Manatee County officials are weighing whether to expand an existing e-bike age restriction to cover more types of devices, including e-scooters, after injury data showed hundreds of local kids ending up hospitalized. County leaders held a community information session Saturday to gather public input before any decision moves forward, with no vote expected for months.
The county is examining a proposal to expand its current age restriction to all classes of e-bikes and e-scooters, according to mysuncoast.com. As it stands, the county’s ordinance only prohibits children younger than 16 from operating Class 3 e-bikes — the fastest, pedal-assist category — on public roads, bicycle paths and shared-use pathways, per that same report. That restriction stems from a broader e-bike ordinance Manatee County commissioners approved in 2025, which also capped e-bikes, motorized scooters and mopeds at 15 mph on sidewalks, as yourobserver.com reported at the time.
Manatee County Public Safety Director Jodie Fiske has pointed to injury concerns as the driving force behind the proposed expansion. Data presented from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital showed more than 300 kids between ages 10 and 16 had been hospitalized for e-bike-related injuries, according to wfla.com, which first reported on Saturday’s session. Fiske said ages 9 to 14 account for “a huge bulk of these critical injuries that we’re seeing in kids,” per the same account.
Regional Data Shows Sharp Rise in Child Injuries
Regional hospital systems reported a 27% increase in critical and traumatic injuries among children younger than 18 over roughly the past year and a half to two years, the mysuncoast.com report noted. That trend isn’t confined to Manatee County. St. Johns County Fire Rescue responded to 50 e-bike crashes in 2025, almost five times its total the year before, news4jax.com reported.
Even with the injury numbers, county leadership appears hesitant to move straight to a ban. Despite the data, Fiske said the county is seeking less restrictive alternatives that could improve safety through education, outreach and community involvement, rather than an outright prohibition. Manatee County Chairman Tal Siddique has gone further, saying the county may not put the restriction in place at all because enforcing it would take considerable resources, the station reported.
Timeline Points to a Spring Decision
The issue is scheduled to come before commissioners this month, but county leaders don’t expect any final decisions until spring, according to the same wfla.com report. That timeline leaves room for continued public input after Saturday’s session, which 10 Tampa Bay also covered as commissioners weigh a plan that would bar kids under 16 from riding e-bikes on public streets.
Manatee County isn’t alone in grappling with how to regulate the surge of e-bikes and scooters among younger riders. Palm Beach County commissioners voted 7-0 to advance a proposed ordinance setting age, identification and speed requirements for e-bikes and similar devices, according to cbs12.com. That draft rule would require riders to be at least 14 and carry government-issued photo identification, with a public hearing and final vote slated for Dec. 1. Palm Beach County has documented 613 micromobility injuries from January 2021 through September, with children accounting for 31% of those cases, per the same report.
The Orange County School Board has also weighed banning e-bikes and e-scooters altogether at its K-8 schools, yourobserver.com reported separately. Manatee County’s existing ordinance prohibits riders younger than 16 from riding Class 3 e-bikes on public roads, bicycle paths and shared-use pathways in unincorporated Manatee County. Whether that threshold expands to cover every class of e-bike and e-scooter for riders under 16 remains an open question the county says it won’t resolve before spring.
