Anybody familiar with electric scooter/moped laws? - Page 2

We have an electric bike company in Oregon.  Our law is that as long as it's under 25mph self propelled it is considered a bike.  Our bikes are rated at 20 mph and can all be ridden on bike paths.  We don't sell scooters because I know that some cities have tighter laws on them.  Visit our website at www.electricpeddler.com and "Get Your Throttle On"

Seems like most of the discussion is about the West coast, but in Delaware, I can tell you they don't have a clue. You can go here  http://delcode.delaware.gov/title21/index.shtml#TopOfPage  and start with definitions. My Rad2Go Sunbird Electric bicycle is technically a Bicycle in Delaware. Less than 750 watts, (Ours are 250 watts), and less than 20 MPH, (Ours top out at 18 MPH). We have pedals and you could ride it without any assistance from the motor, without any problem. But here's the problem... It looks like a scooter, with turn signals, mirrors, brake lights and bodywork. A scooter puts you in a different set of rules.

So September 3rd, we go on vacation. We park our car and jump on the bikes and do what we love to do at the beach.

(Let me start with... My wife is recovering fine and will be OK!)

We were on our way home, in the bike lane, and my wife crashes hard. I was in front of her so I only heard her crash. We have no idea what happened but I suspect she may have been clipped by a car. I stopped and ran back to her and she was unconscious and breathing poorly. She was bleeding and I was having thoughts of losing my wife. (Our 36th anniversary was 3 days later. Sept. 6th). We were both wearing our bicycle helmets. There is no question that if she wasn't wearing her helmet, she would not have survived the crash. The Paramedics got there within minutes and then the State Police. She regained consciousness after about 10 minutes and was aware of where she was but didn't know what happened. They flew her by Helicopter to the head trauma unit in upper Delaware where she stayed for 2 nights. We returned to the beach and decided to try to relax for what was left of our vacation.

On Tuesday, Sept. 7th, I get a call from the Delaware State Police, telling me to bring my wife in so she can be charged with a DUI. She was arrested and they took her driver's license. I tried to point out that we were on bikes and according to the law, can not be charged with a "motor vehicle DUI", but they weren't listening. I asked the arresting officer if she would be getting this charge if she was on a conventional bike with no motor assist and she said, "NO". And to top things off, they still don't know her Blood/Alcohol level! We know it will be low, (We had 4 drinks in 6 hours), but that doesn't matter. You still have to appear in Court and defend yourself. We have retained a lawyer at $1500, we will have to pay $150 to get her license back and she won't be guilty of anything. Something wrong with this system???

I guess our wonderful Delaware State Police figured, almost dieing that night wasn't enough.

This is to update the outcome of my wife's accident. After $4,000 and appearing in court, the charges were thrown out because we were riding what is legally a bicycle in the state of Delaware. Exactly what I tried to explain to the police woman when she was arresting my wife. So where do I go to get my $4,000 back? Yeah, right. Welcome to the system. 

Also, something I missed when looking at her busted helmet. On the left rear of it is a black smudge. I believe caused by maybe a pick-up truck mirror. 

So it really doesn't matter what the law is. They say ignorance of the law is no excuse. So you will pay, even if the police are ignorant of the law. 

Wow, that's terrible! Welcome to the system indeed... Sounds like police ignorance is a tactic for law abiding citizens to fork up "their share" of cash.. Ugh. :(

nice post i expecting more information from your site thanks

Safety Laws:

1) Don't SUI!!!  - Scoot Under the Influence!!  The same laws may apply in your State as DUI's!!

2) Street Legal Scooters are required to follow the same Motor Vehicle as all other vehicles

3) Obtain the proper license as required by your State

4) Obtain the proper insurance as required by your State

5) Scooters and Electric Bicycles shall follow local bicycle laws.

The laws that govern the operation of electric scooters and bikes vary from state to state. In addition, the enforcement of these laws may vary from city to city. Before selecting an electric scooter for purchase, I recommend contacting your local law enforcement agency or DMV to obtain the most up to date and accurate information for your area.

http://electricscootersworld.com/

What sad news- I hope all goes well.

 I know a little about CA laws; same or similar to Oregons- 20 mph unassisted.  I had a hub motor that had governers or something. Perfectly legal.  I changed to a much higher controller and it was capable of breaking the law.  A gas scooter or moped is legal at 35 mph.  I rode mine in San Francisco (Sunday Streets- NO cars) Golden Gate Park hill from the top to the Great Highway.  I  just had to see what it would do and gravity/motor/aerodynamics pushed it way way over 35!  Don't let the avatar fool you -there is a recumbent trike hidden in there! (I dismantled it to slow it down now- just a plain recumbent trike)

Stand-up scooter are tiny motorized scooter weighting from 50-100lbs. Your 200-lb moped will kill someone if ran into someone at full 20mph, that's why you need a license plate, dmv testing, etc. Some stand-up includes a bike seat, but the whole contraption is like a child's scooter, hence no plate/license/insurance/registration requirements.

You can probably ride your 15-mile range scooter after midnight, camp out at the DMV station when you arrive and wake up fresh for your test. That's price for going green

Yeah laws vary by state.  Here our mopeds are considered under 50 CC and a motorcycle is anything above that.  Mopeds do not need any special license/endorsement and motorcycles need a motorcycle endorsement.  Lots of people use a smaller "motorcycle" like 150cc to take their motorcycle road test cuz they're easier to navigate.