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Are Electric Scooters Legal in North Carolina

Posted 1. Oktober 2022 by Logistik-Express in Allgemein

Opening hours All scooters can be driven seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Can scooters be driven on sidewalks? If the sidewalk is part of the street, the requirement also applies that the vehicle must be registered before it can be used on the sidewalk. The term road is generally defined as covering “the entire width between lines of ownership or right of way of any kind or place of any kind, where part of it is open for public use under the law for the purpose of transporting vehicles”. G.S. 20-4.01(13). Therefore, it is generally assumed that this area includes not only the roadway, but also the adjacent sidewalk. See State v. Mabe, 85 N.C. App. 500, 503, (1987) (“By analogy, courts have generally held that a “road” includes not only the roadway and the sections travelled, but also the sidewalks. Statement v. Perry, 230 N.C.

361, 53 p.E.2d 288 (1949) (Barnhill, J., approval). “The sidewalk is simply a part of the street that the city council has reserved for pedestrians.”) Charlotte continues to be a national leader in electric scooters. Learn about the successes of the e-scooter program and the impact it has had since its launch in Charlotte in 2018. The City of Raleigh is reintroducing a dockless electric scooter program in downtown Raleigh. Electric scooters offer cost-effective and convenient rides in the city center. Update. A few people have asked me to explain my conclusion that electric scooters are not mopeds. The term moped is used in G.S. 20-4.01 (27) j defines a vehicle, other than a motorized bicycle or an electrically assisted bicycle, that has two or three wheels, no external gearshift device, an engine that does not exceed 50 cubic centimetres of piston displacement and cannot drive the vehicle at a speed of more than 30 miles per hour on a flat surface. The engine can be powered by electricity, an alternative fuel, fuel or a combination of any.

While an electric scooter meets each of these legal criteria, I am skeptical that the legislature had electric scooters in mind when he wrote this definition. The term “moped,” which precedes the definition, is a term in everyday language that is generally understood to refer to a means of transportation that resembles a motorcycle or motorized bicycle, as it has a seat seat, handlebars, and tires. The inclusion of the exception for motorized bicycles in the legal definition implicitly recognizes this similarity in appearance. I think the discrepancy between the general understanding of the word “moped” and the broadest possible interpretation of its legal definition justifies looking beyond the plain language of the law to focus on the intent of the legislature. See, for example, Staat v. Beck, 359 N.C. 611, 614 (2005) (“[here, a literal interpretation of the language of a law leads to absurd results or violates the obvious objective of the legislature, as expressed elsewhere, the reason and purpose of the law will prevail and the strict letter of the law will be ignored.”) (internal citations omitted). What about driver`s licence requirements? For political reasons, Bird states that its scooters can only be driven by a person who is at least 18 years old and holds a driver`s license. First, corporate policy exceeds the requirements of North Carolina law.

A person must have a license to drive a motor vehicle on a road or highway in North Carolina. Electric scooters seem to meet the definition of “motor vehicle” because they are autonomous vehicles and not mopeds (which do not require a permit) or electrically assisted bicycles. So, if an electric scooter is driven on the road, its driver must hold a license. G.S. 20-7(a). However, there is no government legal requirement that a person must be 18 years of age to drive a motor vehicle. For these very reasons, in State v. Crow, 175 N.C. App. 119, 123-24 (2005), the Court of Appeal rejected the defendant`s argument that the motorized scooter he was driving was an electric personal mobility aid. The first exception applies to a device “designed as a means of transport for a person with reduced mobility or to improve mobility and intended to be used as a means of transport”.

Unlike motorized wheelchairs, standing electric scooters do not seem to be designed for people with reduced mobility. With regard to the use of the device “to improve mobility”, the Court of Appeal rejected the idea that a person without mobility restriction, who drives a motorized scooter for recreational purposes, uses the device to improve mobility within the meaning of G.S. 20-4.01 (49). See State v. Crow, 175 N.C. App. 199, 123-24 (2005). Instead, the Court interpreted “improved mobility” as “closely related” to the concept of “motor impairment” and rejected the argument that the addition of that concept (in a law on technical corrections) had significantly extended the exception for mobility impairments to the concept of vehicle. At the Transportation and Transit Committee meeting on June 25, 2020, staff provided an overview of the survey results and suggested “next steps” to drive the growth and adoption of micromobility in Raleigh. As a result of these discussions, the Committee invited staff to develop a regulation to revise the current definition of motor scooters, provide a new definition of micromobility equipment, and give the City Manager or his representative the authority to develop guidelines for the operation of micromobility equipment and to enter into agreements with micromobility service providers. Council adopted this ordinance to facilitate and facilitate the management of micromobility at the Municipal Council meeting on August 18, 2020. What type of transport is a Bird Roller? Electric scooters are vehicles under North Carolina law.

See G.S. 20-4.01(49) (definition of “vehicle”). These are devices that allow a person to be transported on a highway and are not moved exclusively by human force or used exclusively on fixed rails or tracks. And they don`t seem to meet any of the exceptions to this general definition. Electric scooters cannot be used on downtown sidewalks. If you`re in Uptown, people will have to drive down the area street, which is bordered by Church Street, Stonewall Street, College Street and 7th Street. A contrary interpretation is of course possible. Beyond the broad definition in G.S. 20-4.01 (27) j, one could refer to the wording of the Department of Transport`s recommendations that led to the registration and insurance requirements for mopeds and scooters. However, I don`t think the DOT has thought more about electric scooters than the legislature. Why is this important if Bird Rollers are vehicles? Vehicles intended for use on roads or motorways must first be registered with DMV.

See G.S. 20-50 (a). Several types of vehicles are exempt from this requirement, including agricultural tractors, motorized wheelchairs and electric personal mobility aids. See G.S. 20-51. But none of these exceptions seem to apply to electric scooters. If electric scooters are vehicles and are not exempt from registration requirements, they must be registered to operate legally on North Carolina roads. RALEIGH — North Carolina lawmakers have taken a small first step toward regulating electric scooters as cities struggle to manage scooters and the companies that offer them to the public. The popularity of electric scooters has skyrocketed. It is more important than ever to ensure that we are safe. The definition of moped was amended in 2016 to provide that the engine may run on electricity, alternative fuel and/or fuel and was recoded in Chapter 20.

The specific reference to electric motors could be cited as evidence that electric scooters are part of this definition.

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