ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is drafting an ordinance aimed at cracking down on unsafe use of electric bikes and scooters.
After months of studying the issue, commissioners decided Tuesday they’re moving forward with a new effort to target dangerous behavior, seeking to hold parents accountable and improve education among teens.
Since December, commissioners have been researching and collecting data on the issue, finding that from 2017 to 2022, e-bike injuries have doubled each year.
According to the data presented Tuesday, children under 14 account for 34% of injuries nationwide, increasing demand on law enforcement and emergency personnel.
The conversation comes just days after State Troopers say 13-year-old Colton Remsburg died while riding an e-scooter after crashing into a truck.
Troopers say Remsburg was not wearing a helmet at the time and was not using a marked crosswalk when he crossed in front of the truck.
During Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, Remsburg’s mother, Ashley LaChance, made an emotional plea, asking commissioners to step up educational efforts.
“ I would be willing to bet that every parent has sat down with their child more than once and reminded them, wear your helmet, use the crosswalk, stay on the sidewalk, pay attention to cars and look both ways. I know I did,” said LaChance, “Every additional layer of education matters.”
On Tuesday, Orange County commissioners directed staff to work out details with OCPS for an educational campaign.
Meanwhile, Orange County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Michael Crabbe also told commissioners they were hoping to address reckless riding.
According to Lt. Crabbe, this week, deputies found a teenager riding down a sidewalk going 83 mph on an e-bike. The bike had been modified to go faster than the manufacturer intended, but Crabbe said deputies are seeing E-devices and E-scooters traveling regularly above 50 miles per hour.
An ordinance the Sheriff’s Department is drafting now would implement a county-wide speed limit on the devices.
The ordinance would also simplify definitions for devices, empower deputies to ticket reckless activities, and shift responsibility to parents via a notification system.
According to Lt. Crabbe, the plan would be to first issue warnings to parents, notifying them of their children’s reckless behavior. On a second offense, deputies would write the children a ticket, paid for by their parents; that would function similarly to a county parking ticket.
“I’d really rather not write any tickets. So, I’m looking for compliance and a behavior change,” said Lt. Crabbe.
The ordinance would also give deputies the power to impound e-devices, confiscating them for a designated time period.
“I take that away, and they can’t get it back until they complete an online e-bikes safety course,” said Lt. Crabbe.
The Orange County Sheriff’s office is working on drafting the ordinance that would eventually come back to the Orange County Commissioners in August, along with plans for e-bike education.
Commissioners are hoping new rules can be implemented by the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
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