Ebikes Banned in Key Biscayne FLA After a Fatal Collision

Interestingly today I was out riding near the park city's, and low and behold, 4 kids about 12 to 14 yrs old rode by me on Super 73s. I'm not saying they were doing anything wrong, but this was the first time I've seen this phenomena in real life. These kids looked exactly like the ones in the Key Biscayne video. All their bikes looked great. They were all wearing helmets, and were dressed nice. They were cutting through a parking lot, not going very fast, and came to a busy street crossing. The first 3 barely slowed down, and crossed effortlessly as a group driveway to driveway. A 4th rider that looked the youngest lagged a little behind. He had to slow down to avoid some traffic, and then he rode across the street just as easily. They were riding exactly the same as I ride, and looked like they all knew what they were doing. Traffic was pretty heavy too. I couldn't tell by what I saw if their bikes computers were unlocked, and had no reason to assume so, unlike a lot of other old geezers that always assume the worst.
 

I like the way this guy thinks. He points out this ordinance is full of holes, and needs to be challenged in court.
 
biknut said:

I like the way this guy thinks. He points out this ordinance is full of holes, and needs to be challenged in court.
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He talks about the three classes of electric bicycle, but it doesn’t seem like these ebikes are truly in those classes.

If these kids were bombing around and being a menace, then there may have been good reason for concern.

Of course banning all e-bikes seems extreme. If the menace is kids, then set an age limit. If it’s faster ebikes, restrict by class. If you can’t do that and these kids are endangering people, then maybe this was the right thing to do.
 
I wonder how the ban is going so far? I bet by now a bunch people have started looking over the state statutes to find weaknesses in the ordinance.

I was recently made aware of a similar ban in my DFW area by a rider in Irving Texas. He started noticing new signs on the Campion Trail that say, "No Motorized Vehicles". He went to a city council meeting, and found out they're planning to start enforcing an ordinance for the first time, that's been on the books since the trail was made in the late 90s. They consider any vehicle with a motor or engine as a motorized vehicle, including eBikes, no exceptions. It's not clear why they've decided to start enforcing this old ordinance all of a sudden. I haven't heard of any accidents or fatalities on this trail. The fine is set at $500. In the last 10 years I've ridden it only about a dozen times. I know that in the last few years it's become a popular trail for mixed group rides that include eBikes, One Wheels, EUC, and SurRon's. My suspicion is this was instigated by spandexers who also heavily populate this trail, and hate eBikes, and anything else motorized riding the trail.

The problem for Irving is nowhere in Texas law is an eBike defined as a motorized vehicle, but Texas law does specifically state that electric bicycles are, "Not Motor Vehicles". That's a major weakness in the ordinance as far as eBikes go. Another weakness is the ADA which grants access to disabled persons riding mobility vehicles. Even though the ADA allows localities to ban mobility vehicles, they still have to justify the ban on a case by case basis. I think this can be easily exploited too. Any vehicle can be considered a mobility vehicle as long as you can justify it, and authorities are supposed to accept your word for it on the spot in cases where it's obvious, like missing a limb, but even when it's not obvious you can still prevail in court. I would be a nightmare for Irving. I'm over 70 yrs old, and have broken both of my feet at different times in my life. Although it's not obvious by looking, if I walk very far it starts becoming painful. I have the x-rays t prove it. My preferred mobility vehicle is my eBike officer.
 
HumanPerson said:
Welp, gonna have to outlaw rock climbing then..... :rolleyes:
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Because you could loose your grip and fall on someone below you?

This upsets me on different levels. First it's a ban on me riding. I have physical restrictions that restricts my ability to ride analog bikes.
Second. And this is going to anger a few. The proliferation of the super powerful Emotorcycles. Half way between a motorcycle and bike. More likely a super moped is what is under attack. These "bikes" are usually driven by younger kids. I'm not saying that they are any less prudent than the spandex riding crowd when it comes to traffic laws.
It's the appearance. Big battery's. Fast speeds and heavy. Getting hit by a 120lb bike with a 80lb rider does a ton more damage especially when going 30mph +.

I suspect that there was no chance to make a logical case during that city council meeting. Remember when that reporter suggested that that woman was not wearing a helmet? The crowd went viral.

I have two ebikes. Proper in the biblical sense.
Standar frame, peddles, 8 speed shifter and a battery. From a distance one could not tell it was a ebike.
Unfortunately it looks like regulation by lawsuit is going to happen.

I do hope there is going to be a requirement for registration. A small few have ruined it for us all.
 
Wonder if these communities have had any deaths or injuries from guns? If yes.....are they getting rid of guns? A few years ago.....an older man in Portland died during sex after falling out of bed.......should Portland ban sex or require bedrails for all people over 60? Combining these two significant societal problems.....a better solution.....shoot all these stupid politicians and do not let them multiply....problems solved!
 
With seven cities in the “top” 20, Florida comes in as the nation’s second worst place for pedestrian safety, according to a recent analysis. The last place in the nation you’ll want to take a stroll: the Daytona Beach area, according to Smart Growth America’s "Dangerous by Design" report covering 2016 to 2020. The Daytona Beach-Deltona-Ormond Beach region accounted for 4.25 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 population per year, according to the study, which ranks areas based on walkability.

So it is OK for a motorist to strike and kill a pedestrian but not someone on a bicycle. Makes sense
 
When are we going to ban cars? I hear there are fatal crashes with them. Especially the high capacity ones.
 
Django said:
A 12 year old boy on an e-bike collided with a woman on a bicycle. Sadly, the woman was killed. Two days later, there is a total ban there.

Please read the entire article before commenting. It sounds to me like they are throwing the baby with the bath water.

It’s tragic that someone died, but they should investigate it further and make some logical rules, like age and class appropriate rules.

kbindependent.org

Key Biscayne bans e-bikes and scooters - Key Biscayne Independent

This story has been updated with
kbindependent.org kbindependent.org
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You want logical rules from Florida legislators? This is the land of the "Florida Man" - logic has no effect.
 
Smaug said:
I read the article again. The second sentence:

They "struggled" for two years and did nothing! All they had to do was copy some other state's eBike law! Maybe spend a couple hours reviewing how other states handle it.

Further down in the article:

Bravo Sardinas for keeping a cool head when everyone else goes into knee-jerk tragedy mode. The others were afraid of getting canceled, so took the most extreme route.


...so the village elected officials are taking zero accountability. It's this huge problem for which there was no solution they could implement. Yet it only took two days to ban eBikes completely?!


...and here, we see that Key Biscayne DID have authority to make their own law, but didn't.

Other things to note:

If the woman wore a helmet, it may have saved her life. She was an accomplished cyclist, but one's own skills (or lack thereof) are not the only reason to wear a helmet, as we can see here.

They don't say how she was killed; could've been something besides a knock to the head. (ex. broken neck?) But it's usually a knock to the head.

Since the woman didn't survive and the 12 year old's is the only firsthand testimony, I do wonder how they were so quick to blame the eBike/boy.
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Welcome to Florida. Of course they struggled for two years - no one taught them to read.
 
This is a re-run of the one that was going around a few decades ago:

Did you hear there was a fire in George Bush's personal library?​


It was awful! Most of his books hadn't even been colored in yet.

... and probably a re-run of a joke coming from Ancient Egypt (except it was a real fire, and the books lost were thousands... :( )
 
Very little detail is given about the actual circumstances of the accident, only saying that the police ruled the death accidental.
 
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