Why the Evidence Problem Is Different Here
In a two-car collision both vehicles are insured, both are photographed by adjusters, both are stored, and both drivers give accounts. An e-bike case has none of that symmetry. There is no policy on the bicycle, no adjuster inspecting it, and no obligation on anyone to preserve it. The machine goes home with the rider, or into a skip.
The result is that the evidence which decides these cases is almost entirely in the injured person's hands, at exactly the moment they are least able to deal with it. And nearly all of it has a shelf life measured in days.
That matters because of the arithmetic of fault. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6) a rider found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing at all. A defense does not need to prove a rider caused the crash — only to move the apportionment past halfway, which is easy to do against an account unsupported by anything physical.
What the Crash Report Is, and What It Is Not
Fla. Stat. § 316.066(2)(a) makes crash reports confidential and exempt from § 119.07(1) for 60 days after the report is filed. During that period, § 316.066(2)(b) makes the report available to the parties involved in the crash, their legal representatives, their licensed insurance agents and insurers, law enforcement agencies, victim services programs, and federal, state, and local government agencies. So you can obtain it; the public cannot.
What it will not do is decide the case. Fla. Stat. § 316.066(4) provides that such a report or statement “may not be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal.” Two consequences follow, and they cut in opposite directions: an officer's narrative blaming the rider is not evidence against them — and an officer's narrative blaming the driver is not evidence for them either.
The report's real value is administrative. It fixes the date and location, identifies the parties and vehicles, records the witnesses, and preserves insurance details. Get the report number at the scene, and obtain the report inside the 60-day window.
David I. Shiner, Esq.
Founder, Shiner Law Group · AV Preeminent® rated · Florida Bar member since 2002
David I. Shiner founded Shiner Law Group and has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2002. He is a graduate of Nova Southeastern University’s law school and holds an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell. The firm represents injured people across Florida from offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Wellington, and Belle Glade, and handles these cases on a contingency basis with free consultations and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
The Evidence That Expires, in Order of Urgency
| Evidence and Realistic Window | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Video — hours to days | Doorbell, business, transit, and dashcam footage. Routinely overwritten. Identify cameras and request preservation in writing the same day. This is the single most time-critical item. |
| The scene — hours | Vehicle rest positions, debris field, skid and scuff marks, and the state of the road surface. Gone as soon as traffic resumes. |
| A road defect — days to weeks | Once filled or resurfaced, the condition that caused the fall no longer exists. Photograph with something in frame for scale. |
| Witnesses — minutes | Independent witnesses leave the scene and are rarely recoverable afterwards. Names and phone numbers, at the time. |
| Lane markings — weeks to months | Repainted and reconfigured. Whether a bicycle lane ran to the corner decides right-hook and dooring arguments. |
| The bicycle — until someone repairs it | The one item entirely within your control, and the one most often lost. |
Medical records are the exception that runs the other way: they accumulate rather than expire. What does expire is the connection between the crash and the first record. A gap of days between the collision and the first examination is the most common argument an insurer makes against causation, and it cannot be repaired afterwards.
Not Sure What You Need to Keep?
Shiner Law Group offers free case reviews for Florida e-bike riders — 24/7, no fee unless you win.
Get My Free Case ReviewShiner Law Group, P.A. · Attorney Advertising
The Bicycle Is Evidence, and Sometimes the Whole Case
Two distinct things live on the machine, and both are lost the moment it is repaired.
The failure evidence. If a brake, fork, frame, wheel, controller, or battery failed, the component can be examined to establish whether it failed by defect, fatigue, misassembly, or abuse. That examination is the whole of a product claim. Keep every fragment, bag small parts, and photograph failure surfaces close up before anything is handled further.
The classification evidence. Fla. Stat. § 316.20655(3) requires a permanently affixed label showing the classification number, top assisted speed, and motor wattage. That label establishes what the machine was — which becomes contested later, because class determines where it could lawfully be ridden and bears on the insurance analysis. Photograph it before the bicycle goes anywhere.
- Do not repair it, and do not let a shop “check it over” and swap components.
- Do not discard a burned or swollen battery. Store it outdoors away from structures and tell your insurer and the fire department in writing not to dispose of it.
- Keep the charger, particularly if it was aftermarket or replaced.
- Keep the purchase receipt, model and serial numbers, and any service history.
- Photograph the whole machine from several angles before it is moved or stored.
The Records Somebody Has to Ask For
Some of the most valuable evidence exists but will not arrive on its own. It has to be requested, and the requests take time to answer.
- Public records for a road defect. Prior complaints, service requests, work orders, inspection logs, and resurfacing schedules are how prior notice is established against a road authority. Start early — the 3-year presentment period in Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6)(a) runs while you wait.
- Signal timing and phasing data, where the crash happened at a signalized intersection.
- Prior crash history at the location, which bears on whether a condition or a junction design was known to be dangerous.
- The full insurance policy and declarations page for every auto policy in the household — along with any signed uninsured motorist rejection form, since Fla. Stat. § 627.727(1) requires that coverage unless it was rejected in writing on a compliant form.
- CPSC recall records for the model. Pull the record itself rather than a summary; a recall's scope and dates determine whether it touches your unit.
One thing you do not need to worry about collecting: helmet evidence. Fla. Stat. § 316.2065(18) provides that failure to wear a bicycle helmet “may not be considered evidence of negligence or contributory negligence.” See the helmet law guide.
All of this runs against the clock in Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a) — two years for a negligence cause of action accruing on or after March 24, 2023 — and, where a public body is involved, the separate periods in § 768.28.