new-york-state
Is it Illegal to own operate a hoverboard in New York State?
<p>Some states have strict laws on hoverboards.  Is anyone familiar with how this is handled in New York State?</p>

<p>Is it illegal to ride a hoverboard in the public parks or on bike lanes of public roads where many people ride skateboards?</p>

<p>While it is not illegal to own, it may still be illegal to ride on public property. Private property owners can ban them even if they were legal and need to be consulted individually. I have been unable to find out if new laws spoken about have been passed in New York since the beginning of the year. Based on what I have found (as of the end of 2015), it would be best to consider that they are illegal to use on public areas just as any other unlicensed motor vehicle.</p>

<p>As of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/us/laws-struggle-to-keep-up-as-hoverboards-popularity-soars.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow">November 2015</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Some property owners have banned them for liability reasons, as it is
  easy to see how a rider could trip on a bump or unexpected curb. And
  although they have taken the Upper East Side and other parts of New
  York City by storm, the state classifies them as <a href="http://gothamist.com/2015/11/18/mcfly_and_get_fined.php" rel="nofollow">motorized vehicles
  that cannot be registered</a>, so riding them in public can incur a steep
  fine.</p>
  
  <p>Earlier this week, <a href="http://gothamist.com/2015/11/18/mcfly_and_get_fined.php" rel="nofollow">the NYPD's 26th Precinct tweeted</a>: "Be advised that
  the electric hoverboard is illegal as per NYC Admin. Code 19-176.2*."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/nyregion/new-yorkofficials-seek-to-legalize-hoverboards.html" rel="nofollow">December 2015</a> some lawmakers were talking about making them legal.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.truthorfiction.com/new-hoverboard-law-takes-effect-january-2016/" rel="nofollow">Truth or Fiction Collected on: 12/28/2015</a> gives the following summary</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A spokesperson for the New York City Department of Transportation has
  explained that the law’s definition of “electronic personal assist
  mobility device” was broad enough to include hoverboards, and that
  they would be regulated as such. In NYC, because the population is
  above 1 million people, electronic personal assist device riders must
  be licensed, and the devices must be registered with the New York
  State Department of Motor Vehicles. Hoverboards are illegal, the
  spokesperson said, because the NYSDMV would refuse to register them
  for legal use:</p>
  
  <p>NYSDMV’s position is that these vehicles are likely “Electric personal
  assist mobility devices.” NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law 114-d defines
  “Electric personal assist mobility device” as “Every self-balancing,
  two non-tandem wheeled device designed to transport one person by
  means of an electric propulsion system with an average output of not
  more than seven hundred fifty watts (one horsepower), and the maximum
  speed of which on a paved level surface, when propelled solely by its
  electric propulsion system while ridden by an operator weighing one
  hundred seventy pounds, is less than twelve and one-half miles per
  hour.”</p>
  
  <p>NYS VTL 125 generally defines “motor vehicles” as “Every vehicle
  operated or driven upon a public highway which is propelled by any
  power other than muscular power.” However, VTL 125 specifically
  excludes some classes of vehicles from the definition of “motor
  vehicles.” Under VTL 126(a-1), “electrical personal assistive mobility
  devices operated outside a city with a population of one million or
  more” are not considered motor vehicles.</p>
  
  <p>However, in NYC, because the city population is greater than one
  million, NYSDMV considers “hoverboards” that meet the definition of
  “electric personal assist mobility devices” the same as motor
  vehicles.</p>
  
  <p>Based on that interpretation, it would be illegal to operate a
  hoverboard in NYC without a valid license to drive a motor vehicle.</p>
  
  <p>Beyond that, the motor vehicle would need to be registered by NYSDMV
  (which NYSDMV will not do), inspected, insured, and otherwise treated
  as, and subject to regulation like, any other motor vehicle. A person
  who operates a hoverboard in NYC (or any other NYS city with a
  population greater than a million) would be subject to arrest and
  prosecution for myriad NYS VTL violations, including, but not limited
  to, driving a motor vehicle without valid registration or insurance.</p>
</blockquote>
