Is Electric Bicycle Legal In Nyc

Effective april 2020 the law allows people to operate bicycles with electric assist e bikes on some streets and highways in new york state.

Is electric bicycle legal in nyc.

The e bike bill was approved by the state senate earlier this week. Class c motorized bikes. Electric bicycles may not be ridden on any street highway. The state of new york does not allow registration of electric bikes.

New york state lawmakers have struck a deal to legalize electric bicycles and scooters in the closing days of the legislative session a move that sounds the death knell for the city s. E bikes that qualify as motor assisted bicycles or tricycles have pedals that are fully operable a motor with a power output of no more than 1000w and a maximum speed of 20 mph. The state of new york ny defines an electric bike as a bike with a small motor attached. The state of new york has actually banned e bikes from being used on the streets and of course sidewalks so it is currently illegal to use them on public roads.

New york legalized electric bikes and scooters after nearly a decade of unfairly cracking down on immigrant food delivery workers. Electric scooters and electric bikes were already legal in new jersey. Effective august 2 2020 the law allows people to operate electric scooters e scooters and bicycles with electric assist e bikes on some streets and highways in new york state. Operating an electric scooter or bicycle with electric assist.

But it took months of discussion and a lot of compromise before lawmakers in the state capital of albany would pass a bill lifting the ban on throttle based scooters and bikes finally. The budget would create three classes of bikes and require riders. Under vermont law electric bicycles are subject to the same laws as traditional bicycles. New york governor andrew cuomo in january approved the legalization of electric bicycles and scooters across the state but excluded the manhattan island from any shared app based scooter programs.

However ny general municipal law section 180 6 states that ny municipalities can regulate bike riding on sidewalks. Cuomo proposed a revised e bike bill after vetoing a similar bill in december with the main objections being a helmet requirement and different definition needed for class 3 bikes. Cuomo s bill also gives local governments the right to establish additional regulations including a lower maximum speed and banning e bikes and e. You could see them zipping around in hoboken just across the hudson river from nyc.

To meet the class c specifications in new york your bike must have a top speed of 20 mph or less on level ground.