Minibike Incident Occurs Amid St. Pete Traffic Enforcement Efforts

Share and Follow

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — This year, St. Petersburg has experienced four pedestrian and three bicycle-related fatalities. In response, local police have launched an initiative aimed at enhancing safety on some of the city’s most trafficked routes. This High Visibility Enforcement Operation kicked off on Tuesday.

Rather than issuing tickets, officers are distributing flyers and flashlights, aiming to educate the public on safe traffic practices.

Tragic incident: A 6-year-old girl was fatally struck by a vehicle while crossing the street with her family on their way to school in Tampa, according to deputies.

“Officers will be watching for cyclists and e-bike riders who run red lights, pedestrians who ignore crosswalks, those crossing streets mid-block, and vehicles failing to follow traffic rules,” explained Sgt. Michael Schade of the St. Petersburg Police Department.

The safety initiative is underway along the bustling 34th Street North. Ironically, during the operation, a collision occurred involving an officer and an individual on a mini or sports bike.

St. Pete police confirmed one of their officers conducting the high visibility enforcement tried to do a traffic stop on the bike.

They said the rider tried escaping from police when they hit an officer on a motorcycle. Their bikes were wedged between two cars. The bike rider was placed under arrest, and the officer was not injured.

“This is an ongoing problem. I’m not sure if people aren’t following traffic rules or what’s happening, but there’s a lot of accidents happening on this corner,” said a woman who works in the area and wanted to stay anonymous.

Looking at the data from this year, the department said they have to make people aware of the dangers. Pinellas County ranks in the top 25 counties in the state for traffic crashes resulting in serious and fatal injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists.

“We’ve had three recent fatalities involving e-bikes where the e-bike operator was at fault in all three cases, whether it be running a stop sign or a red light. So it’s important that they understand basic rules of the road apply to bicycles and e-scooters just as much as it does a car,” said Sgt. Schade.

It’s not clear what charges the man in the accident will be facing. This operation will go until May 2026. The department was given a $76,940 contract to conduct the operation.