St. Pete Police Issue 24 Citations in Crackdown on Personal Electric Vehicle Riders: A Community Perspective

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — In a bid to address safety concerns, St. Petersburg police have intensified their enforcement of laws against unlawful e-bike riding. On Thursday evening, officers issued 24 citations to a group exceeding 50 riders in the downtown area.

The group had previously communicated with the police department and believed they were in compliance with regulations until the recent crackdown. According to the police, the heightened focus comes after three e-bike-related fatalities in the city over the last two weeks, with authorities attributing these incidents to rider errors. As a result, e-bike users in St. Petersburg can expect increased scrutiny from law enforcement.

The Thursday night ride included participants on one-wheelers, scooters, e-bikes, and featured both adults and children, all illuminated with flashing lights. Some riders contacted 8 On Your Side on Friday, expressing that they found the police response to be overly harsh.

“Not everyone was misbehaving, but they treated us as though we all were,” said Michael Buhl, an e-bike enthusiast who received a citation during the event.

Buhl has been riding with them for about five years. He admits not everyone in the group obeys the laws of the roads.

“As far as stopping at all stop lights, there are a good bit of people in the group that will stop at all the traffic lights. And then there is some that will continue to roll through. And I’ve seen it and I try to address it as well myself.”

Allan Miller got a $64 citation Thursday night with the group.

“Last night it was just unexpected,” Miller said.

St. Pete police said they’ve received complaints about the group blocking or riding the wrong way in traffic and ignoring signals. Officers issued 24 citations for uni-wheels, e-bikes, and e-scooters.

“I just think that the situation is that the laws aren’t keeping up,” Buhl said. “These are not toys. These are legitimate modes of transportation that are used by many people to get to and from work. Some people can’t have a license, can’t afford a car, and these are affordable means of transportation.”

Florida State Statute defines e-bikes as having a maximum capacity motor of 750 watts or can travel up to 28 mph. E-bikes faster than that are considered motor vehicles, and must be registered with the DMV, and the rider must have a driver’s license. Local authorities can further regulate the use of these devices.

Buhl said he believes their group will have discussions about future rides.

“We need more self-policing and good actors out there to say, ‘Hey, we’re not a bad group.’ We’re out here. We want to do the right thing and, you know, show that there’s alternative forms of transportation that are efficient and can be used by just about anybody.” Buhl said.

Under a St. Petersburg city ordinance, motorized skateboards, motorized roller skates, hoverboards, hover skates, hover shoes, one-wheeled electric boards or other similar devices are considered motorized toy vehicles and not allowed on city streets.

“The police department’s goal is to ensure the safety of riders as that of the general public throughout the city,” said a St. Pete PD spokesperson. “The laws and rules of the road exist to keep everyone safe. Just in the past two weeks in our city, there have been three fatal crashes involving e-bike riders who were not obeying traffic signals or the rules of the road.”

8 On Your Side reached out to the organizer of the group rides for an official statement. St. Pete Float Fleet sent the following statement:

“So the big issue is laws that were put in place with no true knowledge of the type of vehicles that are trying to be ban.

The city and its leaders have stated that saint pete is all about the future and alternative forms of transportation. But with the lobbying that’s happened clearly for rental scooters and bikes. It appears that’s it’s for only “their” ideal form of transportation that must be used and payed for to be able to enjoy DT proper.

The rental companies have had many negative impacts on the city that of course no one will address. From deaths that happened when introduced at the very beginning to countless accidents because of lack of safety gear and knowledge. There’s constant illegal activity from the rental scooters, mainly driving while very intoxicated to disobeying traffic laws. Which our group has lots of videos of because we always talk about how they make us look bad running red lights everywhere. Then they’re constantly being left anywhere around the city on pathways, bike lanes, and the street as hazards

Private PEV (Personal Electric Vehicle) owners don’t have these issues because we respect the vehicles we payed for and use as our form of travel. We know the limits and dangers that come with them. Along with the consequences if not respected and followed.

We as private citizens have no one lobbying for “real” alternative forms of transportation and rights to travel. Instead of being able to ride a small vehicle that take up little to no room everywhere it goes. The city would rather I be in a big car, create more traffic jams, which have become terrible DT in the past three years and is only getting worse with more people coming in.

Our group just like most groups that are for positive enjoyment in life, ride to enjoy the company of others and relax for a day out of the week. Not to go out and create mayhem and problems around town. Unfortunately there is always a bad apple in these situations that don’t follow the rules and makes the whole group look bad. And I e stated to the group countless times, it only takes one rider to make all look bad.

We do follow the rules of the road and don’t just blow through lights and disregard traffic laws. The most that ever happens is some people getting through a light that has changed to red. But, SPPD officers actually told us to go through all as one, but if there is any gaps that we must stop. Which we have done and respected. We have countless video footage showing us stopping and respecting all traffic signals. And in the end most of the time it’s not even 10 seconds of extra time that it takes.

The Fleet is an amazing group of people from seven-year-olds to 70-year-olds from white collar doctors and lawyers to blue collared city workers and construction workers and everything in between. We’ve raised thousands of dollars and had toy drives every year for charities in the city (the women’s abuse center being the main one) along with helping the homeless and doing food drives.

We want to be seen as equals when it comes to transportation. And rental services can provide the city with plenty of people who break the rules and can be cited. Why aren’t they do a better job at policing that also. Because $$$ is what this is all about. The majority of the police have stated that they don’t agree with the policies put in place.

Hopefully we can get someone who is for the individual people of the city and not just for big corporations to make money from.”