Jupiter police crack down on e-bike riders who don't follow rules

JUPITER – When the clock strikes 4:05 pm at Independence Middle School on a recent Thursdaythe students ran to the bicycle parking lot to mount e-bikes and pedal home, even if their mothers fear the danger.

The sound of laughter and the whirring of chains filled the air as worried parents watched breathlessly, hoping that children riding electric bikes — mostly boys — didn’t weave into the streets of Jupiter’s streets.

It’s the same school attended by a young man who was hit by a car while riding an electric bike a few weeks ago, and the same fear that inspired Jupiter police to start a campaign to teach people how and where to ride the popular bicycles.

“There’s a reason kids aren’t allowed to drive cars,” said Jupiter Police Chief David England. “They don’t make good decisions, they don’t perceive the danger and they don’t understand the dangers that can be caused. Children operate these things in a very unsafe way.”

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Officials say the problem of children riding electric bikes and motorcycles recklessly in the city has been eradicated as the vehicles are modified to make them go faster.

They are trying to educate as many children and parents as they can about the legalities surrounding two and three wheels, visiting local schools and passing out flyers.

In recent months, England said, they’ve seen the largest concentration of kids on electric bikes around Abacoa, an area along Jupiter’s southern border that’s home to hundreds of families. However, he said that most of the problems have not been with e-bikes, but their cousins: e-motos, or electric motorcycles, which are bigger and heavier and can travel at a higher speed.

England says some parents buy e-motos for their children thinking they are e-bikes, when in fact they are something completely different.

E-motos are off-road vehicles intended for dirt tracks. They are illegal to operate on public roads, highways or sidewalks. However, middle school aged children use them for their transports to school.

While e-bikes can reach up to 28 mph, e-motos can go up to 40 mph. Many of the vehicles around the city go even faster because some drivers pass the speed checks on the vehicles.

By doing this, e-bikes can reach about 30 mph and e-motos can reach almost 60., or how fast some cars travel on highways.

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Florida law regulates the use of e-bikes. Treat them like regular bikes, said England, who noted that the laws surrounding e-bikes are “not as defined” as golf carts, which share the road with cars such as e-bikes. bicycles.

He noted that e-bikes cannot use their engines on sidewalks; its riders can only pedal. If they are riding on the road, a person can pedal or use their electricity, but they must follow the road rules associated with bicycles.

The law also requires riders under the age of 16 to wear helmets.

Jupiter police are imposing new measures to reduce dangerous conditions. They will pull over children who break the rules of the road to give a warning or issue a citation, depending on the seriousness of the offense and whether it has been stopped before.

A citation could also require you to pay a fine and delay obtaining a driver’s license until age 18, instead of 16.

“It’s a significant punishment for kids who don’t obey the law,” England said. “We hope to get voluntary compliance, but if we don’t and we have to deal with the same kids over and over again, they qualify for a traffic citation just like anyone else who violates traffic laws.”

England said that police are worried about teenagers, and pedestrians and drivers are “scared to death” when a child zips in front of them, not paying attention.

Other northern Palm Beach County municipalities have reported the same problems with e-bike use, but are handling the situation differently, England said.

The Tequesta Village Council passed an ordinance in 2021 banning the operation of e-bikes on sidewalks in the village, but the council plans to “revisit” that decision. They plan to hold a workshop to discuss other options.

In Juno Beach, e-bikes are allowed on the dune paths or sidewalks that lead to them, city manager David Dyess said. Palm Beach Gardens, Lake Park and North Palm Beach defer to state law and have no special regulations for e-bikes.

Palm Beach Gardens police officers also plan to distribute educational pamphlets around town and issue warnings or citations to e-bike riders who break traffic rules in the coming weeks.

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The recent injury to the student has Jupiter families aware of the dangers of e-bikes

Jennifer Greenhill sat on a bench on a windy Thursday afternoon waiting for Independence Middle School to let her 12-year-old son out for the day.

She watched as the kids whizzed around the oak-lined streets of Abacoa on electrically powered two-wheelers after school. Some pairs of children even ride on an e-bike at the same time.

“My son is begging me for an electric bike, but I say no,” said the 41-year-old Greenhill of Jupiter, who thinks the bikes are dangerous.

She said many parents had moments when they had to slam on the brakes because children on electric bikes swerved in front of their cars.

“Kids don’t wear helmets, and I don’t think kids 16 and under should even be riding,” Greenhill said. “Half of them don’t even walk on the sidewalks. They’re out in the middle of the streets.”

Her son is a classmate of Ryan Gural, the Jupiter boy who was riding an electric bicycle when a car crashed into him on March 29. He sustained injuries including a fractured skull, a broken jaw and bleeding on the brain, according to news reports.

Scott Henratty, the attorney representing Gural’s family, told the Palm Beach Post that he is investigating the situation to “hold everyone accountable for the traumatic injuries he suffered.” He confirmed that Gural is still receiving treatment.

Jupiter police crack down on e-bike riders who don’t follow rules

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