ORLANDO, Fla. — As e-bikes explode in popularity across the state of Florida, lawmakers are working to create a safety task force that would gather information and help the Legislature determine the best ways to regulate them.
The plan took a big step forward this week after the Florida Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 283 and sent it to the House for consideration.
What You Need To Know
As e-bikes explode in popularity across the state of Florida, lawmakers are working to create a safety task force that would gather information and help the Legislature determine the best ways to regulate them
While Senate Bill 382 (which passed unanimously in the Florida Senate on Feb. 25) provides some basic requirements for the operation of e-bikes, the majority of the bill concerns the creation of a Micromobility Device Safety Task Force
The bill says the main function of the task force would be to gather information on e-bike safety in the state and present a report with legislative recommendations to the governor, president of the Senate, and speaker of the House
While Senate Bill 382 provides some basic requirements for the operation of e-bikes, the majority of the bill concerns the creation of a Micromobility Device Safety Task Force.
“The purpose of the task force is to examine and recommend improvements to state law and the regulatory framework governing micromobility devices … in order to encourage the safe operation of micromobility devices and to prevent traffic incidents, injuries, and fatalities involving such devices,” the text of the proposed legislation says.
If passed, the bill would require the Florida Highway Patrol and “each police department and sheriff’s office” to compile a list of all traffic crashes involving micromobility devices — which includes e-bikes, among other types of individual transportation devices.
The reason for developing statewide e-bike regulations is clear: the gears are shifting from traditional bicycles to e-bikes.
“I enjoy them,” Orlando resident Wayne Sasser said of e-bikes. “They are easy to ride, I peddle mine too but you get somewhere quicker.”
In 2025, Sasser bought one of the 185 e-bikes sold at Kyle’s Bike Shop.
“We try to educate as much as we can just to let people know what they are capable of, but the laws and rules are a little bit untold or maybe unwritten at this point,” said Kyle Markel, the owner of Kyle’s Bike Shop in Orlando.
Markel has been in the bike business for 19 years, and said he started to sell e-bikes a few years ago. He said education is vital to operating an e-bike safely, and it’s something he tries to impart on his customers when they buy one.
From the streets of Orlando to the halls in Tallahassee, lawmakers feel the responsibility too.
“This is costing lives … and we need to do something,” said Rep. Yvette Benarroch, who introduced a related e-bike bill in the Florida House.
Benarroch’s legislation (House Bill 243) would create a safety task force almost identical to the version in Senate Bill 382.
“I think having state guidelines is important because you don’t want all these regulations out there, because at the end of the day, consumers are not going to know when they cross city and county what is what,” Benarroch said.
