If an e-scooter is on a 12-year-old’s wish list this year, Ohio lawmakers just complicated the shopping. Senate Bill 477, introduced October 7, 2026 by Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus), would bar anyone under 14 from operating an e-bike or an e-scooter.
It’s a proposal, nothing more yet. Neither chamber has voted, and the House version hasn’t been filed. TiffinOhio.net first laid out the package, and the bill text is on the Ohio Legislature’s site.
What SB 477 would change
Right now the floor is 16 for Class 3 e-bikes (pedal assist up to 28 mph) and for renting a scooter. Helmets are required only on Class 3. The bill moves all of that.
| Rule | Today | Under SB 477 as introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum age to operate | 16 for Class 3 | 14 for any e-bike or e-scooter; 14 and 15 stay off Class 3 |
| Renting an e-scooter | 16 | 18 |
| Renting an e-bike | Not addressed here | Barred under 18, including renting for a minor |
| Helmets | Class 3 only | Every e-bike rider and passenger, every e-scooter rider |
Helmets would have to meet Consumer Product Safety Commission or ASTM standards.
Passengers, speed and classroom changes
- Passengers: nobody under 18 could carry one on an e-bike or e-scooter. Riders 18 to 20 could not carry a child under 12. A person under 16 could still ride along on a Class 3 built for passengers.
- Scooter speed: 20 mph on roads and in bike lanes, 10 mph on shared paths, 5 mph on sidewalks.
- E-bike speed: with the motor running, 10 mph on authorized shared-use paths.
- Education: safe-sharing material on e-bikes and e-scooters would go into driver education and the license exam. DeMora’s argument is that people who never held a license may not know basics like wrong-way riding or sidewalk rules.
Registration and penalties
Six months after the law takes effect, an e-bike or e-scooter could not be ridden on a public road or highway without a Bureau of Motor Vehicles registration. The fee is $25. The sticker lists the county and a serial number, and the text includes no renewal.
Riding an unregistered device would be a minor misdemeanor. A repeat offense within a year becomes a fourth-degree misdemeanor. After two or more earlier convictions, a court could impound the device for up to 30 days and charge storage of up to $5 a day.
Where it stands
Legislators are on break until the November election is over, and the current General Assembly ends in December 2026. Anything unfinished by then has to be filed again. Reports mention spring 2027 as a target.
Rep. Eric Synenberg (D-Beachwood) plans a separate House bill in the coming weeks. His stated aim is to set guardrails, not to keep Ohioans off these devices.
The push has an injury backdrop. Consumer Product Safety Commission figures put kids aged 11 to 14 at close to four in ten e-bike and e-scooter injuries among children nationwide. And Akron Children’s Hospital had already exceeded its injury count for all of 2025 by mid-July 2026.
My read
SB 477 goes well past the single-issue idea in the earlier Ohio helmet proposal. It stacks age floors, helmets, speed caps, registration and rental limits into one package. That’s why I’d expect it to change before anyone votes on it.
The age floor and the helmet rule are the easy parts to defend. Fourteen is a sensible line, and a helmet costs far less than the injuries the numbers describe. Other states are circling the same ground. Illinois set age and license rules for 2027, and New York City bills target Class 3 directly.
Registration is the piece I’d watch. Twenty-five dollars once is small. The harder question is enforcement: a police officer can spot a missing helmet, but checking a sticker on a bike moving along a bike lane is another matter. Plenty of Ohio riders on Class 1 commuter bikes would be pulled in by the same rule as the fastest teen-ridden machines.
I’d also note that the bill is tied to the standard class definitions. Ohio’s law describes e-bikes with motors under 750 watts and assist that cuts off at 20 mph (Class 1 and 2) or 28 mph (Class 3). Our guide to e-bike speed limits by class covers the differences. A 3,000-watt machine sold as an e-bike doesn’t fit those categories, so I’d skip it no matter what happens in Columbus.
What I’d do now
- Parents of kids 13 and under: don’t buy a motorized scooter or e-bike on the assumption it will stay legal to ride. Wait for the House bill and the fall session.
- Parents of 14 and 15 year olds: a Class 3 is already off the table under today’s age 16 rule. Class 1 or 2 is the realistic option, with a certified helmet from day one.
- Owners: find your serial number and write it down. If registration passes, you’ll need it.
- Everyone: check your city. Suburbs have been rewriting their own teen e-bike rules, and local limits can bite before state law does.
On state land, rules already depend on class. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources allows all three classes on its roads. Class 1 and 2 may use paved or gravel trails meant for bicycles. Class 1 is the only class allowed on natural-surface trails where bikes are permitted, and Scioto Trail State Forest bans e-bikes outright. SB 477 doesn’t rewrite those rules, as far as the introduced text shows.
Still unknown
- What the House bill will contain, and whether the two chambers will agree.
- Whether bikes people already own would face the same registration deadline.
- How police would enforce registration and the shared-path speed caps.
- Whether anything passes before December 2026, or the whole effort restarts in 2027.
Until a vote happens, today’s Ohio rules still apply.
Photo: A bill to be entitled "An act to tax, fund, and limit the currency." – DPLA – be93d939a8a1 by Confederate States of America. Congress. House of Representatives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped.
