Maryland Rules for E-Bikes and Electric Scooters

Before you buy: what counts as an e-bike

Under section 11-117.1, an electric bicycle is built to be powered by a person with help from an electric motor. It has two or three wheels, fully functioning pedals and a motor whose rating tops out at 750 watts. Note the wording: Maryland includes 750 watts, while many states stop just short of it.

Class 1 helps only while you pedal and cuts out at 20 mph. Class 2 helps whether or not you pedal, and also cuts out at 20 mph. Class 3 is pedal assist only and stops helping at 28 mph. Because the December 2025 edition of the state's Driver's Manual includes these classes, they can show up on the permit test.

Why the law treats them as bicycles

Start with section 11-104. Its basic bicycle is pedaled by a person and rides on two or three wheels, at least one bigger than 14 inches across. The definition then expressly adds e-bikes, mopeds and low speed electric scooters. As a result, the cycling rules in Subtitle 12 of Title 21 govern all of these vehicles.

In a public bike area, section 21-1202 puts cyclists and motor scooter riders on the same legal footing as drivers, with the same duties. Where sidewalk riding is lawful, a cyclist has a pedestrian's rights, follows signals at intersections, and gives way to pedestrians and to anyone on a powered personal mobility device. Whether sidewalk riding is allowed at all is a local decision.

Helmets and age limits

Section 21-1207.1 is the helmet law. Riders younger than 16, and young passengers in a trailer or child seat, need a helmet certified to an ASTM, ANSI or Snell standard on any public road, path or property. E-bikes and e-scooters are legally bicycles, so the same law applies to them. Police enforce it with a warning and safety material, not a fine, and there is a carve-out for the Ocean City boardwalk while bikes are permitted on it.

None of the definitions or operating sections cited here set a minimum age for riding an e-bike or electric scooter. Rental operators and city programs may impose one, so check before your teen signs up.

In practice: a 13 year old on a Class 2 e-bike on a neighborhood street is legal in Maryland with a helmet. The same teen on a rental scooter may be turned away by the company's own age rule.

Out riding: where you can and cannot go

Section 21-1205.1 keeps bicycles and motor scooters off roads posted above 50 mph. The exception: if you are legally on the shoulder, you may pull into the lane to make a left, to go through an intersection, or where a merge or turn lane cuts the shoulder off. Expressways are closed except on a nearby path the State Highway Administration has approved.

When a bike lane has a smooth paved surface, ride in it rather than in traffic, except when passing, lining up a left, or avoiding debris or a merge or turn lane laid over it. Without such a lane, the road or the shoulder is fine. After dark, the manual wants a white light on the front that can be seen 500 feet away, and a red reflector on the back that shows up from 600 feet.

Electric stand-up scooters

The definition in section 11-117.2 fits the typical stand-up scooter: a single rider, a platform to stand on, handlebars, less than 100 pounds, wheels one behind the other (or a pair at either end), electric power plus a push from the rider, and a speed that tops out at 20 mph. Disability mobility aids and other personal mobility devices fall outside it.

Since the law files them under bicycles, the same three rules follow: helmets under 16, the bike lane where one exists, and no roads posted above 50 mph. The manual tells riders to look for local restrictions too, which matters most with rental scooters in a city like Baltimore.

Mopeds and motor scooters are a step up

Section 11-134.5 covers something heavier, the motor scooter: a seated, step-through, pedal-free two-wheeler with an automatic transmission, at least one wheel of 10 inches or more, and power from an engine no bigger than 50 cc or a motor no stronger than 2.7 brake horsepower. Its legal top speed is 30 mph under section 21-1205.1, and according to the manual, mopeds and motor scooters can travel any road with a limit of 50 mph or under, in the lane or on the shoulder.

Moped riders take their own 25 question permit test at the MVA, which tells you a credential is needed. Before buying either machine, check with the MVA on what titling, registering and insuring it requires. And an e-bike modified beyond 750 watts or its class speed stops being an e-bike and may land in one of these categories.

If you ride in Baltimore

The City Council legalized dockless vehicles in 2019, and the city's transportation department (BCDOT) licenses the operators each year under Article 31, Subtitle 38 of the City Code; right now those are Spin and Lime. Under BCDOT's rules as revised on June 18, 2024, the vehicles are throttled to 15 mph across the city, slowed to 8 mph in reduced speed areas and to 3 mph where riding is banned. Before a new user's third trip, the app must quiz them (five questions or more, 80 percent to pass).

The city's guidance for riders: helmets for anyone younger than 16, bike lanes and paths wherever they exist, and no sidewalk riding unless the street alongside is posted 30 mph or higher. Spot one parked across a doorway or bus stop, or squeezing the sidewalk below four feet? Call 311 and choose Scooter and E-Bike Parking. The statewide rules on this page are current as of October 2026, and the General Assembly's website will show any 2027 bills that might change them.