electric dirtsurfer legality?

[jatgm1]

i recently purchased and learned to ride a "dirtsurfer". it is a board that consists of two 20" bicycle wheels, the front wheel able to move horizontally 15 degrees. if i put a hub motor in this, is it illegal? please note, im not asking if it is specifically legal. i just want to know if i am breaking any laws. let us assume i follow all laws electric bicycles follow. also where can i find information regarding electric skateboards legallity? im in mahopac new york by the way.

***by the way, it took me two weeks to find a dirt surfer. two weeks, like three calls per day, using the wayback machine's archive to look for numbers from downed sites, to find it. this is the only number i found, and i put it on here because i want to save people the hassle.8575261780

 

[amberwolf]

It's up to your state, county, and municipality / city, so you'd need to check with each one of those to see what they say.

Plus some cities have local street-by-street sign-based ordinances allowing or prohibiting things, so you would need to pay attention all the time for those, too.


Some places define a bicycle with pedals and certain numbers and sizes of wheels, or even requiring a saddle (makng recumbents illegal), etc.

Some places define certain types of non-car vehicles as toys, and forbid them anywhere on public sidewalks or roads or paths, and/or forbid motorizing them, etc.

So you have to check your specific laws in your area. Some places have them online, at their ".gov" sites, some you have to go to a library to read up on them, some you may even need a lawyer to interpret them cuz they get so convoluted.

 

[izeman]

In Austria you would be fine as long as you don't exceed 25km/h 600w and follow all other bike laws (2 brakes, lights...).
So laws differ a lot from country to country.

 

[nutnspecial]

http://motor-assisted-bicycling.1062526.n5.nabble.com/Motorized-Bicycle-Laws-A-List-of-Gov-t-Sites-td5552249.html

Dirtsurfer- will have to check that out!

From what I understand states do not go more stringent than the federal law(on this subject-not NY vs soda or guns). They sometimes allow more leeway though.
So even to ascertain the statutes for skateboards and scooters at a federal level should give you an idea.

 

[gogo]

The feds are usually mostly about commerce, while the states and locals regulate use. The legality issue gets sticky when any of the three enact and then try to enforce unconstitutional laws. The local laws and enforcement are most vulnerable to error, especially the officer who is the last one in the sequence before it becomes your problem.

My city code prohibits bicycles from two of our streets in direct violation of our state constitution. The issue has been clarified by the state attorney general in an opinion involving another city, but my city chooses to ignore its error. This places the onus upon some citizen to suffer a confrontation with police and then to be the one to challenge the authorities all the way to the state supreme court.

 

[jatgm1]

okay, i did googleing. its not a bicycle.
102 - Bicycle. Every two or three wheeled device upon which a person
or persons may ride, propelled by human power through a belt, a chain or
gears, with such wheels in a tandem or tricycle, except that it shall
not include such a device having solid tires and intended for use only
on a sidewalk by pre-teenage children.
no belt chain or gear
its not a skateboard
140-c - Skate board. A manufactured or assembled device consisting of
a platform having a pair of small wheels near the front and another pair
at the rear mounted or permanently attached thereto, for skating or
gliding by means of human foot and leg power.
it does not have two small pairs of wheels
it is not a roller skate
140-b - Roller skate. A manufactured or assembled device consisting
of a frame or shoe having clamps or straps or both for fastening, with a
pair of small wheels near the toe and another pair at the heel mounted
or permanently attached thereto, for skating or gliding by means of
human foot and leg power.
no foot straps or clamps
it is not an inline skate
140-a -in-line skate. A manufactured or assembled device consisting
of an upper portion that is intended to be secured to a human foot, with
a frame or chassis attached along the length of the bottom of such upper
portion, with such frame or chassis holding two or more wheels that are
longitudinally aligned and used to skate or glide, by means of human
foot and leg power while having such device attached to each such foot
or leg.
"Brake" shall mean a part which is secured to an in-line skate, as
defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section three hundred
ninety-one-m of the general business law and intended to enable the user
to control his or her speed and/or come to a stop.
"Warning instruction" shall mean a label, hang-tag, shield or plate
with substantially the following notice printed in clear and conspicuous
type: "WARNING! REDUCE THE RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY, AND ONLY USE THESE
SKATES WHILE WEARING FULL PROTECTIVE GEAR - HELMET, WRIST GUARDS, ELBOW
PADS, AND KNEE PADS."
also not secured to the foot with straps or clamps

it is not legally defined or allowed or not allowed. there are no laws that ban it. can anyone find the legal definition of mini bike in new york? i cant.

 

[nutnspecial]

Sounds like the legislation wrote themselves into a corner?

Pretty freakin cool.
Definitely not a minibike.
You're ahead of the curve?

If I rode one I would find the closest acceptable associative ordinance/statute and at minimal appear to abide by it. Then you're as golden as possible for where you are living.

I strive to be in 'small town' usa, where so much hasn't been governed yet to 'protect us from ourselves' (ie non-victim 'crimes'). Get away from 90% of the us population with the related *apparent needed governance on the coasts and you'll see alot less taxes and headaches.

 

[jatgm1]

silly police.

 

[amberwolf]

FWIW, whenever you ride a vehicle that's not specifically defined as legal, you run the risk of someone picking on you as the example case....

Here in AZ, it's not uncommon for people riding motorized bicycles (usually gassers) to be picked on for "the big three": no license, registration, or insurance. This usually happens when they ride faster than 20MPH, which is the way they define a limit on motor assist here (rather than power or anything else, you can have whatever you want for electrics as long as you "operate" it below 20MPH....though gassers are limited in cylinder size, too). In Tucson, they pick on them when they ride just 1MPH faster than that limit.

It's why even my crazy creations get left alone...because I ride them below 20MPH, and still have all the other things that define a bicycle here in AZ (which isn't much, compared to some places).


As long as you ride safely and courteously and respect others on the path or road, and you're not expressly forbidden from being there, ti's pretty likely you'd be left alone in a lot of places.

In NY, though...they seem to like to pick on motorized stuff, so you run a greater risk.

 

[jatgm1]

my question was simply if there was a law forbiding what i was riding from the road for any reason or if it fit into any category that was illegal. if its not illegal then ill take it to court if they wanna make an issue. itll be dropped. and if they pass a law against it afterward, ill find another work around.

 

[nutnspecial]

This video had a big impact on how I think about the law system. Maybe it's all bull and my understanding is skewed?
You'll be fine with the awesome ride. The key is don't allow yourself to be a target (which you already know), cuz you 'can't fight city hall' imo. Sorry that's all I can offer!
[youtube]O6ayb02bwp0[/youtube]