Washington E-Bike and Scooter Rules for Riders and Parents

Before you buy: how Washington sorts e-bikes

Under RCW 46.04.169, an electric-assisted bicycle has two or three wheels, a seat, working pedals and an electric motor rated at 750 watts or less. Class 1 helps only while the rider pedals and cuts out at 20 mph. Class 2 can propel the bike without pedaling but gives no help beyond 20 mph. Class 3 is pedal-assist only, cuts out at 28 mph and must carry a speedometer.

The classes were created in 2018 (Laws of 2018, chapter 60). Lawmakers tightened things in 2026 with ESSB 6110 (chapter 159 of the 2026 session laws), effective June 11, 2026. Anything that can top 20 mph on motor power alone is no longer an e-bike, and neither is a bike built or advertised so that an app, a setting or a button can easily move it into a faster class.

Before you buy: the electric dirt bike problem

The bill's stated reason was the rapid spread of electric motorcycles, with teenagers singled out as the main riders. Until a new framework exists, the act says the current motorcycle and moped definitions cover many of the vehicles now shut out of the e-bike category. That means a high-output electric dirt bike marketed as an e-bike is, in law, a motorcycle or a moped, needing registration and, for a motorcycle, an endorsement.

The act also had DOL form a work group on electric motorcycles. The group owes the governor and the legislative transportation committees draft definitions in an interim report due December 15, 2026, and a final report due October 31, 2027. Topics include how old riders must be, licensing, training, registration, and what penalty an adult should face for giving an electric motorcycle to a child younger than 16. More law is likely in the 2027 session.

Practical advice for parents: if a listing promises speeds well past 28 mph, or an unlock mode, assume your teen would be riding a motor vehicle, not a bicycle.

Before the first ride: age, paperwork and helmets

Under RCW 46.20.500, riding an e-bike takes no driver's license, and anyone younger than 16 is barred from a Class 3. Classes 1 and 2 carry no state age floor at all. There is no registration or plate either, because RCW 46.61.710 exempts e-bikes from the moped registration rules.

Washington has no statewide bicycle helmet law. RCW 46.37.530 instead tells e-bike and motorized foot scooter riders to follow every law and regulation on bicycle helmets, which in practice means local ordinances. Counties and cities make those rules, so one town may require a helmet while its neighbor does not.

On the road: where each class may go

E-bikes may ride and park on roads just as bicycles do. Shared-use paths, and any part of a highway marked for bikes, are open to Classes 1 and 2, although local governments and state agencies can limit access on facilities they control. Where a path crosses city lines, its rules must be consistent along the whole length to be enforceable, apart from local rules already in place on January 1, 2018.

Class 3 riders can use bike lanes and similar facilities in or next to a road. A shared-use path is closed to them unless local officials open it. It also stays off sidewalks unless no bicycle or pedestrian path offers an alternative or a local ordinance permits riding there. Classes 1 and 2 simply follow the ordinary bicycle rules for sidewalks.

No class of e-bike, and no scooter, may use a natural-surface trail designated nonmotorized unless the managing agency allows it.

If your teen wants a stand-up scooter

RCW 46.04.336 describes a motorized foot scooter as having two or three wheels, handlebars and a standing floorboard, powered by gas or electricity, with a top speed on level ground of 20 mph or less. No license is required. RCW 46.20.500 keeps riders under 16 off them unless the local jurisdiction says otherwise, caps speed at 15 mph on roadways and in bike lanes, and, from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise, requires reflectors of a type the state patrol approves.

Keep scooters off sidewalks unless no other route exists or the city's ordinance allows them; where it does, the city picks the speed. Freeways with fully controlled access are closed to scooters. Trails built with federal money, and paths that are new or carry no signs, are open only when a sign says so. Under RCW 46.61.715, cities choose whether shared scooters may run, where they may run, and what parking rules and fees apply. Share operators need general liability insurance of $1 million or more for each occurrence.

If you ride shared bikes and scooters in Seattle

Seattle licenses a share program with three kinds of vehicle: e-bikes, scooters you stand on and scooters with seats. SDOT's guide for riders points to Seattle Municipal Code 11.46.020 on helmet use and SMC 11.46.010 on keeping scooters off sidewalks, and asks riders to avoid streets with limits above 25 mph and no-ride zones such as parks.

Parking counts too. SDOT wants six feet of sidewalk left clear and vehicles parked in the furniture zone near the curb; a poorly parked shared scooter or bike can cost an extra $20 on your ride. Free helmets for adults are available from SDOT and the operator at community events and at the city's customer service centers.

When the vehicle is really a moped

A moped, in RCW 46.04.304, tops out at 30 mph on the flat, rides on three wheels or fewer, and has an engine no bigger than 50 cc with two brake horsepower at most. Unlike an e-bike, it needs moped registration and a permit decal, cannot use bicycle paths, trails or sidewalks, and under RCW 46.37.530 its rider and passenger wear a motorcycle helmet, plus eye protection when there is no windshield.

To ride one you must be at least 16 and licensed to drive, any class, with no extra endorsement. Go faster or more powerful than that and the machine becomes a motor-driven cycle or motorcycle, which RCW 46.20.500 says requires the motorcycle endorsement.