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Winter Garden unanimously voted Thursday to update its bike and “wheeled devices” ordinance, imposing new restrictions on rider age for electric bicycles and motorized scooters and new speed limits within the city.
E-bikes’ increasing popularity has brought a “slew of new safety concerns” for the city,” Kelly Carson, the city's planning director, said Dec. 11, explaining the need for the ordinance during its first reading.
“We're seeing more riders, often minors, using these devices at high speeds on roadways, sidewalks and trails, including along the West Orange Trail. These behaviors are creating situations that put both riders and other road and trail users at risk,” she said.
Effective immediately, Ordinance 26-05 mandates that riders using e-bikes “on any bicycle lane, bicycle path, right-of-way, road, sidewalk, or other city-owned property” be at least 15, wear a helmet and carry government- issued photo identification when they ride. Teens under 15 can still ride on e-bikes as passengers, provided the bike is built for that, according to the ordinance. Teens under 16 can ride motorized scooters “if wearing proper safety gear,” Carson told the commission Thursday.
In response to a question from District 3 Commissioner Chloe Johnson regarding whether school ID could be used for identification purposes, Carson said, riders would still need a form of “government-issued photo identification,” such as a driver’s license, passport, military ID, identification card issued under F.S. Ch. 322 or a comparable government ID that displays one’s name, birth date and a photo.
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, children ages 5 to 14 are eligible to receive a state identification card for $25 that is valid for four years, and after age 14, extended to eight years.
There are three classes of e-bike. Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes, which can go up to 20 mph, have motors that can either assist when the rider is pedaling or fully drive the bike. Class 3 e-bikes only provide assistance when pedaling. They can reach up to 28 mph.
Per the city’s updated ordinance, Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are allowed on the West Orange Trail. Class 3 e-bikes and motorized scooters are not. Neither e-bikes nor motorized scooters can exceed 10 mph on sidewalks or bike paths next to roadways. Speed will be enforced by the Winter Garden Police Department and minors’ parents or legal guardians will be responsible for paying any penalties for violations.
Carson told the commission Thursday that the updated ordinance was intended to “prevent serious or potentially fatal injuries.”
Residents, like John Gibbs, who described e-bikes as "extremely dangerous," welcomed the updated ordinance and said during the public comment period that he wished it could be stronger. He said that his subdivision provides the perfect terrain for e-bike riding and has been attracting kids from other neighborhoods to their roads.
“We have a lot of straight roads. We have a lot of downhills. The kids fly on these things,” he told the commission, adding that his homeowners association has instituted some e-bike rules of its own. “ These are small kids on small electric bikes doing wheelies all the way down the roadway … I have almost run over the same little boy twice in my car when he comes down a road, down a hill, flying in the middle of the road and turns in front of me … Some kid is going to get killed in my subdivision. It might be my car, and I don't think I'd ever get over that. So please keep us in mind. It's just not the trails. It is in our communities."
Not everyone agreed. Lauren, a longtime Winter Garden resident and former competitive cyclist who declined to share her last name because of privacy concerns, objected to the ordinance, saying it wouldn't be effective and that the demand for ID was intrusive.
“I don’t think the people who created this ordinance are real cyclists and really understand the nuances of the landscape we’re in,” she said, adding that owning more than 30 bicycles, including two Class 1 e-bikes, and several motorcycles, she’s “pretty hardcore.” She urged the commission to talk to cyclists before passing the ordinance.
“Yeah, we’ve got a problem,” Lauren continued. “We've got some people who are essentially on electric motorcycles, and I've almost been run over by them. I've also seen the young mother with her child on the handle bars, without pedaling, doing 25 to 30 mph through Oakland. So I think there's a problem, absolutely. But I think the burden on responsible cyclists like myself is gonna be too harsh. And I don't think that I'm prepared as a 62-year-old woman to surrender my license just because I am on an e-bike. That's not cool.”
Dennis Jones, owner of Winter Garden WheelWorks, said that what was needed was rider education “especially to some of the younger folks that don’t understand the rules of the road or how fast things go or how to turn, you know, in traffic or between traffic. So I think that’s where we really need to be focused.”
City Manager Jon Williams acknowledged that this ordinance was intended to “address the immediate concern,” but with the county and state both considering currently e-bike legislation, the city may have to make changes to the ordinance in the future.
"I know anytime you do something to try to address an issue, it might not be perfect,” said Commissioner Lisa Bennett who represents District 1, the downtown Winter Garden area. “But ultimately, safety is the most concerning, and we have had a lot of near misses and some kids have been hit.”
Mayor John Rees said the state should pre-empt the ordinance and “set this for the state.”
In November, State Sen. Keith Truenow, a Republican representing District 13, filed Senate Bill 382, which would require anyone riding or renting a Class 3 e-bike to have a valid learner’s permit or driver’s license “in his or her immediate possession at all times …” and show it to law enforcement when asked. The bill additionally includes fines for modifying e-bikes to increase their speed, with a first offense resulting in a $100 fine and a second offense costing $250.
Truenow’s bill would also require that learner’s permit education cover safe operation of e-bikes and motorized scooters; that driver’s license tests include questions about their safe operation; and that Florida Traffic Crash Reports state whether e-bikes, e-motorcycles or motorized scooters were involved.
