{"id":321654,"date":"2026-06-27T09:52:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T09:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/321654\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T09:52:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T09:52:25","slug":"desantis-vetoes-e-bike-safety-bill-will-tampa-bay-leaders-make-their-own-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/321654\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis vetoes e-bike safety bill. Will Tampa Bay leaders make their own rules?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a> vetoed a bipartisan bill late Thursday that aimed to crack down on unsafe behavior on electric bicycles.<\/p>\n

The measure unanimously passed both the House and Senate earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The bill would have limited e-bike speeds to 10 mph when passing within 50 feet of a pedestrian. It also would have required state accidentreports to say whether a crash involved a motorized scooter, an e-bike or an electric motorcycle, as well as establish a state task force on the issue.<\/p>\n

In a letter justifying the veto, DeSantis wrote the bill \u201cestablishes a standard that would certainly be difficult for a bicyclist to measure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor also took issue with the proposed fine of $100 for a nonmoving traffic violation citation that he expects would be policed with speed detection and surveillance cameras.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill will likely lead to enhanced surveillance by local governments against citizens,\u201d DeSantis wrote.<\/p>\n

The bill addressed concerns about e-bikes that had been growing among traffic investigators and emergency room doctors watching injuries and deaths tick up.<\/p>\n

But Tampa Bay\u2019s \u201csafe streets\u201d advocates and transit experts have their own issues with policing bicyclists.<\/p>\n

Restrictions on e-bikes could disproportionately harm low-income workers who rely on them for commuting, they say. Instead, many advocates believe policing cars will do more good for pedestrian safety than policing bikes.<\/p>\n

A Tampa Bay Times analysis found e-bike fatalities<\/a> on the road far exceed those on shared paths in Tampa Bay \u2014 just seven of the 27 deaths reviewed by the Times did not involve a car. (Of those seven deaths, alcohol and drugs were a factor in three.)<\/p>\n

Still, public outcry is loudest on Tampa Bay\u2019s shared paths, like the Pinellas Trail.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Tampa City Council tabled a heated discussion about regulating bikers\u2019 speed and behavior<\/a> on city paths. Some residents worried the proposed city ordinance, which would have banned wheelies and other tricks, \u201cprimarily targets young riders \u2014 disproportionately youth of color.”<\/p>\n

Leaders in Tampa Bay have said they were waiting until the bill\u2019s fate was known before passing local ordinances of their own. The Tampa City Council plans to host another workshop on bike safety in October, where council member Lynn Hurtak will suggest forming a Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, according to her aide.<\/p>\n

If the city crafts stricter rules for e-bikes, it won\u2019t be the first in Florida: Last year, the town of Palm Beach banned children younger than 15<\/a> from riding e-bikes and outlawed their use on sidewalks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Pinellas County Commission may also weigh in on the e-bike debate soon.<\/p>\n

Chairperson Brian Scott said lawmakers stripped the teeth of the e-bike bill before it landed on the governor\u2019s desk. A previous version of the measure would have made it illegal to modify an e-bike, and it would have barred children 15 and younger from riding one with a motor that is 750 watts or bigger \u2014 a law that already exists in most states.<\/p>\n

Scott is in favor of passing a local ordinance that would apply those rules to all 70 miles of the Pinellas Trail, where he often rides his bike.<\/p>\n

About a month ago, the commission asked county staff to look into practical, enforceable safety measures that could be crafted into an ordinance, he said. That report is expected in August.<\/p>\n

For now, local leaders are back to square one on the e-bike issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to encourage our commission to move forward with the local ordinance,\u201d Scott said. \u201cIt\u2019s becoming more and more problematic and dangerous. It\u2019s a public safety concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Times launched the Environment Hub in 2025 to focus on some of Florida\u2018s most urgent and enduring challenges. You can contribute through our journalism fund by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bipartisan bill late Thursday that aimed to crack down on unsafe behavior…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[23129,133374,56784,6957,412,133375,133373,135,1526,610,137,136],"class_list":["post-321654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-bike-safety","tag-bipartisan-bill","tag-ebikes","tag-pedestrian-safety","tag-ron-desantis","tag-safety-bill","tag-scott-imrich","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-city-council","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321654","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=321654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}