Electric Scooter Laws in Tennessee: Age, Equipment, and Where to Ride

Electric scooter laws in Tennessee treat stand-up electric scooters more like bicycles than cars. You don’t need a driver’s license, registration, or insurance to ride one, but you do have to be old enough to drive, stay under 15 mph, follow the same traffic laws as a vehicle, and keep off sidewalks unless the motor is off. Local cities can add rules on top of that.

What Counts as an Electric Foot Scooter

Tennessee Code Section 55-8-301 defines an “electric foot scooter” as a device that weighs less than 100 pounds, has two or three wheels with handlebars and a floorboard built for standing, and runs on an electric motor, human power, or both. Its top speed on a flat, paved surface cannot exceed 20 mph.¹

A device that weighs more than 100 pounds or can go faster than 20 mph falls outside this category and may be regulated as a motorcycle, moped, or motor-driven cycle, which brings in titling, registration, and licensing requirements. The statute specifically excludes electric foot scooters from the definition of “motor-driven cycle.”¹

No License, Registration, or Insurance Required

Under the amended Section 55-8-302, electric foot scooters are exempt from the Tennessee Financial Responsibility Law (the mandatory auto-insurance statute), the Uniform Classified and Commercial Driver License Act, and the titling and registration requirements in Chapters 3 and 4 of Title 55.¹ You can legally ride one with nothing in your pocket but ID.

The missing insurance mandate is worth sitting with for a moment. If you injure someone or damage property, you pay out of pocket. Some homeowners or renters policies cover scooter liability, but many insurers classify powered scooters as motor vehicles and exclude them, and policies that do cover scooters can deny claims if the device has been modified for extra speed. Call your insurer before you start riding regularly.

Age and Speed Limits

Two numbers trip up casual riders. Section 55-8-306(d) caps operating speed at 15 mph and bars anyone younger than the minimum age to drive a motor vehicle under Chapter 50 of the Tennessee Code from riding at all.¹

Note the gap between what a scooter can do and what you may do. The definition allows a scooter built to hit 20 mph to still qualify, but the riding rule limits you to 15 mph on any road, path, or trail. Most rental scooters are already software-limited. If you own one, know that going above 15 mph is a violation.

Because Tennessee issues learner’s permits at 15 (with a supervising adult) and intermediate restricted licenses at 16, the practical floor for riding an electric foot scooter on your own is 16. Rental companies often set their own minimum at 18 through the rental agreement.

Where You Can Ride

Electric foot scooters may go anywhere bicycles can: streets, bike lanes, shoulders, and paths or trails designated for bicycle use.¹ On the road, ride with traffic and stay as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge. Motorists passing you must leave at least three feet of clearance.

Sidewalks are the catch. You cannot ride a scooter on a sidewalk unless the local government or state agency with jurisdiction has authorized bicycle use on that sidewalk and you disable the electric motor. Riding on a sidewalk with the motor engaged is a Class C misdemeanor, even where bicycles are otherwise welcome.¹ Parking on a sidewalk is fine as long as you don’t block pedestrian movement.

Local governments and state agencies can also close specific paths and trails to scooters when they decide public safety requires it, and they can restrict scooters on roadways to the same extent they restrict bicycles.

Traffic Laws, DUI, and Penalties

While riding on a roadway, you have the same rights and duties as the driver of a vehicle. Stop signs, traffic signals, lane markings, turn signals — all of it applies, and you’re subject to the traffic-offense provisions in Chapters 8 and 10 of Title 55.² A traffic violation on a scooter is a Class C misdemeanor.

Keep at least one hand on the handlebars. No more than two riders may travel side by side. Carrying a passenger is prohibited unless the scooter is specifically designed and equipped for more than one person, which rules out essentially every rental.

Chapter 10 includes DUI. Riding a scooter while intoxicated exposes you to the same criminal charges as driving a car drunk: jail time, fines, mandatory alcohol safety coursework, and a one-year driver’s license suspension even though no license was needed to ride.¹ A scooter rented outside a Broadway bar is treated as a vehicle for DUI purposes.

Equipment and Helmets

Section 55-8-177 applies the same equipment standards to scooters as to bicycles:

A front-facing white lamp visible from at least 500 feet, required for any nighttime use.
A red rear reflector or red rear lamp visible from at least 500 feet.
A braking system capable of stopping the scooter within 25 feet from 10 mph on dry, level, clean pavement.³

Rental scooters generally meet these out of the box. Private owners should check the braking distance in particular, since cheap friction brakes degrade quickly.

Tennessee requires anyone under 16 to wear a properly fitted and fastened helmet when riding a bicycle on any highway, street, or sidewalk, and because scooter riders fall under the same rules as cyclists, the mandate extends to scooters.⁴ Riders 16 and older are not required to wear one. Since 16 is also the practical minimum riding age, few independent scooter operators are legally required to helmet up — but wearing one is still the sensible call.

If You’re in an Accident

Tennessee uses modified comparative fault. You can recover damages only if your share of fault is less than 50%, and whatever you recover is reduced by your percentage of blame. A rider found 40% responsible for a crash would see a $50,000 award cut to $30,000. At 50% or more fault, you recover nothing.

Depending on what caused the crash, liability can fall on more than one party:

The rider, for violating traffic laws, riding impaired, or riding recklessly.
A motorist, for failing to yield, running a signal, or passing closer than three feet.
The scooter manufacturer or rental company, if a defect or maintenance failure caused the crash.
A government entity, if a poorly maintained road or known hazard on a public sidewalk caused the accident, under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act.⁵

Violating a local scooter ordinance can itself be used as evidence of negligence in a lawsuit. If a city prohibits scooters on a particular sidewalk and you hit a pedestrian there, the ordinance violation can help establish fault on its own.

Local Rules on Top of State Law

Cities and counties have real authority here. They can prohibit or regulate scooters on any path or trail under their jurisdiction, restrict scooters on roadways to the same extent they restrict bicycles, and set sidewalk rules that go beyond the state baseline.¹

Nashville is the clearest example. The Transportation Licensing Commission runs a shared bike and scooter program that caps fleet size, designates parking corrals, and uses geofencing to enforce slow zones, no-ride zones, and no-parking zones. During major events, the city activates additional geofenced zones that cut off scooter access entirely in certain areas.⁶

Other Tennessee cities with shared programs use similar frameworks. Before riding in any municipality, check that city’s ordinances. Local rules are often tighter than the state baseline, and the fines for violating them vary from place to place.

1
Tennessee General Assembly. Tennessee HB1220 – Electric Foot Scooters
2
Tennessee Department of Transportation. Tennessee Bicycle Laws
3
FindLaw. Tennessee Code 55-8-177 – Lamps and Other Equipment on Bicycles
4
Justia. Tennessee Code 55-52-105 – Child Bicycle Safety Rules
5
University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service. Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act
6
Nashville Metropolitan Government. Shared Bike and Scooter Program