St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has responded to 50 e-bike related emergencies in just three weeks

St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick is ratcheting up action on e-bike use after a dramatic surge in incidents, according to a report.

In just three weeks, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has responded to approximately 50 e-bike-related calls—more than double the number reported in the first six months of the year, according to Action News Jax.

“We just got to step up and do the best we can to protect these children,” Hardwick said.

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Between January 1 and June 11, the sheriff’s office had recorded only 20 e-bike incidents.

The sudden spike has raised concerns about both increased risk and underreporting. Hardwick believes many more crashes are likely occurring but going unreported, especially when children call parents instead of emergency services.

“There’s probably a lot of unreported data out there,” Hardwick said.

In response, SJSO has ramped up its presence in neighborhoods, conducting e-bike safety checks.

The sheriff emphasized that the goal is not to penalize kids but to prevent injuries through education and engagement.

“The one thing we do is we don’t want to be that law enforcement entity that, you know, tickets an 11-year-old child for being a kid,” Hardwick said.

Deputies are now tracking repeat offenders and notifying parents if their child is stopped multiple times for reckless riding.

Hardwick also highlighted the difficulty of enforcement, especially with high-powered e-bikes capable of speeds up to 35 mph. “Those sometimes are hard to catch and too dangerous for our deputy sheriffs to give chase per se,” he said.

Governor Ron DeSantis signed a state measure at the end of June allowing local governments to set age requirements and mandate photo IDs for e-bike riders.

“How are we going to solve this? We’re not. We’re going to try to try our best to fix it and then save that one children or one child from a serious bodily injury or death,” said Hardwick.