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Parkland officials step up enforcement and education as e-bike, electric motorcycle and golf-cart incidents rise
Summary
City of Parkland officials described stepped-up enforcement and education plans after an uptick in unsafe riding of high-powered e-bikes, electric motorcycles and golf carts; commissioners asked staff to draft ordinance options and to coordinate with BSO and schools.
City of Parkland officials on Feb. 5 described stepped-up law-enforcement operations, school-based education and planned ordinance work to address a rise in illegal or unsafe riding of e-bikes, electric motorcycles and improperly operated golf carts.
Captain McCardell of the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) told the commission that enforcement has included targeted operational plans, school outreach and follow-up enforcement based on social-media videos and tips. She summarized recent enforcement and outreach metrics tied to a recent holiday operation: deputies completed 18 field-interview cards, issued four traffic citations, issued two criminal citations related to electric motorcycles, and issued eight warnings. Following further checks at school bike racks after the holidays, deputies issued 10 citations in one day; four juveniles received criminal citations and three parents received criminal citations for allowing underage operation, Captain McCardell said.
"Most recently, we had an operational plan in place over the holidays ... our deputies completed 18 field interview cards ... they issued 4 citations for traffic violations ... 2 criminal citations related to electric motorcycles ... and they issued 8 warnings," Captain McCardell said. She added that targeted patrols will continue at peak hours and locations and that deputies will work with school-resource officers to renew bike-safety programming.
Commissioners and staff discussed possible municipal ordinance changes for electric bicycles and for golf carts. Commissioner Breyer and others urged exploring measures beyond citations, including mandatory safety training, seizure or impoundment for repeat or serious violations and location-based restrictions. Commissioners also discussed physical mitigations in parks — for example, bollards at pedestrian entries — and programming options to provide teens with supervised recreational alternatives.
City fire-department and Coral Springs–Parkland Fire Department representatives reinforced the public-safety concern with local examples of serious crashes, urging parents to act. A fire-department speaker described recent local trauma cases involving dirt-bike and ATV crashes and noted the long-term consequences for injured juveniles.
Mayor Walker and Commissioner Bridal emphasized that parenting and resident cooperation are central to reducing risky behavior and asked staff to draft ordinance language. City attorney and staff were asked to explore a range of tools, including focused enforcement details, seizure authority, penalties tied to parental responsibility and the legal scope of bans or location restrictions.
No ordinance was adopted at the meeting; staff and the city attorney were directed to prepare potential ordinance language and to coordinate with BSO and schools on enforcement and education.
