legacy term. While the term is still sometimes used, most agencies instead using the phase “road deaths”^[10], “road fatalities”^[284][287], or “road trauma”.^[288] The problem with talking about ‘road toll’ is that “it implies that road trauma is an acceptable cost of having roads.”^[289] Journalists^{[290][291][292]} and media reporting guidelines suggest not using the term.^[284]

Use of the term ‘jaywalking’

The term ‘jaywalking’ has plenty of historical, derogatory and racial baggage. The term jaywalk “is not a historically neutral—one”. In the 1920s, the term “jaywalking” was created by the auto industry to shift blame for pedestrian deaths from cars to the pedestrians themselves.^{[293][294][295][296][297][298][299][300][301]} Originally an insult against bumptious “jays” from the country who ineptly gamboled on city sidewalks, it was taken up by a coalition of pro-automobile interests in the 1920s.^[293][298] In 1915, when New York City’s police commissioner Arthur Woods sought to apply the word “jaywalker” to anyone who crossed the street at mid-block, the New York Times protested, calling it “highly opprobrious” and “a truly shocking name.”^{[302]: 15 [303][304]}

The term “jaywalking” is an American term used for when pedestrians illegally cross the road at places other than intersections and zebra crossing, which is not illegal in NSW or Australia^[305] (for the exact details of the rules, see part 14 of the NSW road rules). “Jaywalking” is not a legal term in NSW^[306] or Australia.^[307] Victoria Walks have stated “No-one in Australia should use the word ‘jaywalking.'”^[308]

Australian writers should describe the specific pedestrian offence defined in the NSW Road Rules^[309][310] if possible, or use perhaps use the term ‘crossing against the light’^{[307][311][312][313][314][315]} or ‘illegal pedestrian crossing’.^[316] Other terms in use are ‘unsafe crossing’^{[317][318]: 200 [319]} and ‘unsafe crossing behaviour’.^{[320][318]: 60 [321][322]}

Footnotes

References