What's happening
This bill exempts hoverboards and electric unicycles from the definition of "motor vehicle," sets safety requirements, and increases oversight for fire hazards.
Why it matters
Clarifies legal status and local control. By exempting hoverboards and electric unicycles from the definition of “motor vehicle,” the bill allows local governments more flexibility to regulate (or restrict) their use, meaning rules could vary significantly between cities and towns.
Mandates youth safety gear. The law requires anyone under 18 using a hoverboard or electric unicycle to wear a helmet, knee pads, and wrist guards, aiming to reduce injury risks but potentially increasing barriers to use for young riders.
Establishes penalties and enforcement. Reckless operation of these devices becomes a traffic infraction, with fines set for both reckless use and for minors not wearing protective gear, signaling a move to treat their misuse similarly to bike or scooter infractions.
Targets fire hazards and market accountability. The bill creates a system for tracking and publicizing devices that catch fire or explode, including fines and eventual sales bans for manufacturers or retailers with repeated incidents. This could influence which products remain available in New York and push for higher safety standards industry-wide.
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Headline styles
Exclude Hoverboards From Motor Vehicles
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Recommit, enacting clause stricken
- Referred to transportation
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Exclude Hoverboards as Motor Vehicles
In Assembly Committee · Transportation · Sponsor David Weprin
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
332
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 4, 2017
Introduced by Sen. PERALTA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to exempting hoverboards and electric unicycles from the definition of "motor vehicle"; and to amend the executive law, in relation to directing the consumer protection division to monitor incidents of hoverboards and electric unicycles that explode or ignite
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding two new sections 114-e and 119-c to read as follows:
§ 114-e. Electric unicycle. Every device, having a single wheel on a single axle, not exceeding twenty-seven inches in height and not equipped with handlebars, designed to transport one person by means of an electric propulsion system and having a maximum speed, when propelled solely by its electric propulsion system, not in excess of twenty miles an hour. An electric unicycle shall not be deemed to be an electric personal assistive mobility device.
§ 119-c. Hoverboard. Every self-balancing device, having two or more wheels on a single axle, not exceeding twelve inches in height, exclusive of any leg pad and/or bar, and not equipped or designed to be equipped with handle bars, designed to transport one person by means of an electric propulsion system and having a maximum speed, when propelled solely by its electric propulsion system, not in excess of twenty miles an hour. A hoverboard shall not be deemed to be an electric personal assistive mobility device.
§ 2. Section 125 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter 365 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
§ 125. Motor vehicles. Every vehicle operated or driven upon a public highway which is propelled by any power other than muscular power,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00146-01-7
S. 332 2
except (a) electrically-driven mobility assistance devices operated or driven by a person with a disability, (a-1) electric personal assistive mobility devices operated outside a city with a population of one million or more, (b) vehicles which run only upon rails or tracks, (c) snowmobiles as defined in article forty-seven of this chapter, [and] (d) all terrain vehicles as defined in article forty-eight-B of this chapter, (e) hoverboards, and (f) electric unicycles. For the purposes of title four of this chapter, the term motor vehicle shall exclude fire and police vehicles other than ambulances. For the purposes of titles four and five of this chapter the term motor vehicles shall exclude farm type tractors and all terrain type vehicles used exclusively for agricultural purposes, or for snow plowing, other than for hire, farm equipment, including self-propelled machines used exclusively in growing, harvesting or handling farm produce, and self-propelled caterpillar or crawler-type equipment while being operated on the contract site.
§ 3. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new article 34-D to read as follows:
ARTICLE 34-D
ELECTRIC UNICYCLES AND HOVERBOARDS Section 1280. Electric unicycles and hoverboards; local regulation.
1281. Protective gear; persons under eighteen years of age.
1282. Reckless operation prohibited.
§ 1280. Electric unicycles and hoverboards; local regulation. 1. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision two of this section, no provision of this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit the governing body of any county, city, town or village from regulating the use and operation of electric unicycles and/or hoverboards, including the operation thereof on any public highway where there is no adjoining sidewalk or shoulder.
2. No provision of this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit the use and operation of electric unicycles and hoverboards in a public park.
§ 1281. Protective gear; persons under eighteen years of age. 1. No person less than eighteen years of age shall operate an electric unicycle or hoverboard unless such person is wearing a helmet, knee pads and wrist guards meeting standards established by the commissioner.
2. For the purposes of this section, wearing a helmet means having a helmet of good fit fastened securely upon the head with the helmet straps.
3. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall pay a civil fine not to exceed fifty dollars.
§ 1282. Reckless operation prohibited. 1. For purposes of this section, "reckless operation" means operating an electric unicycle or hoverboard on a public street, highway or sidewalk in such a manner as to endanger the safety or property of another.
2. No person shall engage in the reckless operation of an electric unicycle or hoverboard.
3. A violation of this section shall be a traffic infraction.
§ 4. Section 1800 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new subdivision (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) Every person convicted of a violation of the provisions of section twelve hundred eighty-two of this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars.
§ 5. Section 94-a of the executive law is amended by adding a new subdivision 4-a to read as follows:
4-a. Electric unicycles and hoverboards. The division shall solicit, accept and investigate complaints and reports of any electric unicycle
S. 332 3
or hoverboard sold in this state that explodes or ignites in flames. After the investigation of any such complaint or report the division shall determine whether an explosion or ignition occurred. If an electric unicycle or hoverboard is determined to have exploded or ignited in flames, the division shall post the brand, model, manufacturer and name of the retail seller thereof on its public internet website. The division shall impose a civil penalty of one thousand dollars, upon each manufacturer and retail seller, for each electric unicycle or hoverboard sold in this state which is found to have exploded or ignited in flames; provided, however, that any manufacturer or retail seller which is determined to have sold three or more electric unicycles and/or hoverboards that have exploded or ignited in flames shall be prohibited from selling any electric unicycle or hoverboard in this state.
§ 6. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to exempting hoverboards and electric unicycles from the definition of "motor vehicle"; and to amend the executive law, in relation to directing the consumer protection division to monitor incidents of hoverboards and electric unicycles that explode or ignite
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) to definitively exclude hoverboards and electric unicycles from the definition of a "motor vehicle" under provisions of the VTL. As the operation of a hoverboard or electric unicycle is closely related to that of a skateboard, the bill provide both state and municipal authorities with the ability to create unique sets of regulations pertaining to these devices. Where "motor vehicles" are uniformly subjected to rules of the road prescribed by the VTL, an exemption for hoverboard and electric unicycle devices would allow officials to best address concerns that are inherent only in the operation of these specific products. Nothing in this legislation constricts the ability of State or municipal governments to address operational or safety concerns relative to these devices; quite conversely, it allows these entities to address these issues outside of the blanket regulatory scheme of the VTL as it relates to "motor vehicles" and "electric personal assistive mobility devices."
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law by adding a new Section 119-c and 119-d that defines hoverboards as "every self-balancing device, having two or more wheels on a single axle and not exceeding ten inches in height, designed to transport one person by means of an electric propulsion system and having a maximum speed, when propelled solely by its electric propulsion system, not in excess of twenty miles an hour"; and electric unicycles as "every device, having single wheel on a single axle and not exceeding twenty inches in height, designed to transport one person by means of an electric propulsion system, not in excess of twenty miles an hour." Both definitions clearly indicate that hoverboards and electric unicycles shall not be deemed to be "electric personal assistive mobility device(s)."
Read the full memo (1,196 words)
Section 2 amends Section 125 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law by expressly exempting hoverboards and electric unicycles from the definition of a "motor vehicle."
Section 3 amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law by adding a new Article 34-D titled 'Electric Unicycles and Hoverboards," which includes language pertaining to local regulation and use in public parks, a mandate for protective gear to be worn by users 18 years of age or younger, and a prohibition on the reckless operation of these devices on sidewalks.
Section 4 amends Section 1800 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law by establishing fines for the reckless operation of these devices upon sidewalks.
Section 5 amends Section 94-a of the Executive Law by mandating that the State Department's Division of Consumer Protection will investigate complaints of exploding or igniting hoverboards, as well as maintain a database of these devices known to explode or ignite into flames. The Section further mandates that the Division will fine manufacturers and/or vendors of these devices a civil penalty of $1,000 for each instance where a device sold by them in this State explodes or ignites into flames. Lastly, the Section mandates that upon the third instance of an exploding or igniting device sold by a manufacturer and/or retailer, that entity shall no longer be allowed to distribute these devices in New York.
Section 6 sets forth the effective date of this legislation.
Justification
Recent media reports suggest that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has issued summonses, as well as has potentially made arrests and seizures related to the use of hoverboard devices in New York City. At first, the NYPD took the position that the operation of hoverboards and electric unicycles is illegal in New York City based upon the City's ban on e-bikes, codified at N.Y.C. Admin. Code 19-176.2. However, that particular passage of the Code bans devices containing handlebars, and hoverboards and electric unicycles do not meet this criterion. On its Twitter account, the NYPD then took the position that hoverboards are "motor vehicles" as defined by the New York State VTL and are illegal for use because they cannot be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Outside of New York City, municipalities ought not be subjected to a 'one size fits all' approach to the regulation of hoverboards and electric unicycles; rather, similar to skateboards, it is sensible to allow municipalities to develop regulations relative to their local operation and safety measures. While hoverboards and electric unicycles ought not be operated in busy city streets, it is the case that suburban and rural areas of the State may wish to address safe operation where sidewalks are unavailable. The Sponsor further contends that the use of these devices in public parks is sensible. Finally, nothing in this legislation prevents the State from instituting its own safety and operational measures relative to these unique devices.
Relative to the safe use of hoverboards and electric unicycles, it is important that riders aged eighteen years or younger be required to wear protective gear when operating these devices, including helmets, knee pads and wrist guards. Additionally, this legislation seeks to remedy concerns regarding the unsafe operation of these devices on sidewalks by establishing Statewide penalties for the "reckless operation" of hoverboards and electric unicycles. Akin to skateboarding and in-line skating rules already on the book in New York City, persons operating these devices in a manner that endangers the safety or property of another will face a fine of $50-100.
To address recent reports of hoverboard devices that explode or ignite into flames, the legislation seeks to empower the State Department's Division of Consumer Protection with the ability to investigate complaints of these occurrences, as well as devise a database that catalogs these incidents. This information will be available to the public on the Division's website. Retailers and manufacturers who are found to have distributed a device that explodes or ignites into flames will face a civil penalty of $1,000 for each violation. On a third violation, those retailers and manufacturers will lose the ability to sell hoverboards and electric unicycles in New York State.
In order to effectuate safety policy that is successful in addressing the challenges posed by these new technologies, it is proper to note that hoverboards and electric unicycles should not be included in the definition of "motor vehicles" that is currently contained in the VTL. There is no evidence to suggest that an all-out ban on hoverboards or electric unicycles is in the public interest. Further, no party has argued that the DMV should institute a registration scheme that encompasses hoverboard and electric unicycle devices. Commonsense dictates that safety regulations promulgated by the State or its municipal subdivisions, and specifically tailored to the address both the benefits and harms of these technologies, is the logical next step forward.
Prior legislative history
2015-2016 - S6260A
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.