If you want to ride electric scooter or want to start your own e-scooter sharing business, you need to understand the rules and regulations that guide the ownership and, the use of an electric scooter in the area where you live.
Yes, the rules and regulations are not the same in different countries and regions. We sorted out some useful information for you to understand it. Let’s get started!
United States
In the US, it can get quite confusing when it comes to understanding what constitutes a street legal electric scooter and what does not. This is because the US federal law governing electric bikes is normally applied to electric scooters as well.
The US2002 Federal Law stipulates that an electric bike will be classified as street legal if it has a top speed of less than 20 mph and a motor power below 750W. If yours falls within this range, it will not require registration or a license in most US states.
Electric scooters in the US are allowed on roads that lack bicycle lanes so long as they don’t exceed the speed limit of 25 mph. Unless you are passing or turning left, the scooter has to be ridden close to the curb on your right hand. Different US states have individual specifications when it comes to e-bikes or what are known as Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs).
For more information about laws and legislation on electric scooters of different states in the America, you could refer to this post: http://www.genuinescooters.com/scooter-state-laws.html
Europe
Electric scooter rental services are quite common in larger European cities but dig a little deeper and you’ll find that they are deeply unpopular among many drivers. Inexperienced scooter riders without helmets accessing electric scooters from a few dollars has been a recipe for disaster and scooters can be found vandalized or destroyed across cities.
EU countries that have implemented e-scooter rules include Austria, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden, and e-scooter regulations are typically drawn from existing cycling regulations:
- Belgium has recently raised the e-scooter speed limit from 18 km/h to 25 km/h
- Norway and Sweden have a 20 km/h limit, as in Germany
- Italy are working on changes to the present highway code to allow vehicles on pavements, cycle paths and the road
- Ireland are working on new rules
- In the Netherlands, e-scooters are classified in the same category as mopeds with 16 as the minimum age. Insurance is mandatory, and the only vehicles legal on the road are those that have been approved by RDW (the national type-approval authority).
- Within Spain, restrictions were placed on e-scooters in Madrid in 2018
- Austria produced guidelines for e-scooter sharing services in Vienna including a maximum 25 km/h speed limit
- In the UK, e-scooters are currently illegal for use on public roads, but the legislation is being reviewed by the government.