State lawmakers in Tallahassee are weighing new rules for e-bikes on public sidewalks and shared pathways, but critics say the changes don’t fully address the dangers that e-bikes pose to pedestrians and other bike riders.
In response to growing public safety concerns, state lawmakers in Tallahassee are moving to limit how fast electric bikes may go when sharing a sidewalk with pedestrians.
The Florida Senate voted unanimously last week to impose a new speed limit on e-bike operators statewide. Anyone riding an e-bike on a public sidewalk would have to slow to 10 mph or less when a pedestrian was within 50 feet.
Lawmakers in Tallahassee have embraced the measure (Senate Bill 382), but critics in Miami, including a Coconut Grove couple who were hit by a teenager riding an electric dirt bike, say the new rules don’t do enough to protect pedestrians.
“If they are trying to pass legislation in Tallahassee, I think it has to be more expansive than this,” said trial attorney Ira Leesfield, who lives and works in Coconut Grove. “I think the legislation needs to include safety provisions and rules for the users.”
Leesfield has been speaking out about an “e-bike epidemic” since at least 2019.
“Like disease bearing mosquitos, E-bikes have taken over the safety and tranquility of the American modern city,” he wrote in a blog post in February of that year.
Since then, the problem has only gotten worse.
A 66-year-old Key Biscayne woman on a bike was killed in a collision with 12-year-old boy riding an e-bike in February 2024.
A year and a half later, a 54-year-old man riding a bike on the Rickenbacker Causeway was struck and killed by a 14-year-old boy on an electric dirt bike.
Read more: 14-Year-Old Arrested in Causeway Bike Death
“I call it micro-mobility madness, because there are no rules,” Leesfield said in a recent interview. “I am pretty much on the warpath and have been since 2019.”
The issue of public safety in the age of e-bikes made headlines again in January when a Coconut Grove couple was struck by a 15-year-old boy on an electric dirt bike while walking near Kennedy Park.
Hank Klein and Lisa Sloat were both hospitalized with severe injuries following the Jan. 11 crash. Police estimate the boy was traveling at 20 mph.
Read more: Safety Concerns Grow After Grove Couple Struck by Dirt Bike
They are now recovering at home. “I have a long way to go,” Sloat said recently. She suffered a fractured ankle that required surgery. Her husband, who lost consciousness after the crash, suffered a head trauma, a brain bleed, and a spinal injury.
“I’m in a lot of pain,” Klein said. “It’s horrible, because it’s constant pain.”
Since leaving Mercy Hospital, the couple has written to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, asking them to address the problem by enacting stricter local rules for electric bikes.
Florida law treats electric bikes the same as ordinary bikes, giving riders the same rights and responsibilities, but local governments can adopt stricter rules to govern how and where they can be ridden.
“The issue of unregulated e-bikes and e-scooters causing accidents and injuries has become of concern throughout the City of Miami,” the couple wrote to Higgins. “Limiting the speed limit of these unregulated ‘vehicles’ does not fully address the issue.”
E-bikes and e-scooters should be registered, and the operators licensed and insured, the couple said. Age limits should be enacted, and parental responsibility established for under-age operators, they added.
There also needs to be better enforcement, the couple said in an interview.
Michael Goldfarb, an attorney who is representing the couple, questioned how the new state law would be enforced. “What is going to stop a kid from riding a dirt bike on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables?” he asked.
Faced with a long recovery, the couple also says there should be “appropriate consequences” for reckless driving that results in bodily harm or property damage.
The teenager who lost control of his electric dirt bike and struck the couple from behind was cited for “careless driving.” That might be helpful in winning an insurance claim, if the boy’s family has insurance that covers the crash – an open question.
As of Wednesday, the couple had heard back from Levine Cava – one of the two mayors they contacted by email. “She said they are working on the issue, and they would like to get back to us,” Sloat said.
The Spotlight reached out for comment to both mayors, to County Commissioner Raquel Regalado, and to Miami Commissioners Damian Pardo, who represents Coconut Grove, and Ralph Rosado, an advocate for the Miami Loop, a proposed network of trails where people could walk and bike safely.
Rosado was the only elected official who responded in time for this story.
“As new mobility devices become more common, my priority is making sure our streets, parks, and shared spaces are safe for everyone — pedestrians, cyclists, riders, and drivers alike,” Rosado said in a statement.
He then pointed to the “Vision Zero” plan that the City Commission adopted in February.
“At the City level, I’ve already advanced a Vision Zero initiative focused on reducing serious crashes and preventing fatalities through better street design, coordination, and education,” he said.
But that plan doesn’t address the issue of e-bikes and electric dirt bikes.
Instead, the plan focuses on the most dangerous intersections in Miami where most vehicle crashes occur. “These are the intersections where people are getting killed. It could be a pedestrian. It could be in a car,” Higgins told commissioners on Feb. 12 when discussing the plan. “It is a good safety project for pedestrians and for drivers.”
In 2024, Key Biscayne banned e-bikes and e-scooters from village streets and sidewalks after Megan Andrews was killed in an e-bike collision.
Read more: Key Biscayne Bans E-Bikes and Scooters
The University of Miami has banned e-bikes and e-scooters from campus sidewalks and pedestrian pathways. The new policy took effect in August last year.
In Tallahassee, state senators voted last week to require e-bike operators on a “shared pathway” that is not next to a roadway to give pedestrians an audible signal before overtaking or passing them.
Anyone who violates that rule or the new proposed speed limit would commit “a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation,” the legislation says.
In addition, the proposed legislation would create a state task force to study the issue of e-bike safety and deliver a report with recommendations by September 30.
Asked what City of Miami officials should do, in the meantime, to address the problem, Henrietta Schwarz, an advocate for pedestrian safety in Coconut Grove, had a simple prescription:
“Listen to their constituents. I think what everyone is saying is these scooters or these e-bikes don’t belong on sidewalks with pedestrians,” Schwarz said.
“They should all be listening to residents, period,” she added. “That is the key issue that no one seems to be talking about.”
