Are electric skateboards legal in Illinois?
Not allowed on public roads. Illinois legalised the low-speed electric scooter in 2024 and wrote handlebars into the definition, which leaves the skateboard where it was: a self-propelled vehicle, therefore a motor vehicle, therefore unlawful on a highway without a registration it cannot obtain. The scooter permission is also not statewide — a municipality has to grant it, one at a time. City rules we have read on top of it: Chicago.
127 electric skateboards in stock in the United States, priced at each shop ↓
What the law says
| What the text says | Section | |
|---|---|---|
| It is a vehicle | “Every device, in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway … except devices moved by human power, devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, and snowmobiles.” An electric skateboard is not moved by human power. | 625 ILCS 5/1-217 |
| And therefore a motor vehicle | “Every vehicle which is self-propelled … except for vehicles moved solely by human power, motorized wheelchairs, low-speed electric bicycles, and low-speed gas bicycles.” The skateboard is in none of those four exceptions. | 625 ILCS 5/1-146 |
| Why the 2024 scooter law does not reach it | A “low-speed electric scooter” is “a device weighing less than 100 pounds, with 2 or 3 wheels, handlebars, and a floorboard that can be stood upon while riding … whose maximum speed … is no more than 10 miles per hour.” A skateboard has four wheels and no handlebars, and most go well past 10 mph. | 625 ILCS 5/1-140.11 |
| Registration it cannot obtain | “It shall be unlawful for any person … to drive or move … upon any highway any vehicle of a type required to be registered hereunder which is not registered.” | 625 ILCS 5/3-401 |
| Even the scooter permission is local, not statewide | Municipalities, park districts, forest preserve districts and conservation districts “may authorize and regulate the operation of low-speed electric scooters”, and their use “is allowed only if authorized” by that body. Illinois did not open its streets; it gave towns the power to. Nothing in the section names the skateboard. | 625 ILCS 5/11-1518 |
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
Read the law above before you buy. The texts we read for Illinois keep this device off public roads. Private land and closed tracks are another matter, and some riders buy for a trip or a move — check where you would actually ride it first.
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 127 electric skateboards from shops in the United States · today's real deals · the cheapest one · 36 under $500 · 110 under $1,000 · what one costs · recalls and safety alerts.
Sources
- 625 ILCS 5/1-217 — Definition — vehicle. Official source, read 2026-09-20.
- 625 ILCS 5/1-146 — Definition — motor vehicle. Official source, read 2026-09-20.
-
625 ILCS 5/1-140.11 — Definition — low-speed electric scooter.
Official source, read 2026-09-20.
Added by P.A. 103-899, effective 9 August 2024. - 625 ILCS 5/3-401 — Registration required before driving on a highway. Official source, read 2026-09-20.
- 625 ILCS 5/11-1518 — Low-speed electric scooters — local authorisation. Official source, read 2026-09-20.
Every source on this page is the text as published by the legislature or the state agency itself. Open them.
How Illinois compares
The same four questions for Illinois 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Indiana | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Iowa | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Kentucky | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Michigan | Regulated | “A person less than 19 years of age operating an electric skateboard shall wear a crash he | — |
| Missouri | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Wisconsin | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Chicago | Regulated | 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 Illinois 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 cover municipal law, except where linked above. 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.
Across the border: Wisconsin · Iowa · Missouri · Kentucky · Indiana · Michigan · Chicago. Every other jurisdiction: the full list.
Questions this raises
Are electric skateboards legal in Illinois?
The state says the device may not be operated on public highways. Illinois legalised the low-speed electric scooter in 2024 and wrote handlebars into the definition, which leaves the skateboard where it was: a self-propelled vehicle, therefore a motor vehicle, therefore unlawful on a highway without a registration it cannot obtain. The scooter permission is also not statewide — a municipality has to grant it, one at a time.
Is a Onewheel legal in Illinois?
No statute we read for Illinois names a board with a single wheel, so the law there does not answer directly. For electric skateboards, the status we found is: not allowed on public roads. 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 Illinois?
No rule naming this device addresses helmets in the sources we have read for Illinois. Your municipality may have one.
How fast am I allowed to go in Illinois?
No speed limit specific to this device appears in the sources we have read for Illinois.
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. For Chicago, we have read the city code too.
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.