It's becoming more common to see electric bicycles (e-bikes) and other motorized devices like e-scooters. In the past few years, e-bikes have seen a surge in popularity and in accidents.
Dr. Jennifer Caputo Seidler is a hospitalist and works in the trauma program at Tampa General Hospital. She said e-bike accidents are the largest increase in trauma at the hospital. Seidler said, historically they saw more children in biking accidents. But now that the bikes have gone electric, she sees more adults who use them to commute to work or school.
"I would encourage anybody who's getting on an e-bike or an e-scooter to wear a helmet. Head injuries are definitely the most common injury we're seeing, and most of it is because of low helmet usage," Seidler said. "So helmets, helmets, helmets. I cannot say it enough. You have to protect your brain, you can't replace it."
And if you ride without a helmet and crash, the consequences could be dire.
"If you're lucky, you might get away with a concussion, having some trouble with maybe headaches," she said. "But this can be very serious. You could have bleeding in your brain. You could have permanent damage from a head injury, given the speeds at which these vehicles can travel."
Now, the hospital is advocating for legislation to raise the mandatory helmet-wearing age from 16 to 18.
High School Students get involved
Current state law requires anyone under age 16 to wear a helmet.
But Freedom High School senior Maggie Takamatsu, 18, was trying to change that. Takamatsu said she wants to be a doctor one day. After one of her schoolmates died in an e-biking accident, she wanted to learn more about the rules and what physicians are seeing.
"I was talking to a pathophysiologist and my friend, who was in med school, and they'd both seen so many incidents of e-bike and e-scooter accidents that it made me wonder," Takamatsu said. "What are the laws? What are we doing to protect these kids? And he didn't have an answer for me, so he proposed that I take it to 'Ought to Be a Law.'"
“Ought to Be a Law” is a program in Hillsborough County schools. It allows students to work with state lawmakers to draft, lobby and present a real proposal during the legislative session.
Takamatsu, along with a few other students, presented a bill to raise Florida’s minimum age to wear a helmet from 16 to 18 for those who use electric mobility devices.
"Our bill isn't here to restrict people but to protect them," Takamatsu said. "If this bill passes, it's a way of educating the community, more than telling them what they need to do."
"Because losing a person (who) went to my school has shown me how delicate life is and that we need to make sure that we're preventing these things," she added.
Her bill (HB 667) did not make it through this session, but Takamatsu said lawmakers can look at it again in the future.
E-biking as a hobby
For some people, e-biking is another way to get from point A to point B. But for Bryten Glass, who turns 20 in March, it's a hobby.
His black 2024 Surron Light Bee X can reach up to 52 mph. It doesn't have typical pedals; it just has two spots to rest your feet. But most bikes like his offer pedal kits if you want them. Glass' bike retails for nearly $4,500 and takes about two hours to fully charge. He said he can go around 80 miles on a full battery, but he doesn't leave home without a helmet.
But still, Glass said it’s a very dangerous hobby.
"No matter what anyone says, no matter how good you try to dress for sliding if you drop your bike. No matter what you do, if you're on two wheels, you don't have four doors covering you," he said. "I've had people (in cars) purposefully try and knock me off the bike, whether I'm in a bike lane or whatever."
"You have to learn to be calm, have good riding skills and try to avoid those situations the best you can," Glass added.
It’s partly why he said wearing a helmet is so important.
"I've crashed this bike multiple times. A helmet has saved me before," Glass said. "I've had friends that have crashed (and) helmets have saved them."
How the government is responding
The dangers associated with riding electric devices are partly why other bills to regulate e-bikes are moving through the Legislature.
Similar bipartisan proposals in the House (HB 243) and Senate (SB 382) would create a task force to investigate e-bike safety. They would also require e-riders to slow down, yield to pedestrians and signal to pass.
ALSO READ: Florida lawmakers take a spin on e-bike regulations
Supporters say the new rules would make the roads safer for everyone. But Glass said his bike lives in a "gray zone." Different places have different rules for where he can ride. And now some local governments are moving forward with their own e-bike ordinances instead of waiting for the state.
Key Biscayne has maintained a full ban after a fatal accident in 2024, when a 12-year-old e-bike rider struck and killed a bicyclist.
Charlotte County commissioners passed new requirements on Feb. 10, including imposing a 15-mph speed limit for most electric motorized devices.
New rules went into effect in Winter Garden last month, including one that prohibits electric device riders from using sidewalks less than eight feet wide.
In Sarasota County, the sheriff's office is starting with an education campaign, rather than enforcement.
"Part of the issue that we have right now is there is very limited law, if you will, that is written specifically for these devices," Deputy Jimmy Adams, who works in the traffic unit, said.
So, the sheriff's office held a public education event to talk about the county's rules. They started at the Legacy Trail, an 18.5-mile paved, multi-use trail that runs from Sarasota to Venice.
"We are getting, unfortunately, a rise in injuries with these as well, not only locally, but statewide," Adams said. "I think even sometimes, there have been some deaths involved with these devices, which is why this has become such a focal point."
Not too many regulations
Rita Miotti is president of Friends of the Legacy Trail, a nonprofit organization that aims to "support, promote, enhance, and protect" the popular pathway. She attended the sheriff's event to hear what they had to say.
"We've got a lot of, especially young users, that are causing problems going by popping their wheelies, not announcing their passing of other people that are more slow-moving, speeding, and just being disruptive," Miotti said.
ALSO READ: Safety concerns prompt Tampa to enact new e-scooter rules, including fines
After getting quite a few complaints for reckless riding, Miotti started handing out business cards with the non-emergency police line for people to report incidents and accidents. She said that's so officers know there are problems occurring. But she said it isn't just young people causing trouble on the trail.
"Unfortunately, we also have grown individuals riding these bikes that are causing problems with their speed because they're fearless," Miotti said.
Miotti is an avid e-bike rider. She said she wants to see some new regulations, but not so many that people stop riding.
"It needs to be looked at, but it needs to be reasonable, and we need to have methods for people, for law enforcement to enforce these things," she said.
The electric bike proposals have more committee stops before they go to a full vote.
But lawmakers on both sides seem to agree on some of the regulations; both the House and Senate versions passed unanimously in their respective chambers.
As far as Takamatsu’s bill? It still has to be picked up by another committee before it goes to a vote.
Want to join the conversation or share your story? Email Meghan at bowman4@wusf.org.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
