You’re riding your e-bike along the Pinellas Trail on a Saturday morning, cruising at a comfortable 18 miles per hour, when you pass a couple walking their dog. Under a bill that sailed through the Florida Legislature this spring without a single “no” vote, that exact moment—passing a pedestrian at that speed without slowing to 10 miles per hour—would have been a ticketable traffic violation as of July 1. Instead, on June 25, 2026, Governor DeSantis vetoed the bill, and Florida’s statewide e-bike rules remain exactly what they were before.
So what does the death of Senate Bill 382 actually mean for the thousands of people who ride, walk, and drive alongside e-bikes in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater every day? More than you might think—because the safety problem the Legislature tried to solve hasn’t gone anywhere, and the legal questions surrounding e-bike crashes just got more complicated, not less. At Licznerski Law, PLLC, we’ve been following this legislation closely, and here is where things now stand.
What SB 382 Would Have Done
The bill was Tallahassee’s first serious attempt at statewide e-bike safety regulation, and it addressed the collisions communities across Florida have been struggling with. It would have prohibited riding an e-bike faster than 10 miles per hour within 50 feet of a pedestrian on sidewalks and shared paths, required riders to yield to pedestrians and give an audible signal before passing on shared pathways, made violations noncriminal traffic infractions carrying fines over $100, required law enforcement agencies statewide to track e-bike crashes uniformly—including the rider’s age and the class of e-bike—and created a Micromobility Device Safety Task Force to recommend further regulation.
The Legislature passed it 37-0 in the Senate and 112-0 in the House. Support like that is rare for any bill, and it reflected genuine alarm: e-bike crashes involving teenagers have made headlines across Florida, including fatal ones.
Why the Governor Said No
In his veto letter, the Governor reasoned that a 10-mph standard would be difficult for a rider to gauge while operating safely, that enforcement would inevitably rely on speed detection and surveillance technology, and that the bill would likely lead to increased surveillance of citizens by local governments. He also criticized the bill for enacting substantive rules before the very task force it created could make recommendations, and publicly called the measure an overreach.
Agree or disagree with that reasoning, the practical effect is clear: the proposed statewide framework is gone, and Florida’s existing e-bike law remains in force unchanged.
The Law That Still Governs Tampa Bay Riders
With the veto, here is the legal landscape that actually applies today. Under Florida Statute 316.003, an electric bicycle is a bike with fully operable pedals, a seat, and a motor of 750 watts or less, falling into three classes: Class 1 (pedal-assist to 20 mph), Class 2 (throttle-assisted to 20 mph), and Class 3 (pedal-assist to 28 mph, restricted to riders 16 and older). Under Florida Statute 316.20655, e-bikes and their riders have the rights and duties of bicycles and bicyclists. No license, registration, or insurance is required, and helmets are mandatory only for riders under 16.
And here is the point that got lost in the coverage of the veto: some of what SB 382 proposed is already the law, and has been for years. Under Florida Statute 316.2065, a person riding on a sidewalk must yield the right of way to pedestrians and must give an audible signal before overtaking and passing them. The veto killed the specific 10-mph speed standard and its fine structure—it did not repeal a rider’s existing duty to yield to people on foot and announce a pass. Riders who blow silently past pedestrians on Tampa Bay sidewalks are violating current law, veto or no veto.
Local governments also retain their authority to regulate where and how e-bikes operate, and with the statewide framework dead, expect more of them to use it. Communities around Florida—including here in the Tampa Bay area—have been debating stricter local e-bike rules, particularly for young riders ahead of the school year. The veto makes a patchwork of city and county ordinances more likely, not less. Riders should watch their local commission agendas closely.
One more warning that remains fully valid: modifying your e-bike has serious legal consequences. If you remove the speed limiter or install a motor exceeding 750 watts, your machine no longer qualifies as an electric bicycle under Florida law. It becomes an unregistered motor vehicle—requiring registration, licensing, and insurance you almost certainly don’t have—and riding it on public roads can carry criminal consequences, along with devastating complications in any injury claim.
Why the Veto Matters in Accident Cases
Traffic rules are not just about tickets. They are the yardstick courts and insurance companies use to assign fault after a crash, because violating a traffic safety statute can serve as evidence of negligence in Florida.
Had SB 382 become law, it would have handed everyone in an e-bike case—injured pedestrians, injured riders, and insurance adjusters alike—a bright-line standard to argue about. Without it, fault fights in e-bike-versus-pedestrian crashes will turn on the older, more general standards: the sidewalk yielding and audible signal duties of Section 316.2065, and the basic negligence question of whether a rider’s speed and conduct were reasonable under the circumstances. A rider doing 20 mph through a crowded St. Petersburg sidewalk may not be violating a specific speed cap, but a jury can still find that speed unreasonable—and an injured pedestrian’s attorney will argue exactly that.
Florida’s modified comparative negligence law raises the stakes further. If you are found more than 50 percent at fault for your own injuries, you recover nothing. Insurance companies will use every available argument—unreasonable speed, failure to signal a pass, riding a modified bike—to push an injured person’s fault percentage over that threshold. The veto didn’t eliminate those fights. It just removed one clear rule and left more room for argument, which makes skilled advocacy matter more, not less.
Who Can Be Held Liable in an E-Bike Crash
The liability framework is unchanged by the veto. Depending on the circumstances of a Tampa Bay e-bike crash, responsible parties may include negligent drivers who strike e-bike riders at intersections, in bike lanes, or while turning—still the source of the most serious e-bike injuries; e-bike riders who injure pedestrians by riding unreasonably or violating existing sidewalk duties; rental companies that fail to maintain their fleets, rent Class 3 e-bikes to underage riders, or send tourists into crowded pedestrian zones with no instruction; manufacturers of defective e-bikes, including bikes with faulty brakes, throttle malfunctions, or lithium-ion batteries prone to fire; and government entities responsible for dangerous road and trail conditions, subject to strict notice requirements and shorter deadlines.
How Licznerski Law, PLLC Approaches E-Bike Accident Cases
E-bike cases are not ordinary bicycle cases, and they are not car accident cases. They sit at the intersection of both—in a legal environment that, after this veto, remains unsettled and increasingly local.
At Licznerski Law, PLLC, we investigate every e-bike crash aggressively and immediately. We secure surveillance footage from businesses along the crash route before it is erased. We download data from the e-bike itself, which can reveal speed and motor assistance at the moment of impact. We interview witnesses, identify every applicable state statute and local ordinance, and work with accident reconstruction experts who understand the physics of e-bike collisions. When insurance companies try to spin an unsettled legal landscape against injured people—inflating fault arguments to slash or deny claims—we push back with evidence, expert testimony, and a demonstrated willingness to take the case to trial.
Insurance carriers and their lawyers are well-funded and well-prepared. We make sure our clients are better prepared.
Injured in an E-Bike Accident in Tampa Bay? Talk to Us Today.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an e-bike accident—whether you were the rider, a pedestrian, or a motorist—your rights are governed by rules that most people, and frankly most attorneys, haven’t kept up with. Do not give a statement to an insurance company before you understand how the current law applies to your case.
Licznerski Law, PLLC offers free consultations, and we handle e-bike accident cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless we win for you.
The Legislature acted. The Governor vetoed. Your right to justice survived them both. Licznerski Law, PLLC—relentless advocacy for Tampa Bay.
Licznerski Law, PLLC
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