Orange County staff are working on developing new ordinances to regulate electric bikes and scooters, and the County Commission is on board.
More Floridians than ever are getting around on those vehicles — known formally as “micromobility devices.” Teens especially make up a growing share of riders, using them to get to and from school and home.
But as usage has increased, so have injuries and accidents, along with frustration from drivers and pedestrians.
There’s little regulation of e-bikes and e-scooters. Because they’re considered a "consumer product" rather than a vehicle and many are designed to be closer to a bike than a car in speed, Florida doesn't require riders to have a license.
That’s left the vehicles in an awkward place. They’re too fast to comfortably share sidewalks with pedestrians. At the same time, the riders need protection and safeguards while sharing the road with cars.
It’s also easy and popular for many kids to install after-market modifications that can drastically increase an e-bike’s speed, in some cases as fast as 50 miles per hour — much too fast for a traditional bike helmet to be effective.
Scattershot regulations
State lawmakers earlier this year passed a bill that would form a state task force on e-bikes, improve data collection on accidents and provide some basic statewide speed limits around pedestrians. It awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis' signature.
Even if that measure becomes law, it will not take effect until next July, staff said.
Rather than wait, a handful of municipalities around the state, including Cocoa Beach and Winter Garden, adopted their own rules.
Orange County is poised to follow suit with new ordinances that staff proposed on Tuesday.
Local proposals
The new ordinances being drafted by the Sheriff’s Office and county staff would establish speed limits for e-bikes and e-scooters, attempt to clarify regulations around parking and registration and promote safety education.
The Orange County regulations wouldn't apply to its municipalities. That means Orlando and other communities would have to have their own regulations — a clear opportunity for confusion, the commission conceded.
Commissioner Kelly Semrad said more work will be needed to establish consistent rules throughout the county.
“I think we're starting in the right direction, but definitely has to be across the county, because … on one side of the sidewalk you've got unincorporated, and on the other side of the sidewalk, you've got the city, and if we don't have buy-in, we don't have enforcement,” she said.
County staff plan to bring a local ordinance back for discussion and review within three months.
A local tragedy
Last week, a truck struck and killed 13-year-old Colton Remsburg, who was using an electric scooter to pick up flowers on Mother’s Day.
His mother, Ashley LaChance, told commissioners on Tuesday that parents cannot be the only ones responsible for helping kids understand the risks of e-bikes and e-scooters, contrary to the discourse she has been exposed to on social media.
"Suggesting that parents simply are not educating their children enough about the danger of these motorized vehicles ... is both insensitive and negligent," LaChance said. "The reality is, there's nobody to blame. The better question is, what can we do as a community and as parents to help our children truly understand the seriousness and gravity behind unsafe choices on these vehicles?"
Later, she added: “Schools should seriously consider implementing some form of driver-style education course or certification requirement for e-scooters and e-bikes, “not because parents are failing, but because every additional layer of education matters.”
Not just e-bikes
Commissioner Nicole Wilson sees the concerns from pedestrians as evidence that the county should be doing more to support alternatives to cars. Protected bike lanes, for example, would keep space for pedestrians while also making space for cyclists and other riders, she said.
“These devices really provide an opportunity, if they're done safely, to get people out of their cars," she said. "Then how do we make sure they have some dedicated space? What does that look like?”
When staff showed a picture of a two-way bike lane during the presentation, Wilson observed that design is unusual.
“Where is this? Because this doesn't look like Orange County!” she said. “This is what we need. … And that's something … that's on us.”
