Overview

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  Motorized scooters provide a fun way to get around and save money on fuel. In California, drivers must meet licensing and registration requirements to operate the vehicle legally on the roads. The California regulations protect scooter drivers and other motor-vehicle operators.
  
  

Definition of Scooters

• The California Vehicle Code defines a motor scooter as a vehicle with two wheels, handlebars and a floorboard included for standing while riding the vehicle. The motorized scooter may also have a seat for seated operation, but the floorboard must be in place for standing.
  
  Electricity or another source of power propels the motorized scooter, and pedals may allow for manual propulsion of the vehicle.
  
  

License

• To operate a motorized scooter on California roads, the driver must have a Class C driver’s license or a permit.
  
  

Registration

• The motorized scooter does not meet the requirements of a motor vehicle in terms of the financial responsibility or mandatory insurance laws in the state of California. The state does not require drivers of motorized scooters to register the vehicle with the state or use license plates to operate on California roads.
  
  

Safety

• Drivers must wear a bicycle helmet at all times while operating a motorized scooter in California. It is legal to operate motorized scooters on bicycle paths and trails in the state. The scooter must ride in the bicycle lane of roads with speed limits over 25 miles per hour. Scooters may ride outside the bicycle lane on roads with lower speed limits. Scooter drivers cannot carry any passengers on the vehicle in the state of California.
  
  The California Vehicle Code requires motorized scooters to have a mechanism or a switch that disengages the motor when released or a mechanism that disengages the motor when stepping on the brakes. Motorized scooters that do not meet these requirements are illegal on California roads.