Days after a Lake Nona teenager died while riding his electric scooter to buy flowers for Mother’s Day, Orange County officials are considering new safety rules — including issuing tickets to parents — ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
“We want to hold them accountable for their behavior of their children,” Orange County Sheriff Lt. Michael Crabb said. “That puts them on notice that their child is displaying these behaviors that are dangerous and they need to intervene and take action.”
The Orange County Commission did not take a formal vote during their meeting, but discussed the issue for nearly two hours.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is drafting an ordinance that’s almost ready to be submitted to county lawyers for review, Crabb told the County Commission.
The proposed policy would create a countywide speed limit for e-scooters. To enforce it, law enforcement would give out citations similar to a parking ticket.
Young drivers who go the wrong way on the road and drive recklessly would get a written ticket with fines. Then law enforcement would escort them home and talk to their parents, Crabb said. Parents would get a written notice as a warning.
The next time an incident happened, the child caught driving recklessly would get a second ticket — then his parents would also receive a ticket too, Crabb said during the Tuesday meeting.
“We want to hold them accountable for their behavior of their children,” Crabb said.
The proposed policy could also allow Orange County to impound e-bikes and e-scooter.
Crabb played a clip from a scene last month from Windermere High School at school dismissal. Young people zipped by, with some going the wrong way, clogging the streets.
About 11,800 Orange County students ride micromobility devices to and from school and from afterschool activities, said Nicholas Morrissey, the director of Occupational Health and Safety for Orange County Public Schools.
The Sheriff’s Office once clocked a young person riding 83 mph on the sidewalk with no helmet. The young person sped away before a member of law enforcement could catch him.
Children between the ages of 10 and 14 accounted for 28% of all emergency room visits from e-bike and e-scooter crashes in 2025, according to data cited by the county. More than half of all ER visits were from those 19 and under.
Young people don’t need a driver’s license to operate electrical vehicles. Some e-bikes and e-scooters go as fast as a car, especially if the devices are modified.
The latest tragedy in Central Florida occurred on Mother’s Day when 13-year-old Colton Remsburg was struck and killed by a pickup driver in Lake Nona. The boy, who was not wearing a helmet, drove in front of the truck and was not in a marked crosswalk, according to media reports.
County officials said the issue transcends K-12 schools and is a problem at the University of Central Florida campus, local homeowners associations and the International Chamber of Commerce that operates in Orlando’s tourism corridor. County leaders acknowledged they needed to act now instead of waiting until the 2027 Legislative Session for stricter regulations.
This year, the Legislature approved a bill to set up a task force to study the issue. The bill also forbids e-bike riders from going more than 10 mph on a sidewalk if a pedestrian is within 50 feet and would require riders to yield to pedestrians on a shared path. Violators would be punished with a noncriminal traffic infraction.
The bill is still awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature.
Smaller cities in Orange County, such as Winter Park and Maitland, are watching to see how aggressively the Orange County Commission tackles e-scooter and e-bike rules.
“Sometimes it sounds kind of heavy-handed but the data is so startling about the injuries, the exposure, the safety concerns is compelling us to have to do something about it,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who is a former Sheriff. “This conversation is being had all over the state of Florida with all counties right now. We’ll see how it turns out.”
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