Are electric skateboards legal in Arizona?
Named in law, with no operating rules. Arizona is the one state we have read that writes a definition for the motorized skateboard, lifts it out of the vehicle code, and then says nothing else about it. The section that grants bicycle rights to electric bicycles and standup scooters does not mention it, so the device is legally named and legally unplaced at the same time.
What the law says
| What the text says | Section | |
|---|---|---|
| What counts as one | “A self-propelled device that does not have handlebars and that has a motor, a deck on which a person may ride and at least two tandem wheels in contact with the ground.” The absence of handlebars is what separates it from the two scooter classes below. | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-101 |
| Not a motor vehicle | The definition of “motor vehicle” expressly “does not include … an electric miniature scooter, electric standup scooter or motorized skateboard”. It therefore carries no registration, licence or insurance requirement. | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-101 |
| What the operating section does NOT say | Section 28-819 grants “all the rights and privileges” of a bicycle rider to “an operator of an electric bicycle or an electric standup scooter”. The motorized skateboard is absent from that sentence and from the rest of the section. No speed limit, no helmet rule, no age rule and no statement of where it may be ridden attaches to it at state level. | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-819 |
| What fills the silence | Arizona municipalities regulate these devices themselves, and several do. This page does not cover municipal codes, so the question of where you may actually ride in a given Arizona city is not answered here. | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-819 |
Each row is the statute's own content, reduced to plain wording where it is long and quoted directly where the exact words matter. The section in the last column is a link to the text.
Sources
- Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-101 — Definitions — motorized skateboard, motor vehicle. Official source, read 2026-09-20.
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Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-819 — Electric bicycles; electric standup scooters.
Official source, read 2026-09-20.
Cited for what it omits as much as for what it says. We read the whole section; the motorized skateboard appears nowhere in it.
Every source on this page is the text as published by the legislature or the state agency itself. Open them.
How Arizona compares
The same four questions, across every jurisdiction whose primary sources we have read. Each row links to its own page and its own citations.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Helmet | Speed limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Named only | no rule naming the device | — |
| California | Regulated | Required at every age: a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet meeting the standard | Not above 15 mph on a highway, bikeway, public bicycle path, |
| Michigan | Regulated | “A person less than 19 years of age operating an electric skateboard shall wear a crash he | Not above 25 mph. |
| New York | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Texas | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Washington | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Florida | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Ontario | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Georgia | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Quebec | Regulated | Required. A rigid shell, padded inside, with a chin strap, correctly fitted and firmly fas | Maximum rated power 500 W, combined across motors, and the d |
| British Columbia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Colorado | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Pennsylvania | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alberta | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Illinois | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
The spread is the point. These are neighbouring jurisdictions regulating the same object, and they do not agree on what it is, how fast it may go, who may ride it, or whether it may be ridden at all. A rider who crosses a state line is, quite often, subject to a different legal category rather than a stricter version of the same one — which is why a single national answer to this question does not exist and why anyone offering you one has stopped reading the law.
It also explains why so many rows say the device is unaddressed. Most vehicle codes were written before this machine existed, and a legislature that has not revisited them has not thereby permitted anything — it has left the question to a general classification and to your city.
What this page does not tell you
- It is not legal advice, and it never says you may ride. It says what the statute says, and links it.
- It does not cover municipal law. Cities regulate sidewalks, parks, paths and often these devices by name. Those rules sit on top of everything above.
- It does not cover private property, insurance, or what happens after an accident.
- It may be out of date. Every source carries the day we read it. A statute amended since then will not have updated itself here.
Other jurisdictions: the full list. California · Michigan · New York · Texas
Questions this raises
Are electric skateboards legal in Arizona?
A statute defines the device and takes it out of the vehicle code, but no provision says where it may be ridden or under what conditions. The silence is the answer, and it is not the same silence as a state that never wrote anything at all. Arizona is the one state we have read that writes a definition for the motorized skateboard, lifts it out of the vehicle code, and then says nothing else about it. The section that grants bicycle rights to electric bicycles and standup scooters does not mention it, so the device is legally named and legally unplaced at the same time.
Do I need a helmet in Arizona?
No rule naming this device addresses helmets in the sources we have read for Arizona. Your municipality may have one.
How fast am I allowed to go in Arizona?
No speed limit specific to this device appears in the sources we have read for Arizona.
Does this cover city rules?
No. This page reads state or provincial law only. Municipal codes frequently add rules — on sidewalks, parks and paths especially — and where the state has written nothing, the city has written everything.
How do I check this myself?
Open the links in the sources below. Every row in the table above names the section it comes from, and every source shows the date we read it. That is the whole point of the page: you should not have to take our word for it.