Increasing number of complaints and injuries prompted initiative, deputy says
This week, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office formally launched a campaign to educate the public about the legal use of electric bikes and “e-motos,” an issue that communities across the country are addressing as the vehicles are being used more widely.
The Sheriff’s Office has issued a fact sheet, and it has begun providing posts on its social media accounts in an effort to alert people about the “laws and rules [that] apply to all types of electric bikes and recreational vehicles and where these can be legally ridden and operated,” as Media Relations Specialist Dana Judge wrote in a Feb. 13 advisory to the news media.
In a Sheriff’s Office 10-8 TV segment posted on the agency’s Facebook page on Feb. 18, Deputy Jimmy Adams explained, “We are seeing an increase in complaints and injuries due to the misuse of e-motos and electric bikes” He added, “Our goal isn’t just enforcement; it’s education.”
“An electric bike can be street legal,” Adams pointed out, “but only if it stays under 750 watts and under 28 mph.”…