Tourist's huge mistake on Aussie road prompts warning over $2,200 fine: 'Really important'
Transport authorities are reminding Aussie road users to take extra care with navigation tools like Google and Apple Maps after a British tourist inadvertently found herself in the middle of a busy motorway while using a Lime Bike.
Emma Louise, who said she didn't have a helmet for her bike, had no choice but to call for help after her mobile navigation app took her on a prohibited route and ended up stuck in a dual carriageway in Sydney.
"So I'm in Australia, and I'm on an electric bike," Emma shared online from a central reserve with cars and trucks whizzing past. "I put the map in where I want to go," she explained, adding that while she requested the route with a walking mode of transport, the app thought she was in a car due to her speed and "took her on the motorway".
Transport for NSW was luckily able to send help out to retrieve Emma and her bike before anyone was injured. The state authority told Yahoo News it's "crucial" for those riding bikes and e-bikes to stick to the road rules "which are in place to keep riders, and those they share the road or path with, safe."
A spokesperson for Transport for New South Wales told Yahoo that while it endorses the benefits of e-bikes, cyclists are "some of our most vulnerable road users because they don't have the protection of a vehicle in a crash."
They added: "Most tunnels are not designed for bicycle use and are high-speed vehicle thoroughfares that do not have the infrastructure or provisions in place for cyclists or pedestrians.
"If riders are using an app for directions, they should ensure it is set to the bicycle option and is set to exclude tunnels and motorways," the spokesperson said.
"It is also really important for riders to always wear a helmet, which can dramatically reduce the risk of being injured in a fall or crash."
The fine for not wearing a helmet in NSW is $410 while the penalty for bicycle riders disobeying road access rules is $320, with a maximum court-imposed penalty of $2,200.
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Rented electric bikes and scooters are becoming increasingly widespread across Australian capital cities, but have proven to be controversial — with some going as far as calling for their ban, with many claiming they cause serious accidents.
It's not the first time that a rented e-bike has found itself in a busy tunnel under Sydney's CBD, with a rider filmed peddling along the Eastern Distributor before crashing with a raised lane divider in April last year.
"After locating the cyclist, we closed a lane and dispatched our Incident Response personnel to assist. The cyclist was able to exit the tunnel before our team arrived,' a spokesperson for Transurban said at the time. "We have clear signage at the entrance [of] our tunnels advising cyclists not to enter."
Any road user who finds themselves in an emergency where they are at high risk of an accident is advised to call emergency services.
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