Are electric skateboards legal in Wyoming?
Named in law, with no operating rules. Wyoming does the opposite of every other state we have read. Everywhere else the skateboard falls INTO the definition of a motor vehicle and is trapped by a registration it cannot obtain. Wyoming writes it OUT of that definition by name — and then writes no statewide rule for it at all, handing the question to local authorities.
What the law says
| What the text says | Section | |
|---|---|---|
| Expressly not a motor vehicle | “Motor vehicle” means “every vehicle which is self-propelled except vehicles moved solely by human power, electric bicycles or <b>motorized skateboards</b>.” Three exceptions, and the skateboard is one of them. No registration requirement can therefore reach it. | Wyo. Stat. § 31-1-101(a)(xv), (xxix) |
| And it has its own definition | “Motorized skateboard” means “a self-propelled device which has a motor or engine, a deck on which a person may ride and at least two wheels in contact with the ground and which is not otherwise defined in this act as a motor vehicle, motorcycle, electric bicycle, motor-driven cycle or pedestrian vehicle.” | Wyo. Stat. § 31-1-101(a)(xv), (xxix) |
| Excluded from the motorcycle class too | For registration and titling, “motorcycle” expressly excludes “mopeds, motorized skateboards, multipurpose vehicles, electric bicycles and off-road recreational vehicles”. The legislature closed the second door as deliberately as the first. | Wyo. Stat. § 31-1-101(a)(xv), (xxix) |
| ⚠ But no statewide rule says where you may ride | We read the whole of Title 31 and found no provision telling you where a motorized skateboard may or may not be operated. The silence is the answer at state level — and it is not the same silence as a state that never wrote anything, because here the device is named three times. | Wyo. Stat. § 31-1-101(a)(xv), (xxix) |
| The decision sits with your town | Local authorities are expressly empowered to make rules “regulating persons upon skates, coasters, sleds, <b>motorized skateboards</b> and other toy vehicles”. That is where the answer lives in Wyoming, and this page does not cover municipal ordinances. | Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-... |
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
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Wyo. Stat. § 31-1-101(a)(xv), (xxix) — Definitions — motor vehicle, motorized skateboard.
Official source, read 2026-09-23.
Read from the Wyoming Legislature’s own PDF of Title 31 (542 pages). -
Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-... — Powers of local authorities — toy vehicles.
Official source, read 2026-09-23.
Same consolidation. The grant of local power lists the motorized skateboard among “toy vehicles”; we quote it because it is the only place in the title that says anything about operating one.
Every source on this page is the text as published by the legislature or the state agency itself. Open them.
How Wyoming 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | Named only | 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, |
| Michigan | Regulated | “A person less than 19 years of age operating an electric skateboard shall wear a crash he | “An electric skateboard must not be operated at a speed of m |
| New York | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Texas | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Washington | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Florida | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Ontario | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Arizona | Named only | no rule naming the device | — |
| Georgia | Unaddressed | 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 |
| British Columbia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Colorado | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Pennsylvania | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alberta | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Illinois | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| North Carolina | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Virginia | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Missouri | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Iowa | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Connecticut | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Nova Scotia | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Manitoba | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| New Brunswick | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Prince Edward Island | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Maine | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| New Hampshire | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Vermont | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Delaware | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Montana | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
| Rhode Island | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| North Dakota | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| West Virginia | Prohibited | 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. California · Michigan · New York · Texas
Questions this raises
Are electric skateboards legal in Wyoming?
A statute defines the device and takes it out of the vehicle code, but no provision says where it may be ridden or under what conditions. The silence is the answer, and it is not the same silence as a state that never wrote anything at all. Wyoming does the opposite of every other state we have read. Everywhere else the skateboard falls INTO the definition of a motor vehicle and is trapped by a registration it cannot obtain. Wyoming writes it OUT of that definition by name — and then writes no statewide rule for it at all, handing the question to local authorities.
Do I need a helmet in Wyoming?
No rule naming this device addresses helmets in the sources we have read for Wyoming. Your municipality may have one.
How fast am I allowed to go in Wyoming?
No speed limit specific to this device appears in the sources we have read for Wyoming.
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.