A while back I wrote about SB 382 (HB 243), legislation sponsored by Sen. Truenow and Rep. Benarroch that proposed new safety protocols for electric bicycles, or e-bikes, and an electric bicycle safety task force. On June 25, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill. 

The governor stated the following reasons for his veto. First, the governor claimed that the bill’s proposal for prohibiting e-bikes from operating at a speed greater than 10 miles per hour when within 50 feet of a pedestrian established a “difficult” standard for a bicyclist to measure while safely operating an e-bike. On a similar note, concerns were expressed over possible enhanced surveillance by local governments against residents, with violations being inevitably enforced with such devices regarding the newly proposed penalty of holding violators accountable for a nonmoving traffic violation and fines surpassing $100. 

While surveillance concerns were not reportedly brought up by legislators during committee hearings on this legislation, this bill, if signed into law, would have required law enforcement agencies statewide to track crash rates to help measure the scope of e-bike issues (Source: Florida Politics). Because many agencies use different reporting systems, law enforcement expressed that such data is not collected uniformly (Source: Florida Politics). 

Further, the provision to establish the “Micromobility Device Safety Task Force” did not include a sunset date, raising concern about potentially limitless recommendations on regulations related to e-bikes. The governor was opposed to approving new policy on e-bikes prior to receiving policy recommendations that would have been made by the task force. 

Despite the governor’s veto, local governments have focused on addressing e-bike safety concerns. Legislators have expressed concerns over accidents that have occurred in their communities, with some having resulted in injuries and fatalities. 

An incident more recently reportedly occurred in my own community, where a 13-year-old was injured in an accident on Mother’s Day (Source: Florida Politics). 

While I do understand the governor’s concerns here, I do believe that state legislation is needed to place minimum safety guardrails for the general safety of the public regarding e-bikes (while still allowing local governments to provide additional regulations within their jurisdictions if they choose). I also believe the collective effort by a task force to provide further policy recommendations regarding e-bikes based on data and statistics is an excellent step in the right direction. 

I thank Senator Truenow and Representative Benarroch for their leadership on this issue, as well as the governor for his feedback on how to make this the best policy moving forward. I look forward to continuing to be a part of this conversation and will continue to advocate for a consistent standard and solutions.