Are electric skateboards legal in San Francisco?
No statute names the device. The San Francisco codes we read do not name the electric skateboard. The Transportation Code rules on skateboards on sidewalks and streets sit in § 7.2.13, titled “NON-MOTORIZED USER-PROPELLED VEHICLES (NUV)”, so they are written for unpowered devices. The Park Code bans skateboarding, without distinguishing powered boards, in the Japanese Tea Garden, the Arboretum and Conservatory Valley of Golden Gate Park (§ 3.05). California state law also applies on top of these city rules; see the California page. California law applies too — read it here.
128 electric skateboards in stock in the United States, priced at each shop ↓
What the law says
| What the text says | Section | |
|---|---|---|
| Unpowered boards on sidewalks and streets | Transportation Code § 7.2.13 makes it unlawful “To ride a NUV upon any sidewalk in any business district within the City;” or on any sidewalk from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, and “To ride a NUV upon any street in any business district within the City;”. The section heading limits it to non-motorized vehicles; we could not read the NUV definition (§ 1.1) at the source. | San Francisco Transportation Code § 7.2.13 |
| Golden Gate Park gardens | Park Code § 3.05: in the Japanese Tea Garden, the Arboretum and Conservatory Valley, “no person shall participate in any athletic activity, including, but not limited to running, jogging, volleyball, baseball, soccer, football, roller skating, bicycle riding, skateboarding, or frisbee.” | San Francisco Park Code § 3.05 |
| Vehicles in parks | Park Code § 6.01(a): “No person shall drive or propel any vehicle within any park except upon the paved roads, driveways, and highways provided or unpaved roads designated by sign or signal for use by such vehicular traffic;” The section does not say whether a motorized board is a vehicle. | San Francisco Park Code § 6.01 |
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 | |
Exway Flex Paragon Electric Skateboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$1799.00US$1059.00 | ✓Real deal | |
Onewheel Pint X
🇺🇸ridechargedwheels.com |
US$1100.00 | ✓Real deal | |
BOUNDMOTOR Flash Ultra Electric Skateboard
🇺🇸cyrusher.com |
US$1999.00US$1299.00 | ✓Real deal |
All 128 electric skateboards from shops in the United States · today's real deals · the cheapest one · 36 under $500 · 112 under $1,000 · what one costs · recalls and safety alerts.
Sources
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San Francisco Transportation Code § 7.2.13 — Non-motorized user-propelled vehicles (NUV).
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 19 July 2026. -
San Francisco Park Code § 3.05 — Athletic activities prohibited in certain areas.
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 14 June 2021, the only capture available; the section may have been amended since. -
San Francisco Park Code § 6.01 — Operation and parking of vehicles.
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 16 June 2025.
Every source on this page is the text as published by the legislature or the state agency itself. Open them.
How San Francisco compares
The same four questions for San Francisco 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 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, |
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 San Francisco 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 California 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: California. Every other jurisdiction: the full list.
Questions this raises
Are electric skateboards legal in San Francisco?
No law we can find defines an electric skateboard. What applies instead is a general vehicle classification and, in practice, your municipality. The San Francisco codes we read do not name the electric skateboard. The Transportation Code rules on skateboards on sidewalks and streets sit in § 7.2.13, titled “NON-MOTORIZED USER-PROPELLED VEHICLES (NUV)”, so they are written for unpowered devices. The Park Code bans skateboarding, without distinguishing powered boards, in the Japanese Tea Garden, the Arboretum and Conservatory Valley of Golden Gate Park (§ 3.05). California state law also applies on top of these city rules; see the California page.
Is a Onewheel legal in San Francisco?
No statute we read for San Francisco names a board with a single wheel, so the law there does not answer directly. For electric skateboards, the status we found is: no statute names the device. 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 San Francisco?
No rule naming this device addresses helmets in the sources we have read for San Francisco. Your municipality may have one.
How fast am I allowed to go in San Francisco?
No speed limit specific to this device appears in the sources we have read for San Francisco.
Does state law still apply in the city?
Yes. This page reads the city's own code; California 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.