Gov. Ron DeSantis is giving insight into his decision to veto a bipartisan bill that aimed to stop more electric bike and scooter crashes.
DeSantis called SB 382 a “bit of an overreach” and problematic.
“What it will lead to is more surveillance of people by law enforcement and we don’t need that,” DeSantis said when asked about his veto at a news conference.
Lawmakers did not raise surveillance as a concern during Committee hearings or on the floor.
The bill would have required law enforcement agencies across the state to keep track of crash statistics in the same way in order to understand the scope of the problem. Many agencies currently report them differently.
“The reality is there’s not a lot of data uniformly collected statewide,” Capt. James Cunningham of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said earlier
SB 382 would also have created a statewide task force to deliberate the best way to regular e-bikes and e-scooters.
“They also set up an e-bike commission, but it’s like, OK, you’re already substantively legislating,” DeSantis said. “Why are you doing a commission? If you’re going to do commission, then the commission can come and do that thing. So I thought it potentially would have some unintended consequences.”
DeSantis also slammed a provision in the bill that would set speed limits for e-bike riders on sidewalks at 10 miles per hour when pedestrians are nearby and require them to yield on shared paths.
“I understand that law enforcement has a job,” DeSantis said Friday. “Do we really want to have policing of e-bikes?”
Lawmakers voiced their concerns about crashes happening in their communities that killed young people or injured pedestrians.
“While nothing can undo the tragedies that brought us here, I believe some good will come out of this,” said Republican Rep. Yvette Benarroch, who steered the House companion bill as she fought back tears on the House floor in March.
Lawmakers backed her, as SB 382 passed with a 37-0 vote in the Senate and a 112-0 vote in the House.
Local governments, including in Central Florida where a 13-year-old was fatally injured on Mother’s Day, have been meeting to discuss e-bike and e-scooter safety and following the policy discussion in Tallahassee.
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