STUART — The Martin County School District is considering new restrictions on student use of electric bikes, as safety concerns push the issue to the forefront locally and statewide.
School officials discussed potential changes during a recent workshop but did not take a vote, and no policy has been implemented.
The conversation comes as other governments examine similar rules. The City of Vero Beach recently adopted regulations aimed at curbing e-bike use, and state lawmakers are also reviewing possible limits.
“State legislators are currently reviewing that there's a bill in front of them to limit the use of e-bikes for ages under 16 years old. So that may be something for you guys to consider as well,” said Lt. David Rosko of the Martin County Sheriff's Office.
Rosko told board members that crashes involving e-bikes can result in serious injuries and said the sheriff’s office supports prohibiting them on school campuses. He described common patterns deputies are seeing on the road.
“But that's typically what we're seeing, though, is intersection related crashes and operators not wearing helmets,” Rosko said.
Board members signaled they are not interested in a blanket prohibition that would cover all forms of personal transportation. Christia Lee Roberts said one proposal under consideration would extend beyond motorized bikes.
“It appears that the first option, the definition of personal transportation devices first includes bicycle, scooters, skateboards, et cetera. And then it goes on to the e-bikes and gas powered or electric motors. But the first option is outlawing everything, saying that there's a clear and present danger, et cetera, and everything would be denied. And I'm not interested in that one, because if we selected that first option, we would be saying you couldn't even have a bicycle,” she said.
Instead, the board narrowed its focus to motorized devices. Members tentatively aligned around setting a 2 mph speed limit on campus and restricting e-bike and motorbike use based on age and licensing status.
Marsha Powers, the board chair, summarized the direction of the discussion.
“So if I hear correctly from the board is that we will not allow e-bikes or motorbikes on our campuses unless the student is 16 and has a driver's license, not a learner's permit, but a driver's license and must wear a helmet,” she said.
Another issue raised was how far students should be permitted to ride onto campus before dismounting. Superintendent Michael Maine said any consistent approach would require coordination with individual schools.
“So that [way] we know where we would need appropriate staff for monitoring purposes. I think that's different at every school site, which is probably leading to the inconsistency of where they can have staff monitoring and how far onto a campus one could potentially ride before they encounter the first staff member that says you need to be walking your scooter or whatever it is,” Maine said. “What I think we should do, and what I would like to do, is pull together student services and work through that the same way we worked through that with the cell phone policy, determine what would be reasonable and manageable for staff and to bring this back to the board for additional consideration.”
The board agreed to table the matter temporarily to allow time for additional review and to monitor action in Tallahassee. No date was set for a return discussion, though members indicated it is expected to come back before May.