Are electric skateboards legal in Louisiana?
No statute names the device. Louisiana has written rules for four small electric devices — the rental scooter, the self-balancing device, the prescribed mobility aid and the e-bike — and the electric skateboard fits none of them. The word does not appear in the traffic code’s definitions. What reaches a board is the general definition of a motor vehicle, and the rule that a motor vehicle on a highway be registered.
What the law says
| What the text says | Section | |
|---|---|---|
| The general definition | “Motor vehicle” means “every vehicle which is self-propelled”, with written exceptions only for the motorized bicycle and the electric-assisted bicycle. A “vehicle” is “every device by which persons or things may be transported upon a public highway or bridge, except devices moved by human power”. | La. R.S. 32:1(47), (50), (61), (110) |
| And the registration rule that goes with it | “No person shall operate, or permit to be operated, any motor vehicle upon the highways of this state unless it is registered with the commissioner”. We quote it because it is the rule the general definition triggers; we found no Louisiana text that says whether, or how, an electric skateboard could be registered, and we do not answer that for you. | La. R.S. 32:51 |
| Not the rental scooter | The “electric low-speed scooter” is “a rental or commercial scooter weighing less than one hundred pounds that has handlebars and an electric motor”. It is taken out of the motor-vehicle class — but a privately owned board with no handlebars is not that device. | La. R.S. 32:300.1.1(B) |
| Not the self-balancing device | The electric personal assistive mobility device is “a self-balancing two-, non-tandem wheeled device designed to transport only one person at a time”. A board’s wheels are in tandem. | La. R.S. 32:300.2(B) |
| ⚠ The “mobility aid” is not a loophole we will open for you | Louisiana’s pedestrian is “any person afoot or utilizing a mobility aid”, and a mobility aid is “a device used by individuals to ambulate independently and that is human or electric powered and used in- or outdoors.” Read alone, that sounds wide. But the electric version of it is defined as one “prescribed by a physician for a medical condition that affects the user's ability to ambulate independently.” We found no text or decision applying either definition to a skateboard, and we do not make that reading. | La. R.S. 32:206(E) |
| What this does not tell you | Louisiana parishes and municipalities regulate their own streets and sidewalks, and this page does not cover local ordinances. | La. R.S. 32:1(47), (50), (61), (110) |
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
-
La. R.S. 32:1(47), (50), (61), (110) — Definitions — mobility aid, motor vehicle, pedestrian, vehicle.
Official source, read 2026-09-24.
Read from the Louisiana State Legislature’s own site. We read all 113 definitions; none mentions a skateboard. -
La. R.S. 32:300.1.1(B) — Electric low-speed scooters.
Official source, read 2026-09-24.
Same site. -
La. R.S. 32:300.2(B) — Electric personal assistive mobility devices.
Official source, read 2026-09-24.
Same site. -
La. R.S. 32:206(E) — Electric mobility aids.
Official source, read 2026-09-24.
Same site. -
La. R.S. 32:51 — Vehicle license required.
Official source, read 2026-09-24.
Same site.
Every source on this page is the text as published by the legislature or the state agency itself. Open them.
How Louisiana 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alabama | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alaska | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Arizona | Named only | no rule naming the device | — |
| Arkansas | Unaddressed | 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, |
| Colorado | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Connecticut | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Delaware | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Florida | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Georgia | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Hawaii | Unaddressed | “No person under eighteen years of age shall operate a skateboard upon a street, roadway, | — |
| Idaho | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Illinois | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Indiana | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Iowa | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Kansas | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Kentucky | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Maine | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Maryland | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | Maryland’s stand-up electric class requires a vehicle that “ |
| Massachusetts | 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 | — |
| Minnesota | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Mississippi | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Missouri | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Montana | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nebraska | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nevada | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| New Hampshire | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| New Jersey | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | The 2019 class that New Jersey does allow on the road is def |
| New Mexico | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| New York | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| North Carolina | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| North Dakota | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Ohio | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | “Vehicle” does not include “any low-speed micromobility devi |
| Oklahoma | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Oregon | Unaddressed | It is an offence if a person “is under 16 years of age, rides on a skateboard or scooter o | — |
| Pennsylvania | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Rhode Island | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| South Carolina | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| South Dakota | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Tennessee | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Texas | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Utah | Regulated | “An individual under 21 years old may not operate or ride the following on a highway unles | — |
| Vermont | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Virginia | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Washington | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| West Virginia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Wisconsin | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Wyoming | Named only | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alberta | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| British Columbia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Manitoba | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| New Brunswick | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Northwest Territories | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nova Scotia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nunavut | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Ontario | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Prince Edward Island | Prohibited | 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 |
| Saskatchewan | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | A “limited speed motor vehicle” is “any motor vehicle that h |
| Yukon | Unaddressed | 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. Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas
Questions this raises
Are electric skateboards legal in Louisiana?
No law we can find defines an electric skateboard. What applies instead is a general vehicle classification and, in practice, your municipality. Louisiana has written rules for four small electric devices — the rental scooter, the self-balancing device, the prescribed mobility aid and the e-bike — and the electric skateboard fits none of them. The word does not appear in the traffic code’s definitions. What reaches a board is the general definition of a motor vehicle, and the rule that a motor vehicle on a highway be registered.
Do I need a helmet in Louisiana?
No rule naming this device addresses helmets in the sources we have read for Louisiana. Your municipality may have one.
How fast am I allowed to go in Louisiana?
No speed limit specific to this device appears in the sources we have read for Louisiana.
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.