After Key Biscayne tragedy, lawmakers advance bill to help cities restrict e-bike use

A week after a Key Biscayne woman died in a head-on collision with a 12-year-old boy riding an electric bicycle, state lawmakers are seeking to give local governments more power to regulate the use of e-bikes in their communities.

The death of Megan Andrews — a 66-year-old who many described as a shining light in the community — has rattled the small village of Key Biscayne and revived longstanding concerns from many who have worried about the impact on pedestrian safety amid the rising popularity of e-bikes.

“Her riding her bike around is a quintessential Key Biscayne image seared in my mind,” Jennifer Buttrick, a village resident, said during Friday’s emergency meeting, while lamenting that she won’t be able to greet her again. “I can’t believe we won’t be doing that anymore.”

In response to the fatal collision, Key Biscayne officials voted late last week on an emergency basis to ban electric bikes and electric scooters from the island for 60 days. But they said state law prevented them from passing more long-term restrictions.

Now, state lawmakers are advancing legislation that would give local governments the ability to require one or more minimum age requirements for the use of electric bicycles and mandate government-issued photo identification cards for riders. The proposal — sponsored by state Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami — was backed by a House panel on Thursday.

“We have to do whatever we can do at the state now as an immediate response to the tragedy that occurred last week,” Lopez said.

Lopez said on Thursday that village officials have been looking at doing something about e-bikes for at least 18 months. Specifically, they were looking to do minimum age requirements. Her proposal would allow them to do so, Lopez said.

“Unfortunately, a terrible tragedy occurred and I am hopeful that this will help them regulate,” Lopez said.

Village officials and Miami-Dade County commissioner Raquel Regalado said during Friday’s emergency council meeting that a 2020 state law has prevented them from passing such restrictions.

Florida law requires local governments to regulate electric bikes, which can be operated without a motor, the same way as normal bikes. So while they could ban e-bikes altogether, or different classes of electric bikes, they could not restrict their use based on age or add other requirements without also affecting the use of regular bicycles, they said.

“We have tried to address these issues at the state level, but we have not been successful,” Key Biscayne village attorney Chad Friedman said at the Friday meeting. “The state has preempted us. Our hands are tied in a lot of different ways when it comes to the regulation of these vehicles.”

“In particular, if we regulate we need to treat these as bicycles. That’s what the law says.”

In other parts of the state, municipalities including St. Petersburg, St. Pete Beach and Madeira Beach have passed ordinances that require people to be at least 16 years old to ride an electric bike.

When asked about restrictions placed in other municipalities, the communications director for the village said in an email that it was unable to do so because Crandon Boulevard, which is the main street in Key Biscayne, is under Miami-Dade county’s jurisdiction and not the village’s.

“Working at the county level, we are seeking ways to gain authority to develop and enforce rules that will suit Key Biscayne on the busy County owned Crandon Blvd,” reads the statement sent by Communications Director Jessica Drouet.

Local officials are now working with the county to fix that.

“Combining both of these new authorities and community input with our existing jurisdictional authorities will enable the village to emplace [sic] reasonable regulations that cover the entire village and are acceptable for our residents as we all ensure we maintain a safe and secure environment.”

Andrews story spurs change

At Friday’s emergency meeting, Key Biscayne residents expressed frustration at how some local governments are being blocked from acting on issues that directly impact them.

Buttrick, one of those residents, said what happened to Andrews is an example of why local governments should have the ability to have more control over their rules.

“We need to use our collective voices to demand change so that local municipalities have the ability to take control of these issues,” she said.

When the state first began regulating electric bicycles in 2020, some lawmakers expressed concern about pedestrian safety but were reassured that local governments would have the ability to regulate them in their neighborhood. The conversation mostly revolved around the idea of speed limits — not age restrictions.

“If a local community wanted to put up a speed limit for bicycles, whether they were peddled bicycles or electric bicycles, they would be free to do that,” former state Rep. Michael Grant, R-Port Charlotte, who sponsored the slate of regulations, said at the time.

At the time, Florida lawmakers wanted to “modernize” the state’s laws so that people who wanted to ride electric bikes would not need a license or insurance to operate them. They would be treated just like a regular bike — not a vehicle.

While the state law says local governments are not prevented from regulating the use of electric bicycles on their sidewalks, the language did set limits on what they were able to do in terms of age requirements.

With two weeks left in the annual legislative session, Lopez is hopeful the language will pass the Legislature.

“I think there is a great amount of support for this,” she said.

‘One of our brightest shining lights’

Andrews, who grew up and lived on the island, was a learning disabilities specialist and founded The Achievement Center in 1985. She provided individual tutoring, parent meetings as well as professional meetings where Andrews would meet with her students’ teachers and counselors to support kids with learning difficulties.

“Megan and Frank saved my son’s life,” said Alan Fein during Friday’s council meeting. Frank Andrews was Megan’s husband. “[She] taught both my boys how to be citizens, how to be men in a society,” said Fein whose sons were tutored by Andrews.

“On a day like today, Megan would say ‘you’re having a rough day, let me give you a hug’ that was Megan. We spent hours and hours and hours talking about how to raise kids and teach kids with learning disabilities how to live a productive and meaningful life. And now she’s gone.”

Neighbors, who crowded the Friday meeting, said it was a tragedy they saw coming and had warned council members about when electric bicycles and e-scooters started zipping around the village around two years ago. But many said they would’ve never expected the tragedy to involve Andrews.

“I just can’t believe that we had to have a tragedy with one of our dearest residents, one of our brightest shining lights,” Key Biscayne resident Luis De La Cruz said.

Chris Mack, who also works as an educator and worked with Andrews for years called her an incredible, generous and loving person. “Whenever she talked to anybody her last words were ‘I love you’,” she said.

Along with her husband Frank, Megan Andrews had a daughter and a son, both now adults, and a granddaughter.

Miami Herald staff writer Clara-Sophia Daly contributed.