Silent Speed
The E-Bike Boom We Can’t Quite Define
By Florida Night Train
9-1-2026
I came to e-bikes from a slightly unusual direction. In my garage sit a Ducati Panigale V4 and a BMW S1000RR. Before them, I owned a Harley-Davidson Night Train. Two wheels, speed and defensive riding are not new concepts to me. I bought an e-bike mostly out of curiosity. I wanted something reliable, well built and capable of offering a different kind of 
adventure. Arlo had been riding hers for about a year, and I thought perhaps it could become something we enjoyed together.
I was hooked almost immediately.
For a while, two very capable motorcycles stayed parked while the e-bike kept leaving the garage. I am fortunate to live in Pinellas County, home to the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail, a protected multi-use corridor running through communities from St. Petersburg toward Tarpon Springs.[1] The scenery changes constantly, revealing places you simply do not experience from inside a car…or at motorcycle speed.
Alone, e-biking has become meditative for me. It gives me time to think, process, and reflect. In good company, it becomes conversation, laughter, new scenery, and occasionally the kind of peaceful silence that needs no explanation. There is no engine roaring beneath us and, on protected sections of trail, far less concern about conventional traffic. It is transportation, recreation and, sometimes, therapy on two wheels.
I also notice something when I am back on the motorcycle. Younger e-bike riders often wave and make that unmistakable twisting-wrist gesture: “Rev it!!!” I usually smile and oblige but last I did that it earned me a $116.00 ticket. I cannot prove that today’s e-bike teenager becomes tomorrow’s motorcyclist, but I would not bet against it. We may be watching a generation discover the fascination of two wheels in real time. Whether their future motorcycles burn gasoline or electrons is another question.
The numbers suggest this is no passing fad. The U.S. Department of Energy reported 1.1 million e-bikes sold nationally in 2022…nearly four times the 2019 figure.[2] More recent PeopleForBikes research found that traditional industry tracking had missed roughly 450,000 direct-to-consumer e-bikes worth about $800 million in 2024; when used-market transactions were added, nearly one million e-bikes were bought or sold that year. E-bikes represented only about 7% of U.S. bicycle unit sales in 2024, suggesting considerable room for growth.[3]
But enthusiasm should not blind us to risk. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates 155,200 e-bike-related emergency-department visits from 2017 through 2024, including 59,200 in 2024 alone. CPSC staff identified 310 reported e-bike fatalities over the period; 170 involved collisions with moving or parked motor vehicles, while 19 were associated with lithium-ion battery fires.[4] Florida’s preliminary trauma survey for exemple is equally sobering…and revealing about our data problem. Only 24 of 36 trauma centers responded and only 16 could contribute e-bike/e-scooter patient data, yet they captured 1,294 patients. Among centers able to separate e-bike cases, known e-bike patients rose from 13 in 2022 to 405 in 2025. Sixty-seven percent of the combined e-bike/e-scooter patients were under 18.[5]
Those statistics do not surprise me.
I have encountered more dangerous situations on my e-bike than I expected, and more situations requiring genuine defensive-riding skills than many people would associate with a “bicycle.” The machines are quiet, relatively small and much faster than pedestrians…or motorists…often anticipate. At intersections, particularly at night, that combination can dramatically reduce reaction time. Drivers may see a bicycle-shaped object and subconsciously calculate bicycle speed. An e-bike can erase that calculation in seconds.
The same danger exists on trails. A pedestrian steps left. A conventional cyclist suddenly veers to pass. The e-bike approaching from behind makes almost no sound and closes distance quickly. Courtesy becomes safety: slow down, announce a pass, give people room, use proper lighting and assume the person ahead has no idea you are there. Florida requires bicycle riders and passengers under 16 to wear helmets; common sense suggests adults should not need a statute to understand the value of one.[6] I know someone who needs constant reminder of that but I’m working on it like a wizard! 😉
Then there is the classification problem.
Florida recognizes three classes of e-bike. Class 1 is pedal-assist up to 20 mph. Class 2 may use a throttle but motor assistance ends at 20 mph. Class 3 is pedal-assist up to 28 mph. To qualify under Florida’s statutory definition, the bicycle must have operable pedals, a seat or saddle, and an electric motor of less than 750 watts.[7]
Yet browse the online marketplace and you quickly find machines sold under the broad label “e-bike”, advertising power and speeds beyond those limits. At some point, a bicycle with electric assistance becomes something much closer to an electric motorcycle. The consumer marketplace has moved faster than the vocabulary.
Florida makes the contradiction even more interesting. A qualifying e-bike requires no 
driver’s license, title, registration or financial-responsibility coverage, and is generally afforded the rights of a bicycle. Yet local governments may regulate their use on streets and sidewalks, restrict or prohibit them on trails, beaches and multi-use paths, establish minimum rider ages, and even require government-issued photo identification.[8] Clearwater, for example, prohibits e-bikes and similar motorized devices in Beach Walk, Crest Lake Park, and Coachman Park outside areas designated for vehicular traffic.[9]
So the rules can change, while the rider is still on the same ride and where the rider is, at any particular moment.
Florida tried to address part of this in 2026. CS/SB 382 would have added micromobility safety measures, including a 10-mph limit near pedestrians in certain shared spaces, a safety task force, and improved crash-data collection. It passed the Senate 37-0 and the House 112-0. Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed it on June 25.[10]
That leaves an uncomfortable contradiction: Florida does not register e-bikes. We do not accurately count how many are sold or operating here. Nor do we consistently capture them in existing injury and crash data. The marketplace itself blurs the line between e-bike and electric motorcycle. Yet we continue debating how to regulate them.
E-bikes are not the enemy. I own one. I love riding it. And I understand exactly why this market is growing.
In fact, E-bikes may be one of the most important changes in personal transportation in decades. But America is trying to manage a million-unit transportation market with bicycle-era assumptions, incomplete crash reporting, inconsistent local ordinances, and an increasingly blurred line between bicycles and motorcycles.
Enjoy the ride. I certainly do. But perhaps it is time we figured out exactly what we are riding.
Photos: Night Train
Footnotes:
[1] Pinellas County Government, “Pinellas Trail Guide”, describing the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail, its St. Petersburg-to-Tarpon Springs corridor, e-bike classifications and approximately 47 miles of emergency-assistance markers.
[2] U.S. Department of Energy, “E-Bike Sales in the United States Exceeded One Million in 2022,” Transportation Fact of the Week #1321, December 18, 2023. DOE reported 1.1 million U.S. e-bike sales in 2022, nearly four times 2019 sales.
[3] José Maldonado, PeopleForBikes, “The U.S. E-Bike Market Is Bigger Than the Numbers Show,” June 24, 2026. PeopleForBikes reported approximately 450,000 previously unmeasured direct-to-consumer units worth about $800 million in 2024, another 80,000 peer-to-peer transactions, and e-bikes representing approximately 7% of U.S. bicycle unit volume.
[4] U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, James Tark, Micromobility Products-Related Deaths, Injuries, and Hazard Patterns: 2017–2024, April 2026. CPSC estimated 155,200 e-bike-related emergency-department visits during 2017–2024 and identified 310 reported fatalities; 170 involved motor-vehicle collisions and 19 were associated with lithium-ion battery fires. CPSC notes that recent fatality reporting remains incomplete.
[5] Florida Committee on Trauma, Pediatric Subcommittee, Statewide Survey on E-Bike and E-Scooter Injuries, preliminary findings presented May 1, 2026. Twenty-four of Florida’s 36 trauma centers responded; 16 were able to contribute e-bike/e-scooter patient data. The survey captured 1,294 patients and reported that known e-bike patients increased from 13 in 2022 to 405 in 2025; 67% of combined patients were younger than 18.
[6] Florida Statutes §316.2065(3)(d), requiring bicycle riders and passengers younger than 16 to wear a properly fitted bicycle helmet meeting applicable federal standards. Florida’s e-bike statute generally subjects e-bike operators to bicycle duties.
[7] Florida Statutes §316.003(23), defining an electric bicycle as having fully operable pedals, a seat or saddle and an electric motor of less than 750 watts, and establishing Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 speed and propulsion requirements.
[8] Florida Statutes §316.20655. Qualifying e-bikes are generally treated as bicycles and are exempt from driver licensing, motor-vehicle registration, title and financial-responsibility requirements. The statute permits local governments to regulate operation, impose minimum-age requirements and require government-issued photo identification, while jurisdictions controlling trails, paths and beaches may restrict or prohibit e-bike use.
[9] City of Clearwater Code of Ordinances §22.61, adopted through Ordinance No. 9817-25, prohibiting specified motorized devices, including electric bicycles, in Beach Walk, Crest Lake Park and Coachman Park except in designated vehicular areas.
[10] Florida Senate, CS/SB 382, Micromobility Devices, 2026 Regular Session. The legislation passed the Florida Senate 37-0 and House 112-0 before being vetoed by the Governor on June 25, 2026. The measure included pedestrian-area speed provisions, a micromobility safety task force and additional crash-data requirements.
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