Driving a car or motorcycle in Florida requires a valid driver’s license or permit. But riding an electric bicycle or powered scooter, also known as a micromobility device, does not. And it’s becoming a problem, according to county staff, who are looking to address the issue through a proposed set of regulations.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office and school safety officials say a rising number of teenagers and young adults are using these electric-powered devices to get around, often operating them at speeds above 30 miles per hour. Within the Orange County school district, an estimated 11,800 students are now using these devices — mostly middle- and high-school students.
“We commonly see them over 50 miles per hour, even with the younger kids,” said Lt. Michael Crabb, speaking to county commissioners during a discussion of the issue Tuesday.
He showed alarming body-camera footage of teens zipping away from Windermere High School last month on their own micromobility devices after school. Some students rode against the flow of traffic or could be seen jaggedly weaving between cars across various lanes. “They may just not realize that it’s illegal to go the wrong way on the road with traffic,” Crabb noted.
Unlike motorcycles, Florida law doesn’t require a driver’s license, permit, registration or insurance to operate an electric bike or scooter. There is also no minimum age requirement in order to use them.
“Micromobility devices provide a low-cost transportation option that supports local business activity, while reducing public and individual transportation expenses,” acknowledged Lauren Torres, senior project manager for Orange County’s public works division.
“But this rapid growth in this type of device is also leading to an increase in crashes and trauma-related injuries. Law enforcement is actively addressing unsafe behavior, but they have limited tools, staffing and a lack of clear local standards.”
According to Dr. Mitchell Michalak, a lead epidemiologist for the state Department of Health in Orlando, children and young adults under 19 accounted for 54 percent of all emergency department visits in Orange County in 2025 related to micromobility collisions. Thirty-seven percent of those ER visits involved children under 15.
“This is just emergency department visits, so this does not necessarily capture all micromobility accidents that may have occurred,” Michalak informed county commissioners.
The rise of e-bike use has also led to tragedy in the community.
Earlier this month, for instance, local 13-year-old Colton Remsburg died after colliding with a pickup truck in Lake Nona while riding an e-scooter without a helmet. He was on his way to pick up flowers for his mom for Mother’s Day. Sadly, he never made it home.
Ashley Lachance, Colton’s mother, urged county commissioners on Tuesday to create local rules for these devices and maintain compassion for parents who are trying to do right by their kids.
“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,’” she said Tuesday. “I know I did. I constantly reminded Colton to be safe.”
Lachance said she believed schools “should seriously consider implementing some form of driver style education course or certification requirement” for e-scooters and e-bikes. “Not because parents are failing, but because every additional layer of education matters,” she argued.
Setting ground rules
Local community stakeholders, including school safety officials and law enforcement agencies, appear to agree. That’s why the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has proposed a set of regulations for county commissioners to approve as a local ordinance.
The ordinance, as proposed, would include rules on standard speed limits for micromobility devices, the ability to impound electric devices for violations, parental notification for minors, and enforcement capabilities — in the form of a non-criminal traffic violation — for “reckless” activities, such as speeding, failing to slow down in the near vicinity of pedestrians, or weaving between cars on the road.
“We want to engage the parents,” Crabb explained. “We want to hold them accountable for the behavior of their children.”
Orange County commissioner Nicole Wilson, representing parts of east and south Orange County, first requested a discussion of micromobility devices in December. County leaders then asked staff to do research on potential regulation opportunities and gather data to inform their decisions.
From their research, staff found that several Florida municipalities have already moved to enact their own local ordinances to provide basic regulation for micromobility device use.
St. Johns County, for instance, passed an ordinance in 2024 that requires e-device riders to yield to pedestrians, prohibits more riders on the device than it is designed to accommodate, and prohibits weaving, reckless riding and unsafe speeds. The county further strengthened that ordinance in 2025.
The city of Palm Coast similarly enacted local regulations of e-devices in 2025, setting a minimum age of 11 to lawfully ride an e-scooter or e-bike on city streets, sidewalks and paths. The city of Winter Garden created a minimum age requirement of 15 earlier this year for the operation of e-devices as well.
Danny Banks, director of public safety for Orange County, said there’s a “lot of appetite” from law enforcement agencies throughout Orange County municipalities, including Winter Garden, “to see some step in enforcement opportunities” on micromobility devices.
“There’s a lot of optimism … right now to set some sort of ordinance structure that gives them enforcement capabilities in those municipalities,” he affirmed.
A state bill passed by the Florida Legislature this year could also add further statewide regulation to the use of electric bikes and scooters, if signed into law by Gov. DeSantis.
If signed, Florida Senate Bill 382 would require riders to provide an audible signal to pedestrians before passing, set a speed limit of 10 mph within 50 feet of pedestrians, establish a state task force on micromobility device use, clarify enforcement protocol and mandate statewide tracking of crash data.
“It has not been signed by the governor yet, but unless he vetoes it, this will become law as of July 1,” Crabb said.
Looking ahead
County staff say 90 percent of the proposed ordinance for Orange County commissioners is ready as draft language. More research needs to be done, however, before a proposed ordinance can come back to the board of county commissioners for a formal vote. The goal is for this to occur within the next two to three months.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings — who will be leaving his office within the next year due to term limits — said he’d also like to see a grace period for enforcement activity. “The education piece is really, really important here, just to kind of create a curriculum working in partnership with the school district and everybody else to get that out, to educate our children,” he said.
“I want our children — since I have grandchildren — I want them to have the opportunity to know how to do better, OK? And that will take a public education and awareness campaign.”
There’s already awareness in the community of the risks of not taking action at all. Linda Sibley, a 72-year-old resident of Winter Garden, told county commissioners during the public comment period that her life “almost changed in a split second” due to reckless e-bike use in 2024. She said she was on an early morning run one morning when she was nearly struck by three teens speeding past her on high-powered electric bikes on the way to school.
“I don’t know exactly how fast they were going, but I do know this: If I had been struck, I would have been either killed or seriously injured,” she said. “Since that time, I have been passionately advocating for e-bike, e-scooter and moped mandatory safety training, not only for the students, but for their parents as well.”
“I shudder to think what would have happened to me, a 72-year-old grandmother struck from behind by a speeding e-bike,” she admitted. “Their school day would have just been a normal day, but my life would have been shattered forever.”
Brittany Wilson, another Winter Garden resident from Horizon West, added, “Without reasonable safeguards, it is only a matter of time before more serious injuries or fatalities happen in our community.”
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