A 68-year-old Tampa woman died after colliding with a sedan while riding an electric bicycle near Hillsborough Avenue and Benjamin Road early Friday morning. She was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries and was later pronounced dead by medical staff there.
According to a report from the Tampa Free Press, the crash happened around 5:10 a.m. Friday. The outlet reported that the woman had been riding her e-bike eastbound along the north shoulder of Hillsborough Avenue at the same time a 32-year-old Tampa man was driving a Hyundai Sonata eastbound on the same road.
Per that account, the Sonata driver turned north onto Benjamin Road under a green traffic signal. The e-bike operator entered the crosswalk against an active don't-walk signal, and the e-bike struck the Sonata, the Tampa Free Press reported, attributing the circumstances of the crash to the Florida Highway Patrol. The Sonata driver was not reported to have suffered injuries.
Troopers Close Lanes During Investigation
wfla.com separately reported that troopers responded to the crash at Hillsborough Avenue and Benjamin Road at 6 a.m. Friday. The station also reported that northbound lanes of Benjamin Road at Hillsborough Avenue were closed at the time of its report, citing the Florida Highway Patrol.
Authorities have not released the names of the two people involved in the crash. The exact relationship between the 5:10 a.m. crash time cited by the Tampa Free Press and the 6 a.m. trooper response time reported by wfla.com has not been clarified in available reporting.
Another Fatal E-Bike Crash in Hillsborough County
This is not the only fatal e-bike crash reported in Hillsborough County this year. In June, the Florida Highway Patrol said a 42-year-old Wilton Manors man riding an e-bike died after colliding with a Ford F-250 on State Route 60, just before 10:30 p.m., according to tampabay28.com. That report said the truck was driven by a 46-year-old Brandon man who was exiting a driveway in the 1200 block of State Route 60 when the e-bike, traveling northbound, collided with it.
What Florida Law Says About E-Bikes on the Road
Florida law addresses how bicycle riders, including those on e-bikes, are expected to interact with traffic. Under Florida Statutes § 316.2065, a person propelling a vehicle by human power generally has the rights and duties applicable to a driver of another vehicle, subject to certain exceptions. The same statute states that a person propelling a bicycle across a roadway in a crosswalk has the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian in the same circumstances.
E-bike safety has drawn broader scrutiny elsewhere in Florida this year. A report from News 13 in Orlando said Health First's First Flight medical helicopter fleet had responded to more than 50 e-bike accidents in Brevard County over the preceding year, with one official, Robert Spivey, describing a huge increase in e-bike incidents over the prior year and a half. Spivey said nearly half of the e-bike accident patients transported to a pediatric trauma center were 16 or younger, and the same report noted that Brevard County had recorded 111 bicycle crashes and three fatalities so far in 2026, though its data did not specify how many involved e-bikes. That reporting does not establish a similar trend in Tampa or Hillsborough County.
