Legal class

Which rules apply to your scooter?

The class your scooter falls into decides the licence, the plate, the insurance and the roads you may use. Get the class right first, then confirm the details with the agency that issues the paperwork.

Your machine

Use continuous rated power, not peak. Sellers quote peak because it is the bigger number, but statutes are written against the continuous rating on the motor plate.

What to confirm before you ride

  • Whether your city allows riding in bike lanes, on the road, or on sidewalks. These three answers differ block by block in some cities.
  • The local speed cap. Many cities cap stand-up scooters at 15 or 20 mph regardless of what the scooter can do.
  • The minimum age, which is commonly 16 but is set locally.
  • Whether helmets are required for your age group.
  • Where you may park it. Sidewalk parking rules are the most commonly enforced e-scooter ordinance.
Most likely classStand-up electric scooter
Power
500 W
Top speed
18 mph
State
not set

Stand-up electric scooter

A standing, handlebar-steered electric scooter. In most states this is not a motor vehicle at all, which means no plate and no licence, but it also means the rules come from the city rather than the state.

Pick a state above and this will link you straight to the agency that issues the plate and the endorsement.

Why there is no table here

Every state writes its own moped and low-speed vehicle definitions, legislatures change them regularly, and stand-up scooters are usually governed by city ordinance on top of that. A hardcoded 50-state table on a static site would be out of date and wrong in the exact cases where being wrong costs you a ticket. The class above is the right starting point; the agency link is the answer.

This is not legal advice

Scooter, moped and low-speed vehicle law is set state by state and often overridden again by city ordinance. Nothing here is legal advice, and none of it substitutes for asking your state licensing agency, whose link this tool gives you.

Continuous power, not peak

Statutes are written against the continuous rated power on the motor plate. Sellers advertise peak power because it is roughly double. Using the peak number here will put your scooter in the wrong class.

All five tools