Are electric skateboards legal in Chicago?
Specific law, with conditions. The Municipal Code of Chicago does not use the words electric skateboard. Since April 2019 it defines a “low-speed electric mobility device” by criteria rather than by type (no operable pedals, no more than 26 inches wide, under 100 pounds, an electric motor with a maximum speed of 15 mph, one rider), takes it out of the definition of vehicle, and applies the Title 9 bicycle rules to it (§ 9-52-130(c)), including the sidewalk limits of § 9-52-020. The definition names no device type, not even the skateboard; it reaches a board only through those criteria, and a board capable of more than 15 mph falls outside it. Illinois state law also applies on top of these city rules; see the Illinois page. Illinois law applies too — read it here.
130 electric skateboards in stock in the United States, priced at each shop ↓
What the law says
| What the text says | Section | |
|---|---|---|
| What the city code defines | Municipal Code § 9-4-010: a “low-speed electric mobility device” “means a device which: (i) has no operable pedals; (ii) is no more than 26 inches wide; (iii) weighs less than 100 pounds; (iv) is powered by an electric motor that is capable of propelling the device with or without human propulsion at a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour on a paved level surface; and (v) is intended for transporting one individual.” The definition does not name skateboards or any other device type. | Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-4-010 |
| Not a vehicle | The same section defines a vehicle as every device by which a person may be transported upon a street, “except motorized wheelchairs, low-speed electric bicycles, low-speed electric delivery bicycle, low-speed electric mobility devices, devices moved solely by human power”. | Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-4-010 |
| Bicycle rules apply | § 9-52-130(c): “Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of Title 9 of this Code that apply to the operation and parking of bicycles shall also apply to the operation and parking of low-speed electric mobility devices.” | Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-52-130 |
| Sidewalks | § 9-52-020(b), applied to these devices by § 9-52-130(c): “a person 12 or more years of age may ride a bicycle upon any sidewalk along any roadway only if such sidewalk has been officially designated and marked as a bicycle route, or such sidewalk is used to enter the nearest roadway, intersection, or designated bicycle path, or to access a bicycle share station.” Subsection (a) sets the same conditions for sidewalks along business streets, for riders of any age. | Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-52-020 |
| Lake Shore Drive and signed ways | § 9-52-020(c): “Bicycles shall not be operated on Lake Shore Drive or on any public way where the operation of bicycles has been prohibited and signs have been erected indicating such prohibition.” | Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-52-020 |
| Parking | § 9-52-130(b): “No person shall park a low-speed electric mobility device on the public way except” in a space or rack designated by the Commissioner of Transportation, or “against a rack, parking meter or sign pole to support the low-speed electric mobility device.” | Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-52-130 |
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.
Electric skateboards in stock in the United States
Priced at shops in the United States, in the currency they charge. Real deals and new lows first, then the lowest price; checked twice a day at the shop itself. We do not rate boards and take no payment for a place here.
| Product | Best price | Verdict | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
WowGo 2S MAX Electric Skateboard & Longboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$349.00 | ✓Real deal | |
MEEPO V5 Electric Skateboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$379.00 | ✓Real deal | |
WowGo Mini 2S Electric Skateboard & Shortboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$444.00 | ✓Real deal | |
MEEPO Flow Electric Skateboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$749.00US$649.00 | ✓Real deal | |
Exway Flex Paragon Electric Skateboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$1799.00US$1059.00 | ✓Real deal | |
Onewheel Pint X
🇺🇸ridechargedwheels.com |
US$1100.00 | ✓Real deal |
All 130 electric skateboards from shops in the United States · today's real deals · the cheapest one · 37 under $500 · 113 under $1,000 · what one costs · recalls and safety alerts.
Sources
-
Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-4-010 — Definitions.
Official source, read 2026-09-27.
Read via a web.archive.org capture of the city code on American Legal Publishing (the city's code host); the live page returned HTTP 403 to our tools. Capture dated 11 February 2025. -
Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-52-130 — Low-speed electric mobility devices.
Official source, read 2026-09-27.
Read via a web.archive.org capture of the city code on American Legal Publishing (the city's code host); the live page returned HTTP 403 to our tools. Capture dated 26 October 2025 (code supplement 2025 S-70). -
Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-52-020 — Riding bicycles on sidewalks and certain roadways.
Official source, read 2026-09-27.
Read via a web.archive.org capture of the city code on American Legal Publishing (the city's code host); the live page returned HTTP 403 to our tools. Capture dated 27 October 2025 (code supplement 2025 S-70).
Every source on this page is the text as published by the legislature or the state agency itself. Open them.
How Chicago compares
The same four questions for Chicago and its neighbours, each linked to its own page and citations. All 99 jurisdictions we have read are side by side on Compare all jurisdictions.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Helmet | Speed limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Illinois | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
Compare all 99 jurisdictions →
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 about a Onewheel?
No text we read for Chicago names a board with a single wheel. The reading above is for electric skateboards; whether a Onewheel falls in the same class, another one or none is a question the statutes here do not answer, and neither do we. 11 jurisdictions do name it — Are Onewheels legal?
Onewheel prices, read at the shops: what a Onewheel costs new · used Onewheel prices · Onewheel or electric skateboard · buy or sell a used one.
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 repeat Illinois law. The city's rules sit on top of it; read that page too. Park, transit and campus rules can add more.
- 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.
Across the border: Illinois. Every other jurisdiction: the full list.
Questions this raises
Are electric skateboards legal in Chicago?
A statute names the device and sets out what is required to ride it. The Municipal Code of Chicago does not use the words electric skateboard. Since April 2019 it defines a “low-speed electric mobility device” by criteria rather than by type (no operable pedals, no more than 26 inches wide, under 100 pounds, an electric motor with a maximum speed of 15 mph, one rider), takes it out of the definition of vehicle, and applies the Title 9 bicycle rules to it (§ 9-52-130(c)), including the sidewalk limits of § 9-52-020. The definition names no device type, not even the skateboard; it reaches a board only through those criteria, and a board capable of more than 15 mph falls outside it. Illinois state law also applies on top of these city rules; see the Illinois page.
Is a Onewheel legal in Chicago?
No statute we read for Chicago names a board with a single wheel, so the law there does not answer directly. For electric skateboards, the status we found is: specific law, with conditions. Only 11 of the 99 jurisdictions we read name a one-wheel board: Utah, Quebec, Queensland, Tasmania, Seattle, South Korea, Belgium, British Columbia, New York, Victoria, the Netherlands.
Do I need a helmet in Chicago?
No rule naming this device addresses helmets in the sources we have read for Chicago. Your municipality may have one.
How fast am I allowed to go in Chicago?
No speed limit specific to this device appears in the sources we have read for Chicago.
Does state law still apply in the city?
Yes. This page reads the city's own code; Illinois law applies on top of it, and where the two differ, the stricter rule is the one you meet on the street. The state reading is on its own page, with its own sources.
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.