Florida lawmakers are taking a spin on regulations for electric bicycles.
It comes as e-bikes see skyrocketing popularity — and increases in injuries.
“Preventing anyone from getting from point A to point B is not the problem here. We're not trying to make it the problem,” said Sen. Keith Truenow, R-Tavares, the bill sponsor. “We're just trying to make sure that everybody can get from one place to the other safely.”
A Senate committee unanimously approved legislation, SB 382, on Tuesday, saying electric bike riders must yield to pedestrians on park paths and other off-road trails. They would also have to “give an audible signal before overtaking and passing a pedestrian.”
It also mandates e-bike users on a sidewalk or other pedestrian area go no faster than 10 mph if someone is within 50 feet.
Those who are caught not complying could get a ticket.
The committee amended the bill on Tuesday, with the original version including more intense regulations, including requiring licenses for some of the faster e-bikes.
Truenow said stakeholders had warned the “enforcement portions of the bill were going to be a challenge to accomplish.”
But the new version is meant to set up conversations about more policies down the line.
It would require state and local law enforcement agencies to track and document crashes involving electric bicycles for a report that will be given to state leaders at the end of October.
It also creates an “Electric Bicycle Safety Task Force,” which would “examine and recommend improvements to state law and regulatory framework governing electric bicycles in order to encourage the safe operation of electric bicycles and to prevent traffic incidents, injuries, and fatalities involving such bicycles.”
The task force would be made up of the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ executive director — currently Dave Kerner — and the secretary of the state Department of Transportation, who right now is Jared Perdue. They could name others to serve in their places.
The DHSMV executive director would appoint the following members:
- A Florida Sheriffs Association representative
- A Florida Police Chiefs Association representative
- An electric bicycle industry representative
- A Florida League of Cities representative
- A Florida Association of Counties representative
- A medical field representative with bicycle and pedestrian injury experience
- A biking safety organization representative
The task force would have to submit a report by October and dissolve once finished.
The House version of the legislation, HB 243, appears in a committee on Wednesday afternoon.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
