Electric Bicycle Laws By State

Federal classification of ebike law hr 727.

Electric bicycle laws by state. Here are state by state guides and resources to understand your state s e bike law for the road and trails and more resources on advocating for better access in your area. It can be daunting to sort through your state s traffic laws in order to figure out electric bike laws. Electric bikes are allowed on any road path or way that is open to bicycle travel this means they can be ridden on roads except limited access highways bike lanes bike paths multi use paths and sidewalks. That define e bikes some state laws such as in arizona minnesota utah and washington specifically allow e bike operation on facilities such as bicycle paths or greenways with the caveat that many carve out exceptions for localities to enact stricter operation regulations on such bike and pedestrian facilities.

They are classified as mopeds in kentucky and hawaii as motorized bicycles with pedals in nebraska as motor driven cycles in vermont and as electric assisted bicycles in washington. To be placed in this category the motor must be under 1000w have a maximum speed of 20 mph and have pedals that can be operated by human power. Electric bicycles are classified as class 1 class 2 or class 3 as defined below. To find out if you can ride your bike on a public roadway you have to look up your own state motor vehicle statutes.

State bicycle laws that s nice but it really has nothing whatsoever to do with the law that applies for you to actually go out and ride your e bike on the street in the united states. The federal consumer product safety act defines a low speed electric bicycle as a two or three wheeled vehicle with fully operable pedals a top speed when powered solely by the motor under 20 mph 32 km h and an electric motor that produces less than 750 w 1 01 hp. The following states classify an electric bike as a motorcycle. The state of washington wa defines electric bicycles as electric assisted bicycles the electric bike must have two or three fully operational pedals for human propulsion and the electric motor must be no more than 750 w.

Effective april 2020 the law allows people to operate bicycles with electric assist e bikes on some streets and highways in new york state. Both electric bicycles and traditional bicycles must adhere to the same rules of the road. E bikes sold in utah are required to have a sticker that details the. By state law electric bikes may be operated in the exact same locations as regular bicycles.

New laws specifically exclude electric pedal assisted bicycles as motorized vehicles and bicycles are permitted on all state land but not necessarily on indian reservations nor restrictive municipalities such as in park city code 10 1 4 5 where electric bicycles are generally not allowed on bike paths 2 if the motor is not more than 750 watts and the assistance shuts off at 20 mph utah traffic code 53 3 202 17 a 1. Electric scooter a type of device with handlebars a floorboard or a seat and an electric motor that can be powered by the electric motor and or human power.