A driver fleeing on foot after slamming her car into a car wash sign is now the subject of a St. Petersburg police search, after she struck a man riding an e-bike in the early morning hours and abandoned the vehicle at the scene. The crash happened shortly after 1 a.m. yesterday in the 200 block of 34th Street North, leaving the rider with non-life-threatening injuries and investigators scrambling to identify the woman who ran.
According to FOX 13 Tampa Bay, reporter Kailey Tracy detailed how St. Petersburg police are actively searching for the hit-and-run driver who injured the e-bike rider. The St. Petersburg Police Department reported that the driver, behind the wheel of a Honda Accord, struck the e-bike rider before losing control and crashing into a car wash sign, at which point she abandoned her vehicle and fled on foot, per the department's account relayed by Tampa Bay News on Facebook.
The e-bike rider was taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries described as non-life-threatening, according to a report from The Daily News Now. Investigators are still working to identify the female suspect who fled the scene.
A Legal Duty to Stay, and a Felony for Leaving
Under Florida Statute § 316.027(2)(a), leaving the scene of a crash involving personal injury is a third-degree felony, carrying up to five years in state prison, a $5,000 fine, and mandatory revocation of the driver's license, according to Online Sunshine, the state's official statutes portal. Florida law imposes a strict duty on all drivers involved in a crash to remain at the scene and render aid, regardless of who caused the initial collision.
The e-bike rider, meanwhile, was operating a vehicle with the same rights and responsibilities as a traditional bicyclist under state law. Florida Statute § 316.20655 grants electric bicycle operators those protections and duties without requiring a driver's license, vehicle registration, or auto insurance, per FindLaw's compilation of Florida statutes. E-bikes legally operating on Florida roads fall into three speed and motor-assist classes capped between 20 and 28 mph.
A Familiar and Troubling Pattern in St. Petersburg
This is not the city's first close call involving a fleeing driver and a micro-mobility rider this month. Less than two weeks earlier, on August 19, a 37-year-old man riding a motorized electric scooter was killed in a hit-and-run at 5th Avenue North and Tyrone Boulevard North, a case Hoodline covered after police located the driver who fled that scene.
St. Petersburg has also seen a broader spike in e-bike-related crashes. In October 2025, police traffic officials revealed that three of seven traffic fatalities recorded across the city in a single month involved e-bikes, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay. Officers noted at the time that several of those crashes involved rider traffic violations such as running red lights or failing to yield.
Hit-and-run crashes have also been climbing statewide, with Florida traffic safety reporting showing a 40 percent increase over the past decade, the station's report added. Pinellas County alone averaged more than 14,000 motor vehicle crashes per year over the five years through 2025, contributing to a statewide total of 362,063 crashes and over 235,000 injuries in 2025, according to figures compiled by Neal & Solevilla Personal Injury Lawyers.
Regional Push to Protect Vulnerable Riders
Local planning officials have taken notice of the risks facing cyclists and pedestrians. Regional planning agency Forward Pinellas was awarded $400,000 in federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant funding in October 2025 to update its Safe Streets Action Plan, aimed at eliminating severe injuries and traffic deaths among vulnerable road users. Countywide, total fatal and serious injury crashes fell from 1,119 in 2016 to 696 in 2024, though risks to pedestrians and cyclists remain elevated.
Not every recent e-bike crash in the city has ended with a driver fleeing. In August 2024, a 46-year-old e-bike rider was killed along 28th Street North when he was hit in the curb lane by a Ford Fusion and then struck by a second vehicle, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay; both drivers in that earlier collision remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
For now, the driver from Monday's crash in the 200 block of 34th Street North remains at large, and St. Petersburg police have not released a description beyond identifying her as female. Anyone with information about the crash or the whereabouts of the Honda Accord's driver is being sought by investigators as the search continues.
