March 19, 2025
Until the summer of 2024, the State of Illinois did not regulate electric or self-propelled scooters. Adults and children were generally permitted to operate scooters on roadways, highways, and sidewalks, subject only to local regulation.
That all changed on August 9, 2024, when Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 103-0899 (“Statute”), which amended the Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/1-1 et seq. (“Vehicle Code”) to impose new regulations on certain types of low-speed electric scooters. However, the Statute leaves unregulated high-speed electric scooters and self-propelled scooters. The intent of the Statute has confounded many municipal and public safety officials, and the Statute’s provisions present regulatory and enforcement challenges.
I. The Statute – Regulation of Low-Speed Electric Scooters
The Statute adopts operational regulations only on “low-speed electric scooters,” defined as follows:
“A device weighing less than 100 pounds, with 2 or 3 wheels, handlebars, and a floorboard that can be stood upon while riding, that is solely powered by an electric motor and human power, and whose maximum speed, with or without human propulsion, is no more than 10 miles per hour. ‘Low-speed electric scooter’ does not include a moped or motor-driven cycle.”
625 ILCS 5/1-140.11 (emphasis added). The Statute imposes the following restrictions on the drivers of low-speed electric scooters:
- Operators of low-speed electric scooters must be 18 years old or older;
- Operators of low-speed electric scooters may not ride on streets with a posted speed limit over 35 miles per hour or on State highways;
- Nobody operating a low-speed electric scooter may carry a package, bundle, or article that prevents them from keeping at least one hand on the handlebars;
- Only one person may ride a low-speed electric scooter at a time;
- Low-speed electric scooters cannot be attached to another vehicle on the public right-of-way (so, for example, you cannot tie the low-speed electric scooter to a car); and
- Nobody may operate a low-speed electric scooter while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
625 ILCS 5/11-1518. The Statute also imposes the following minimum equipment requirements for low-speed electric scooters:
- Low-speed electric scooters must be equipped with a lamp on the front that emits a white light visible from a distance of at least 500 feet, and a red reflector on the rear that is visible from 100 feet to 600 feet;
- Low-speed electric scooters must be equipped with a brake in good operating condition; and
- Low-speed electric scooters may not be equipped with sirens, except when used by a municipality as police or fire department vehicles (highly unlikely, given these scooters are defined to only include scooters that go no faster than 10 miles per hour).
Id.
There has been controversy since the Statute was passed.
One criticism of the Statute is that it prohibits anybody under the age of 18 from operating low-speed electric scooters. Yet, one of the primary users of low-speed electric scooters are children. Thus, the General Assembly has placed on local law enforcement the responsibility of issuing tickets to children. While municipal law enforcement officials maintain their broad enforcement discretion, the Statute’s purpose on this point remains unclear.
Another criticism is that the Statute leaves unregulated electric scooters that go faster than 10 miles per hour. Some high-speed electric scooters can go more than 25 miles per hour. Therefore, the risk of injury may be significant in the event of an accident, yet the Statute ignores this potential public safety risk.
II. Municipal Authority to Regulate Scooters
Both home rule and non-home rule municipalities have authority to enforce the Statute’s regulations on low-speed electric scooters, just as they have authority to enforce most other regulations of the Vehicle Code. In addition, the Statute provides municipalities the authority to adopt their own regulations on low-speed electric scooters that are “not inconsistent” with the Statute. 625 ILCS 5/11-208.2 & 11-1518(a). Therefore, municipalities can adopt restrictions that are at least as restrictive or more restrictive than the Statute, but not less. So, for example, a municipality could adopt a local rule prohibiting the use of low speed electric scooters by anybody under the age of 17, rather than 18 as provided in the Statute. Adopting local regulations also permits municipalities to enforce low-speed electric scooter regulations as a local ordinance violation and adjudicate the violation through a municipality’s administrative hearing system if they have one.
In considering whether to adopt local ordinances governing low-speed electric scooters, a municipality should carefully consider where it desires to allow scooters to operate and what age groups the regulations should apply to. That said, in the event a municipality desires to specifically allow electric scooters on certain public rights-of-way (such as a bike path), it may be obligated to maintain those rights-of-way in a manner that is safe for electric scooters. Section 3-102 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act provides municipalities with a duty to “exercise ordinary care to maintain its property in a reasonably safe condition for the use in the exercise of ordinary care of people whom the entity intended and permitted to use the property.” 745 ILCS 10/3-102. So, for example, if a municipality is going to permit the use of electric scooters on bike paths within the municipality, the municipality must maintain those bike paths in a manner that is reasonably safe for electric scooter use.
Please contact Hannah Saed at hannah.saed@elrodfriedman.com or any Elrod Friedman LLP attorney with any questions.