Spurred by a teen\u2019s death, Orange County commissioners expect to impose new rules on young riders of battery-driven bikes and electric scooters before the 2026-27 school year begins in August \u2014 with the goal of deterring reckless riding.<\/p>\n
Commissioners spoke favorably Tuesday of rules suggested by the Sheriff\u2019s Office to allow deputies to cite foolhardy teens.<\/p>\n
The suggestions, which likely would mandate helmets for riders 16 and younger and require riders to slow down when approaching pedestrians, will be submitted to legal review, then formally to the commission for a vote later this summer.<\/p>\n
Deputies also might be allowed to impound the vehicles of offenders.<\/p>\n
The board heard from Nicolas Morrissey, who is responsible for directing safety programs and risk reduction programs across the Orange County Public School\u2019s 200 campus where so-called micro-mobility devices are an increasingly popular commuter option for kids.<\/p>\n
![\"Lieutenant](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/tos-l-ebikes-windermere-hs.jpg\")
Lieutenant Michael Crabb with the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Office shares body camera footage showing school dismissal at Windermere High School on April 20, 2026. The video was shown at the Orange County Board of County Commissioners meeting in Orlando on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 as the county grapples with how to regulate electronic bikes and scooters. (Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Office)<\/p>\n
Morrissey said about 11,800 students ride to campus on battery-powered machines, better known as e-bikes and e-scooters.<\/p>\n
Many riders are middle-schoolers eligible to take a bus to school. Emergency room statistics show injuries soaring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe risks are real,\u201d Morrissey said, saying a solution will require strong community collaboration. \u201cWe are seeing a concerning number of incidents and frequent near misses, which may not always appear in formal reporting, but still indicate meaningful exposure to risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the discussion began, Ashley Lachance, whose son perished in a Mother\u2019s Day e-scooter accident, told commissioners she had urged him to be careful.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol said 13-year-old Colton Remsburg was not wearing a helmet when he drove his vehicle into the path of a pickup truck near his mother\u2019s home in Lake Nona. He died days later from his injuries.<\/p>\n
Lachance said she was bothered by suggestions that parents have failed to educate their children on the risks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be willing to bet every parent has sat down with their child more than once and reminded them, \u2018Wear your helmet, use the crosswalk, stay on the sidewalk, pay attention to cars, and look both ways.\u2019 I know I did,\u201d she said, her voice wavering. \u201cI constantly reminded Colton to be safe. I would even text him every morning, asking him: \u2018Did you make it to school safely?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/tos-l-e-bike-public-comment.jpg\")
Ashley Lachance, the mother of Colton Remsburg, a 13-year-old boy fatally injured on Mother’s Day in Lake Nona while riding an electric scooter, speaks during public comment at an Orange County Board of County Commissioners meeting in Orlando on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Orange TV)<\/p>\n
But Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Lt. Michael Crabbe showed commissioners a string of startling videos of student riders zooming away from a school campus, weaving in and out of traffic, and riding the wrong way on a highway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an issue as you can see,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said riders often modify their e-bikes to bypass speed restrictors that limit the bikes to 28 mph.<\/p>\n
The top speed that deputies have clocked is 83 mph. Crabbe said that rider got away \u2014 and wasn\u2019t wearing a helmet.<\/p>\n
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, a former sheriff and police chief, said enforcement provisions will be aimed at safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ultimate goal obviously is to make our community safer as a result of whatever action we take,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A Winter Garden resident frustrated by speedy e-bikes endorsed the county plan to rein them in.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of the people in our neighborhood call them \u2018unguided missiles.\u2019 They are all over the place,\u201d the resident, Jack Banas, said of e-bikes. \u201cPeople ask, \u2018Well, how am I going to get my kid to school?\u2019 Maybe get him a regular bike, maybe \u2018Make America Healthy Again!\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Nicole Wilson, who represents west Orange and urged the board last year to take up the issue, said she isn\u2019t interested in banning the use of micro-mobility devices. \u201cI want to make sure that we\u2019re leaving options open for people to get around Orange County in as many ways as possible. We need people out of their cars. There\u2019s too many cars on the road (and) we\u2019re not getting a monorail anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she just wants to make their use safer.<\/p>\n
shudak@orlandosentinel.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spurred by a teen\u2019s death, Orange County commissioners expect to impose new rules on young riders of battery-driven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,109,1798],"class_list":["post-277085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}