By Tracy McCormick-Dishman
Following a rapid increase in electric vehicle use across St. Johns County neighborhoods, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office is shifting its focus toward a comprehensive “education-first” model to address growing safety concerns. Director Russ Martin of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office says the initiative is designed to clarify the legal boundaries between standard e-bikes and high-powered “e-motos,” or electric motorcycles.
“We saw a rapid increase in the use of electric vehicles throughout the community,” Martin said. “Unlike traditional pedal bikes and human-powered scooters everyone was accustomed to, these presented immediate safety concerns on sidewalks and at intersections and crosswalks.”
Martin said the surge prompted the agency to take a hard look at the laws and create internal tools to track the problem. “We were playing catch-up,” he said.
Tracking the data
One of the first steps was creating a disposition code, an internal tracking category in the Sheriff’s Office computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, specifically for e-bike violations and crashes.
“Prior to May, we didn’t have an e-bike specific or e-bike crash specific disposition code,” Martin said. “We had a bunch of crashes and it was going through a plethora of CAD notes… really trying to decipher, finding a needle in a haystack to see where do I hone in on the problem.”
With better data in hand, the agency launched a multi-pronged approach built around education, enforcement and community partnerships.
A partnership for safety
Central to that effort was a close working relationship with the St. Johns County School District and Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen.
“That partnership is super, super close,” Martin said. “We’re doing this thing together. And we’re trying to leverage each other for the benefit of our citizens that we serve.”
Youth resource deputies were trained on the new e-bike classifications and equipped with safety flyers featuring a QR code linking to educational materials. Before the 2025 Christmas break, deputies had completed safety presentations to sixth, seventh and eighth graders at every school in the district.
“The school district, they saw the importance of it, and they gave us a slot of time,” Martin said. “They really rolled the carpet out for us to not only give us a platform, but to be joined at the hip with us, side by side, preaching this message.”
Deputies also provided helmets to students who didn’t have them during daily encounters at the 44 schools in the district where the Sheriff’s Office provides youth resource deputies.
“Not only are we telling you about it, we’re trying to meet you a little farther than halfway in providing some of the equipment if necessary,” Martin said.
Enforcement and the Task Force
The agency also established an e-bike task force, deploying bicycle and motor units into high-volume areas including Fruit Cove, Durbin Crossing, Rivertown, Aberdeen, Nocatee and World Golf Village. Martin said the approach put officers on the same devices as the riders, including e-bikes and, for more challenging situations, e-motos.
“We’ve matched them with the same devices,” he said, describing how deputies trained on e-motos to patrol areas where riders were evading traditional patrol vehicles. “Word spreads overnight. Hey, they’ve got the e-motos, too.”
Martin emphasized that the enforcement model leads with education.
“The enforcement effort is one piece of a massive piece to try to come up with a solution,” he said. “You can’t write so many tickets out of an issue that’s going on through the county.”
Knowing the law
A key part of the message has been directed at the hardware itself. Martin said devices classified as Class 3 e-bikes can travel up to 28 mph under state law, but some devices sold legally go even faster.
Under Florida law, e-bikes are classified into three categories. Classes 1 and 2 do not exceed 20 mph; Class 3 does not exceed 28 mph. E-motos, motorized devices without pedals that resemble electric dirt bikes, are not street legal and cannot be ridden on roads, sidewalks or crosswalks unless properly licensed as a motorcycle.
“Just because it’s an electronic bike doesn’t mean it’s exempt from any of the rules of the road,” Martin said. “They all still apply.”
Call to action for parents
Martin’s call to parents is direct: get involved. He urges parents to consider their child’s behavior, knowledge and experience level when matching them with a device. He drew a parallel to the responsibility of a cell phone.
Martin drew a direct parallel to the responsibility of a cell phone. “It can bring great joy, but if you’re not actively involved in what your child is doing, it is not always age-appropriate,” he said. “They may not understand how finite some of those decisions can be.”
The effort has extended beyond the Sheriff’s Office. Martin said the St. Johns County Commission created a resolution to seek e-bike legislation at the state level, and the agency has been meeting with multiple counties to explore effective changes.
“We can’t legislate ourselves from a problem in our community,” Martin said. “All of us play a role, and if we play our role really well and stay in the role that we are called to, I know that we will continue to make positive strides.”
