Utah E-Bike and Electric Scooter Rules, Explained

Before you buy: is it legally an e-bike?

Utah Code 41-6a-102 calls a bike an electric assisted bicycle when it has a motor of 750 watts or less, pedals that fully work, cranks fitted at the factory, and can still be ridden as an ordinary bicycle with the motor off. Class 1 helps only while you pedal and stops at 20 mph. Class 2 can move the bike with no pedaling but quits helping at 20 mph. Class 3 helps only while you pedal, up to 28 mph, and has to carry a speedometer.

Utah is unusually specific about what falls outside the definition. Anything with fewer than four wheels that reaches 20 mph or more on the motor alone, runs a continuous motor above 750 watts, or was built with foot pegs rather than pedals is not an e-bike, no matter what the box says.

Before you buy: the high power category and seller warnings

Machines that miss the e-bike definition now have a name: high power electric device. That means a self-propelled vehicle, not titled or registered as a motor vehicle, whose electric motor can push it past 20 mph without pedaling. An e-bike modified or tampered with beyond its maker's settings lands here too.

Since May 1, 2024, a seller of a non-e-bike electric vehicle with fewer than four wheels must warn buyers, in bold capital letters, that it is a type of motor vehicle and may not be covered by insurance. If an ad skips the warning but the throttle goes past 20 mph, assume it is a motor vehicle and ask DLD what license it requires.

Right now: ages, supervision and helmets

Today's wording of Utah Code 41-6a-1115.5 sets three age lines. Class 3 is off limits below 16. Below 14, any e-bike ridden with the motor on in public, whether street, path, sidewalk or other public property, needs a parent or guardian right there supervising. Below 8, the motor stays off in all of those places.

Helmets come from Utah Code 41-6a-1505, which changed on May 6, 2026. Every rider younger than 21 on a highway needs approved headgear, whatever the machine, with two carve-outs: the Class 1 e-bike, and a scooter rented by the trip from a company. Get caught without one and the fine can reach $25 (e-bike or scooter) or $110 (high power device).

Example: your 15 year old wants a Class 3 commuter. The answer is no until 16, so a Class 1 or Class 2 is the legal choice, and on the Class 2 a helmet is required.

• Younger than 8: no motor in public places
• 8 through 13: any class, but only with a parent or guardian directly supervising
• 14 and 15: Class 1 and Class 2 alone, never Class 3
• 16 through 20: every class, with a helmet on anything but a Class 1
• Minors who break traffic law: an officer can keep the bike until a parent or guardian collects it (41-6a-1115.6)

On the road and trail: where e-bikes go

The traffic code treats an e-bike the way it treats a bicycle, and Utah Code 41-6a-1115.5 lets one use any path or trail set aside for bicycles. A city, county or state agency can still restrict e-bikes, or a single class, on sidewalks, paths and trails it manages, provided it considers access for riders with mobility disabilities.

That is why the rules on a canyon trail may not match a city greenway. Read the trailhead sign and your city's code before taking a Class 2 or Class 3 onto a paved path. Class 2 riders also fall under the open container rule in 41-6a-526.

If the ride is a scooter

Under 41-6a-102, a motor assisted scooter has handlebars, a deck or seat, an electric motor of 2,000 watts or less, can be moved by human power, and tops out at 20 mph on flat pavement. It is not a motor vehicle; Utah Code 41-6a-1115 applies bicycle rules and waives licensing.

Ride at 15 mph or slower. Stay out of public parking garages and anywhere signs ban bicycles, carry no more riders than the design allows, and leave the factory setup alone. Under 8, the motor may not be used on public property, a highway, a path or a sidewalk. Cities can regulate scooters and permit or limit sidewalk riding under 41-6a-1115.1.

In Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City wrote a dockless shared mobility section into its code with Ordinance 56-20 in 2020. Its Shared Mobility page says sidewalk riding is not allowed downtown; scooter and bike riders belong in the street, in a bike lane where one exists.

When you finish, leave the device in the strip by the curb so walkers can pass. Three spots are off limits: car parking spaces, UTA bus and train stops, and anywhere closer than 50 feet to a GREENbike station. Every rental scooter has its own ID number, big enough by state law to read at five feet, and that is what you give when reporting trouble.

Looking ahead: what H.B. 381 changes on May 5, 2027

The governor signed H.B. 381 (Electric Mobility Device Amendments) on March 24, 2026, and it arrives in two waves. Wave one, May 6, 2026, brought the helmet rule for riders under 21 and the police hold on minors' e-bikes. Wave two lands May 5, 2027. By then 41-6a-1512 has the Department of Public Safety running an online course on personal electric vehicle safety, with a certificate priced no higher than $10.

Once wave two is live, an 8 to 15 year old on a highway needs one of two things: the certificate, or a parent or responsible adult directly watching. At 16 a rider can go solo. Freeways close to every personal electric vehicle ridden by someone under 16, and highways close to high power devices for that age group. Rental firms must refuse under-16 customers who have neither certificate nor supervising adult.