New Montana Law Aims To Regulate Use Of Electric Scooters
 | Author:
Phoebe Tollefson, Montana Free Press
Montana Free Press |
New Montana Law Aims to Regulate Use of Electric Scooters
Phoebe Tollefson
Montana Free Press
This article by Phoebe Tollefson was originally published in the Montana Free Press on July 29, 2025. It is published here courtesy of the Montana Free Press. https://montanafreepress.org/2025/07/29/new-montana-law-aims-to-regulate-use-of-electric-scooters-similar-devices/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newspack%20Newsletter%20%28250055%29&utm_source=2
The State gets current with new rules for ‘seatless’ rides previously unauthorized on public roadways.
For the first time this year, anyone cruising around the state on an electric scooter will be doing so with the blessing of the Montana Legislature.
Guidelines for the devices and other seatless rides, such as electric unicycles and skateboards, were written into law this spring with the passage of HB 588. The changes take effect Oct. 1.
Rep. Neil Duram, R-Eureka, carried the bill after seeing a boy around town riding his “one-wheeled wonder,” which Duram described as a motorized unicycle equipped with a headlight and taillight. (Electric unicycles have only a wheel and foot platforms — no seat or post. Riders lean forward and backward to control the speed.)
Despite following traffic laws, the boy was riding illegally, Duram said, since seatless devices like his hadn’t been authorized on public roadways.
“I suspect your community has a kid just about like him,” Duram said. “This really is his transportation.”
Duram said the same applies to many people who have lost their driving privileges due to drunken driving. As the Eureka police chief and a former Montana Highway Patrol trooper, he’s seen it first-hand.
Larry Flynn, deputy director at the Montana Department of Transportation, said that while HB 588 “brings us current” with the range of products available today, the technology is always evolving.
“Even by next [legislative] session, you never know what might emerge that will need to be addressed separately,” Flynn said.
No special license is required to ride an electric scooter or other seatless device. For mopeds and motorcycles, riders must obtain a motorcycle endorsement on their driver’s license.
Under the new law, riders of motorized scooters or similar devices must obey all traffic laws and have white headlights and red taillights affixed to either the device or to the rider’s body or helmet. Riders younger than 18 years must wear a helmet.
Motorized devices are not allowed on sidewalks unless the motor is off and they are being pedaled or pushed along. Riders must yield to pedestrians. Cities may enact their own sidewalk bans.
The new law states that the power source for motorized seatless devices “may not be capable of propelling the device at a speed exceeding 30 miles an hour on a level surface.”
Some products available today are faster than that, but it’s not clear how law enforcement will treat those devices. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
Bozeman and Great Falls have both hosted scooter rental programs in recent years.
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