The Palm Coast City Council this month voted to adopt an ordinance regulating the usage of e-bikes within city limits. The vote was held during the Council’s October 7th business meeting. All rules created in the ordinance became effective upon the measure’s passage on October 7th.
The vote to enact the restrictions was 4-1, with Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri dissenting. A majority was formed by Mayor Mike Norris along with Council members Ty Miller, Charles Gambaro, and David Sullivan. The Council was strongly urged in prior meetings to adopt such an ordinance by Sheriff Rick Staly.
E-bikes are defined in the policy as pedal-assisted with a maximum speed of 28 miles per hour. They may or may not be assisted by a throttle, which would affect which of three designated classes the bikes would fall under.
New Rules and Penalties
Electronic bicycles, commonly known as e-bikes, now have a certain set of rules on Palm Coast roadways and paths. The bikes cannot be ridden in bicycle lanes, bicycle paths, rights of way, and on sidewalks in what the ordinance calls ‘an unsafe and reckless manner’. E-bikes with over 750 watts of power can’t be operated on these paths in Palm Coast under any circumstances.
Those who remove pedals from their e-bikes or who modify the bike’s power components are barred from riding in Palm Coast. If an e-bike is operated at night, it must have a lamp with a white light visible at least 500 feet ahead, and a red light reflector on the rear visible at least 600 feet back. These lights must be used when riding at night.
When riders take their e-bikes on sidewalks or cross a roadway in the crosswalk, they’ll be required to yield the right of way to pedestrians and give an audible signal prior to riding around a pedestrian. Passengers are banned from riding e-bikes unless the bike is outfitted with a passenger seat. Furthermore, any riders less than eleven years old are banned from riding e-bikes in Palm Coast (the reason for Vice Mayor Pontieri’s dissenting vote).
Those riding e-bikes in any situation are going to be required to carry a government-issued photo ID which can be presented to law enforcement upon lawful request. When e-bike riders are in active school zones and within 50 feet or a marked crosswalk or intersection corner they’ll be required to slow to pedestrian speed and yield to pedestrians.
Riders under 16 years old are required to wear a helmet when operating an e-bike in Palm Coast. That helmet will be required to be one that is ‘properly fitted, [and] securely fastened’. All e-bikes with top speeds cannot have throttle assistance over 20 miles per hour.
Those who violate these rules are subject to a penalty of up to $100 per infraction. Enforcement will be handled by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, the sole law enforcement agency contracted by the City of Palm Coast for policing within city limits.
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
