Pinellas County commissioners said they’ve all had a close call with reckless riders of electric bicycles and “e-motos,” a growing class of vehicle that’s not quite a bike and not quite a motorcycle, often seen whizzing down paths and sidewalks.
At a workshop Aug. 20, they shared those stories.
Kathleen Peters was cut off by a child riding faster than 30 mph on Gulf Boulevard. He looked to be 10 or 11 years old, she said.
County attorney Don Crowell was driving at dawn on East Bay Drive when a wrong-way e-biker nearly struck him head on.
Commission chairperson Dave Eggers said a young kid or teen on an e-bike who cut him off in traffic gave him the middle finger — twice.
“This is a serious issue not to be taken lightly,” Eggers said.
The question of how to regulate e-bikes has come up before, but commissioners had tabled their discussion until the fate of the Florida Legislature’s e-bike safety bill was clear. In June, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the measure that had unanimously passed both the House and Senate.
DeSantis justified killing the bill by saying it would “lead to enhanced surveillance by local governments against citizens.”
At Thursday’s workshop, county commissioners found they have few options available to them.
State law leaves only four options for e-bike restrictions, according to Kyle Simpson, a senior planner with Forward Pinellas, the county’s transportation planning agency.
Local governments in Florida can require riders to carry IDs, add minimum age restrictions, restrict e-bikes in some places, including beaches, and set maximum speed limits on sidewalks and trails.
Some commissioners said the bigger problem was vehicles that resemble e-bikes but can reach speeds of 50 mph or higher.
It’s typical that e-motos are treated as motor vehicles under state law, meaning it falls to law enforcement to crack down on unregistered vehicles that may lack license plates, tail lights and turn signals.
Peters said the commission should focus on the types of vehicles it has control over, like bicycles and scooters.
She compared the issue to a streak of water scooter deaths in Pinellas years ago before the state set an age limit of 14 years old.
“We’re having way more fatalities on these than we had on WaveRunners,” she said.
Peters added that she didn’t support an age limit, saying it could restrict students who ride them to school.
Some commissioners agreed a speed limit could be necessary in some places.
Some stretches of the 60-mile Pinellas Trail already have a speed limit of 20 mph, but enforcement is tricky. For example, Clearwater police policy does not allow officers to chase e-bikers if they flee.
Other cities in Pinellas have recently inched closer to taking action against dangerous behavior on e-bikes.
Earlier this month, the city of St. Petersburg placed 10 mph speed limit signs along North Bay Trail, which runs along the downtown waterfront from Demens Landing.
Riders could be cited for “failure to comply with traffic control devices,” rather than a speeding ticket.
St. Petersburg police have not cited any e-bikers under this law, said agency spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez. The department is instead focusing on educating riders.
At a St. Petersburg City Council meeting last week, council member Brandi Gabbard said she would never put her teenager on an e-moto, which she called a “deathmobile.”
Gabbard said she expected the council would soon begin its own discussions about a local ordinance.
And earlier this month in Gulfport, city staff presented the city council with its own draft ordinance on e-bike rules.
Council members favored narrower restrictions that could apply during festivals and other crowded events, but decided to make a decision after gathering more public safety data, the St. Pete Catalyst reported.
During Thursday’s county meeting, commissioner Brian Scott searched Amazon for “e-bikes” and came across a slew of vehicles that would not be considered e-bikes under state law.
“I guarantee I’ve seen these on the trail,” he said.
Scott said he would like to see a local ordinance that sets limits on any vehicle — e-bike or e-moto — that is capable of high speeds.
“Once you get above 20 mph, the problem grows exponentially,” Scott said
Eggers agreed, and wondered whether high-speed e-motos were legal to ride anywhere in Pinellas County.
Crowell, the county attorney, warned commissioners that the vehicles sit in a legal gray area and said they should lean on their partnership with the sheriff’s office.
“Sounds like we’ve got the tiger by the tail,” Eggers said.
The commission decided to return to the subject at a later date.
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