New Rules for Electric Bikes and Scooters In the Works for School Campuses
Winter Park residents turned out to a community meeting this week to hear an update on safety as complaints about the fast motorized devices have soared. Orange County schools are considering new rules
Feb. 20, 2026
By Tilly Raij
With new rules at the state and school district levels still uncertain, about two dozen people gathered this week to discuss how to make electric bikes and scooters safer in Winter Park.
City Commissioner Craig Russell led the community meeting Tuesday and walked residents through a primer on current regulations and etiquette that could reduce accidents and close calls on sidewalks and roads.
“If you don’t know how to operate the device, my suggestion is don’t get it for your 8-year-old,” said Russell, who is also a teacher and coach at Winter Park High School. He said he has seen students injured on the electric devices.
He emphasized that parents often don’t know the rules when their children begin riding.
The meeting followed increasing complaints from residents about people riding bikes and scooters too fast and recklessly on roads and sidewalks, especially near school campuses.
Orange County School Board member Stephanie Vanos, who also spoke at the meeting, said new rules could be on the horizon across the district.
She said options under discussion include requiring parents and students to take a class and sign an agreement related to riding and parking on campus, similar to the agreements high school students sign to drive and park cars on campus.
Vanos, who represents Winter Park in District 6, said students would receive a sticker to place on their device to show they participated in the training. Faculty members also have communicated with students about electric scooters and bikes.
“Right now, no, there is no requirement that students have to take any kind of education, or parents, but I will say that at many of our schools, particularly some of our middle schools and high schools, the principals are sharing information on e-bike safety and scooters with the students,” Vanos said.
Earlier this month, the school board heard a presentation noting survey results that show nearly 12,000 students ride bikes or scooters to school in Orange County. While most schools require students to walk their devices on campus, only about half issue violations to those who fail to do so.
In addition to permit stickers, district staff members recommend adding rules to the Code of Conduct and installing new signs on campuses requiring students to dismount bikes and scooters.
Last year, the school board held a discussion and presentation on the soaring popularity of bikes and scooters. Since 2017, electric scooter injuries in the U.S. have surged by 400%, with Florida ranking among the top states in emergency room visits for such injuries, staff members told the board at a November work session, citing data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Accidents involving children younger than 15 have more than doubled since 2023.
Russell’s presentation this week also covered rules governing e-scooters and e-bikes in certain areas of Winter Park. The devices cannot be ridden on sidewalks in the Park Avenue area known as the Central Business District, Hannibal Square and the Orange Avenue Overlay District.
Carelessly transitioning from sidewalks to roads, crossing crosswalks without looking for oncoming vehicles and ignoring pedestrian signals are among the most frequent safety concerns involving local riders, he said.
Russell shared best practices and described the “Be KIND” acronym for remembering how to properly operate an electric scooter or bike. The letters stand for “keep your eyes up, initiate courtesy, navigate safely and do the right thing.”
Adriana Rodriguez, senior transportation engineer for MetroPlan Orlando, told residents the organization is working with the American Bicycling Education Association to create a series of educational modules aimed at 500 students ages 12-15. Topics will range from safety to road rules and will incorporate graphics and illustrations, ending with a quiz. Students will receive a certificate of completion, and the results will be analyzed by grade level to determine whether the initiative should be expanded.
With about three weeks left in the regular session of the Florida Legislature, officials also are waiting to see whether new state laws emerge.
Proposals — Senate Bill 382 and House Bill 243 — that initially would have required licenses for certain classes of electric bikes have been scaled back to create a safety task force and include provisions such as: “A person operating an electric bicycle on a sidewalk or other area designated for pedestrians may not operate the electric bicycle at a speed greater than 10 miles per hour if a pedestrian is within 50 feet of the electric bicycle.”
Provisions related to motorized scooters were removed from the proposals.
Russell said education will remain essential to improving safety.
“Our goal is simple — to keep our kids safe, our sidewalks safe and our community involved,” he said.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
Having witnessed kids driving too fast and zig-zagging from sidewalks to roads, and crossing intersections without looking, parents aren’t communicating safe operating of electric bikes and scooters or kids ignoring. A class requirement is a good suggestion.
Very wishy washy by our leaders. Don’t want to upset our upscale parents now do we. Get a back bone and take a stand on kids being reckless and dangerous.
It isn’t just the kids who are endangering themselves and others with their electric bikes and scooters (though what is wrong with their parents who allow them to do this without training?) It is adults, too, many of whom weave through traffic — without helmets, no less. How about the “adult” man who rides in traffic on an electric UNIcycle through the curvy, dangerous East Osceola Ave & Brewer Ave between Fairbanks & Aloma. Madness.
I fail to understand the “need” for kids to use e-bikes. Traditional bicycles provide kids with exercise as well as transportation. Conversely, e-bikes and e-scooters provide zero exercise, and they are far more dangerous. They travel faster, are less visible, and allow for distractions. Just this morning, I observed a student flying down the roadway on an e-scooter while looking down at his phone. The difference boils down to riding versus driving. Kids not eligible for a driver license are too young to drive and that should include electric modes of transportation.
We have several 8- to 12-year-olds in the Lake Knowles/Temple Drive neighborhood with electric bikes who routinely zip around at 20 to 30 mph down sidewalks, through intersections, etc. without a glance. These are essentially motorcycles (albeit electric rather than gasoline powered), so the same age limits, permitting restrictions, and motor vehicle operating regulations should apply. I have yet to see a single instance of any one of these stopping at a stop sign, so it’s a matter of when, not if, there will be a fatality.
I walk on Lakemont and Palmer Aves. daily. At least once a week a teenager riding a bicycle or scooter will come up behind me without any warning and run me off the sidewalk. This is a manners and respecting others issue; not the ability to ride a vehicle.
An 8 yr old lacks the decision making ability to consistently safely operate an E bike. There should be a requirement that these vehicles carry insurance like other vehicles. It’s entirely foreseeable that a minor operating an e-bike may potentially cause an accident resulting in injury or property damage.
I have had several concerns in the last two months with young kids riding on e-bikes and e-scooters on public roads. (1) They ride two abreast in a pack of 5-6 slowing traffic on Phelps Ave. and in Baldwin Park. (2) They refuse to get over for cars to pass, (3) the kids wear no helmet or safety clothing, (4) their e-bikes and e-scooters have no lights, turn signals or stop lights and (5) they often have top speeds up to 30+ mph. I’ve owned two dozen motorcycles and have been riding for more than 50 years, but motorcycles and motor scooters have to follow the same rules and regulations as other vehicles and have the same safety equipment. As of today, there are no rules or regulations, no age limits, no license requirements or license plates required for e-bikes and e-scooters and they are arguably comparable speed-wise to street legal 50cc motor scooters. This is a growing concern in most communities and something needs to be done for the safety of the children and the licensed vehicle drivers on our roads.
The legislation is a waste since it doesn’t include scooters where I see the most flagrant behavior. Something should be done to educate kids on safely riding these motorized vehicles. The are not invincible especially against a many thousand pound car or truck.