As e-bike use ramps up across the nation, Cocoa Beach City Commissioners began discussions Thursday night on how to implement regulations in the city to deal with the influx of riders – most of whom are children.
E-bike sales in the United States quadrupled between 2019 and 2022, and the growing use throughout the bike-friendly city of Cocoa Beach has brought challenges that city police are not equipped to deal with.
Riders were observed traveling at speeds up to 35 mph on the sidewalk in residential areas, according to a presentation from Police Chief Wes Mullins. Mullins, who came to the meeting asking for guidance, said commuters have outpaced the city’s ability to deal with them.
“Technology is advancing faster than legislation,” he said.
Driving Around Data
Most of the riders were children biking to and from school. A seven-day student commute study on Minutemen Causeway, where Cocoa Beach Junior and Senior High is located, revealed that nearly 70% of students who rode an e-bike, e-scooter or pedal bike chose an e-bike.
Police observed 58 people daily. In the 2023-24 school year, the school’s average attendance was 957 students, according to the Florida Department of Education. It’s unclear how many of the riders were the same person counted multiple times.
Mullins and commissioners agreed that these e-bikers are guilty of some common road sins: helmetless biking, texting and not caring for pedestrians.
Their greatest concern was speeding.
The technology gives students the opportunity to cut time on their trips and minimize any potential danger. In doing so, the city argues that they have become the danger.
E-bike riders’ average speed was 21.4 mph, while e-scooters averaged 14.1 mph and pedal bikers 11.2 mph. The difference in speed sparked enough concern for Mullins to seek guidance from city council.
He said the data was just a snapshot of what the department has seen over the course of the e-bike popularity surge. “It’s dangerous out there, man. It truly is.”
Speed topped out at 35 mph, and most of the riders in the study traveled at these paces on pedestrian sidewalks. The average e-bike can weigh between 13-18 pounds more than a pedal bike, according to bike manufacturer Royal Dutch Gazelle.
It’s the combination of weight, speed, location and inexperience that police and commissioners were anxious about. The junior and senior high school is right next to Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School.
One resident, 67-year-old Edward Heick, said two different kids had already hit his dog while on e-bikes.
“They just don’t care,” he said. “They fly by laughing even when you tell them to watch out.”
The Options
Without clear ordinances in place, law enforcement has limited tools to regulate e-bike usage. Other municipalities like Miami Beach and Collier County have already implemented laws that regulate e-bike use. Cocoa Beach now looks to follow suit.
Although no ordinance was presented, commissioners said they’d bring something forth at an upcoming meeting. The commission did come to one clear consensus for the future: creating regulations to enforce a 15 mph speed limit.
Mayor Keith Capizzi said the bike’s benefits like allowing senior citizens to explore the city and kids to quickly get to school should not go unnoted. But everything has its limits.
“We can’t let a few bad apples ruin it for the whole bunch, but at the same time we need to regulate,” Capizzi said.
Commissioner Tim Tumulty wants to see an education program – for both students and parents. Tumulty works at Cocoa Beach Senior High and said he had already brought the idea up to principal Tim Powers.
“I think that the parents don’t understand what the kids are doing,” Tumulty said.
Exact parameters on bike lane enforcement and how to deal with citations were not agreed upon.
The upcoming city commission meetings are on June 5 and June 19.
