Georgia E-Bike and Scooter Rules for Riders and Parents

Before you buy: how Georgia classifies e-bikes

Under O.C.G.A. 40-1-1, an electric assisted bicycle has two or three wheels, a saddle, pedals that fully work and an electric motor of 750 watts or less. O.C.G.A. 40-6-300 then splits them three ways. Class I helps only while you pedal and cuts out at 20 mph. Class II can run on the motor alone, again to 20 mph. Class III is pedal-assist only but keeps helping to 28 mph.

House Bill 454, effective July 1, 2019, added these definitions and declared that electric assisted bicycles are not motor vehicles. As a result, a legal e-bike needs no driver's license, tag, title or insurance. O.C.G.A. 40-6-301 gives the rider every right and duty of a bicycle operator.

Before you buy: labels and equipment

Under O.C.G.A. 40-6-302, bikes built from January 1, 2020 onward carry a permanent label in type at least 9 point Arial. It states the class, the wattage and the highest speed the motor will assist to. Change the bike so it falls in a different class and the label has to change too. Whatever the class, the motor must quit the moment pedaling stops or the brake is pulled.

A Class III also needs a speedometer reading in miles per hour. Otherwise e-bikes carry the same gear as ordinary bicycles: at night a white light on the front and a red light or approved red reflector on the back, brakes that work, and handlebars no higher than the rider's shoulders.

Before the first ride: ages and helmets

O.C.G.A. 40-6-303 sets 15 as the minimum age to operate a Class III. A younger child may still sit as a passenger if the bike was designed for one. Every person aboard a Class III, whatever their age, wears an ANSI- or Snell-rated bicycle helmet, and a rental shop cannot hand over a Class III to a customer who has no helmet of their own unless it supplies one.

For Class I and II riders, Georgia's ordinary bicycle helmet law, O.C.G.A. 40-6-296, does the work: under 16, a properly fitted and buckled helmet is required on roads, bike lanes, bike paths and sidewalks alike. No fine can be imposed on an under-16 rider for going without, and the lack of a helmet is not admissible to show negligence. Rental businesses may not rent a bicycle to a rider under 16 without a helmet unless one comes with the rental.

Put simply for a family of three: your 12-year-old can ride a Class I or II with a helmet, your 15-year-old can move up to a Class III with a helmet, and you, as an adult, need a helmet only on the Class III.

On the road and trail: where each class may go

E-bikes use the road like any bicycle. Paths are where the classes differ. Class I and Class II may ride any bicycle or shared use path open to bicycles, unless a local authority or state agency bans them from a path it controls.

Class III bikes are kept off bicycle and shared use paths unless the path lies within or right next to a highway, or the authority in charge permits them. Natural surface trails set aside for nonmotorized use sit outside these rules, and the agency running each trail decides what may use it, so read the signs at the trailhead, whether in a state park or on a mountain biking route.

• Class I: roads, plus bike and shared use paths unless banned locally
• Class II: roads, plus bike and shared use paths unless banned locally
• Class III: roads; paths only next to a highway or where allowed; minimum rider age 15

If it is faster: mopeds and motorcycles

Go past the e-bike limits and you may have a moped. Georgia's moped runs on two or three wheels, with a power source of 2 brake horsepower or less, a top speed on level ground of 30 mph or less, an engine no bigger than 50cc if it burns gas, and an automatic drive with no clutch or gear shifting.

Mopeds are motor vehicles rather than bicycles, so none of the e-bike exemptions apply. Before buying a moped or a powerful electric bike for a teen, ask DDS which license or permit is needed on public roads. Anything faster than a moped should be treated as a motorcycle: that means a Class M license, plus a helmet that satisfies the standards adopted under O.C.G.A. 40-6-315.

If it is a stand-up scooter

Stand-up electric scooters have no category of their own in Georgia's Code. The closest state rules, O.C.G.A. 40-6-320 on electric personal assistive mobility devices, are written for self-balancing two-wheelers; those may go on sidewalks wide enough to leave 48 inches clear, and on roads posted at 35 mph or less or marked with a bike lane. The next section, 40-6-321, allows local governments to regulate further.

Rental scooters, in practice, are regulated city by city. Atlanta, the biggest, handles its shared scooter and e-bike fleet with a city ordinance and a permit system, and over time its rules have addressed parking, riding on sidewalks, permitted areas and the hours rentals may run. Check the city's current rules and the rental company's in-app terms before you ride, and check other cities' codes the same way, since local rules change more often than state law.