Most e-bike and e-scooter riders just want a faster way to get to work and school. But as more reckless riders cause chaos in the city, Orlando commissioners are considering banning the vehicles from sidewalks and putting a 15 mph speed limit on bike paths.
Read more 5 women in Florida’s largest women’s prison alleged sexual assault. They’ll get $100,000
During a workshop Monday, the City Council were shown videos of dozens of riders brazenly blowing through downtown intersections doing wheelies, blocking ambulances, and even getting in altercations with riders.
On July 18, a bike cop is seen tackling two riders to the ground and handcuffing them as several dozen more riders continued around the scuffle, depicting the difficulties law enforcement has in containing e-bikes.
Since Jan. 1, Smith said his officers have had 813 “interactions” with e-bikes and e-scooters, mostly traffic stops. Of those, there were 46 crashes with injuries, 17 battery charges, 14 involving drugs, 10 hit-and-runs with injuries and 12 hit-and-runs involving a minor.
“Most of the incidents we’re having, the e-bikes are found to be at fault,” Smith said. “Most of the time, it’s juveniles.”
Orlando would be joining a number of local jurisdictions, including Orange County Public Schools and the city of Winter Garden, in passing regulations for e-vehicles. Orange County commissioners are also considering doing so.
But local governments face restrictions of their own when trying to regulate the devices. Cities can’t impose criminal penalties for violating so-called micromobility ordinances, nor can they treat them in law the same as motor vehicles.
Last week, the city of Deltona dropped its newly enacted 18-and-above age requirement for e-bikes after Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the ordinance was unenforceable, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
E-bikes and e-scooters have surged in popularity in recent years, with more than 1 million sold annually, according to the Department of Energy. But nationwide, riders accounted for 59,200 emergency room visits in 2024.
Read more Skeletal remains found near Walt Disney World, deputies say
In Orange County last year, more than half of emergency room visits linked to the vehicles were among people 19 years or younger.
Colton Remsburg, a 13-year-old seventh-grader at OCPS’ Innovation Middle School, was fatally injured when he was struck by a pickup truck while riding an e-scooter in May in Lake Nona.
Commissioner Tom Keen, who represents the Lake Nona area, urged Smith to ramp up enforcement of helmet laws. Smith said hundreds of students leave schools in all directions daily on e-bikes and e-scooters, usually with the helmet hanging from the handlebars as opposed to on their heads.
“It’s one of the harder ones to enforce … writing a $62 ticket to a 12-year-old is not high on our list,” he said.
As classes start back up Tuesday for Orange County Public Schools, the district has banned e-bikes and e-scooters from elementary and middle school campuses. High school students can ride them only if they have a driver’s license.
While many spoke in favor of the ban at a July School Board meeting, some parents called the move extreme and said the district should instead focus on offering safety courses.
Mayor Buddy Dyer said the city would let the first month or so of the school year play out before deciding on its own ordinance, in hopes that it would match with Orange County’s planned restrictions.
“I wish that the school district would have mandated a course of 30 minutes or 45 minutes on rules of the road,” he said. “But they didn’t, so we’re going to need to press as much education as we can.”
Read more Hurricane center ups odds on 1 Atlantic system while tracking 2 others