Injury claims and lawsuits stemming from e-bikes on Florida’s streets could diminish a little bit if the state’s governor signs a mild e-bike regulation bill into law.
Senate Bill 382, adopted by the Legislature this spring with no dissenting votes, would require electric bike drivers to keep it under 10 mph if a pedestrian is within 50 feet. The measure, if signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, also would mandate that e-bikes on shared pathways must yield to people and give an audible signal before passing them.
The bill would create a task force, adjunct to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, to study the means of transportation and make recommendations for improvements to the Legislature.
Existing Florida law notes that an operator of an electric bicycle shall enjoy all the rights and privileges, and be subject to all of the duties, of a bicycle rider, a legislative analysis of the bill explains.
But SB 382 comes at a time of increasing concern over the safety of e-bikes on busy streets. Fox 35 Orlando news reported in April that state agencies do not track e-bike accidents. But data from medical providers suggests a big increase in injuries in recent years. Wolfson Children’s Hospital said e-bike and e-scooter crashes resulting in hospital admissions rose dramatically since 2022.
In California, the number of insurance claims quadrupled from roughly 1,000 claims in 2021 to more than 4,000 claims in 2025, and included battery fires and crashes, a Verisk report found.
The carrier failed to prove any prejudice was caused by the delay in reporting to authorities, the justices said.
The Dobbins said their pickup truck was struck by another truck that left the scene. They had delayed reporting to police because the 2018 accident happened on a Friday afternoon and the following Monday was a legal holiday. The couple also have difficulty reading, which thwarted their understanding of the auto policy requirements.
The auto insurer soon denied the uninsured motorist claim, based exclusively on the policyholder’s failure to report to police within 24 hours, per the policy wording.
The court’s opinion, penned by Justice Charles Trump, noted that previous court rulings have established that failure to notify authorities does not automatically bar UM coverage. In this case, the auto policy also made it clear that the insurer had to show that a delay in reporting was prejudicial to the carrier.
