Are electric skateboards legal in France?

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.

• Art. R311-1 (6.14–6.16) Code de la route — Code de la route, article R311-1 (as amended by Décret n° 2026-652 of 22 July 2026). Official source, read 2026-09-25.
  French text; translations are ours. Read in a browser, because Légifrance blocks scripted requests.
• Art. R412-43-1 to R412-43-3 Code de la route — Code de la route, section 6 bis: Circulation des engins de déplacement personnel motorisés et des cyclomobiles légers. Official source, read 2026-09-25.
  French text; translations are ours. Read in a browser, because Légifrance blocks scripted requests.
• Service-public.fr F308 — Circulation à trottinette électrique, hoverboard, gyropode, rollers ou skateboard (checked 11 August 2026). Official source, read 2026-09-25.
  French text; translations are ours.

Every source on this page is the text as published by the legislature or the state agency itself. Open them.

The same four questions, across every jurisdiction whose primary sources we have read. Each row links to its own page and its own citations.

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.

No text we read for France 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. 8 jurisdictions do name it — Are Onewheels legal?

• 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. Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas

Are electric skateboards legal in France?

A statute names the device and sets out what is required to ride it. Electric skateboards are regulated in France as motorised personal transport devices (engins de déplacement personnel motorisés, EDPM). Article R311-1 of the Code de la route defines an EDPM as a vehicle without a seat for one person, with a non-combustion motor and a design speed above 6 km/h and up to 25 km/h. The government's official information site names the “skate électrique” alongside the hoverboard and applies the EDPM rules to it. EDPM must use bike lanes or tracks, may use roads limited to 50 km/h in built-up areas, may not use sidewalks unless the mayor allows it, and require a rider aged at least 14 and liability insurance.

Is a Onewheel legal in France?

No statute we read for France 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 8 of the 81 jurisdictions we read name a one-wheel board: Utah, Quebec, Queensland, Tasmania, British Columbia, New York, Victoria, the Netherlands.

Do I need a helmet in France?

A helmet is required nationally only where the authority has opened a road limited to 80 km/h to these devices. Article R412-43-1 IV 1° a) requires the rider there to “Etre coiffé d'un casque conforme à la réglementation relative aux équipements de protection individuelle, qui doit être attaché” (wear a fastened helmet that complies with the rules on personal protective equipment — our translation). Service-public.fr also reports local helmet obligations (see the insurance and local helmet rule below). That is Art. R412-43-1 to R412-43-3 Code de la route.

How fast am I allowed to go in France?

Service-public.fr: “La vitesse maximum autorisée est de 25 km/h.” (The maximum permitted speed is 25 km/h — our translation.) It adds: “Votre engin doit être équipé d'un système de freinage, d'un avertisseur sonore, de feux de position (avant et arrière) et de dispositifs réfléchissants arrière et latéraux.” (Your device must have brakes, an audible warning device, front and rear position lights and rear and side reflectors — our translation.) That is Service-public.fr F308.

Does this cover city rules?

No. This page reads state, provincial or national 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.