Can You Ride an Electric Tricycle on the Sidewalk? Where You Can & Can't Go on Your ETrike

Can you ride an electric tricycle on the sidewalk? Hey everyone. I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today, we're going to answer the question, Can you ride an electric tricycle on the sidewalk? I've also got three awesome e-trikes here from Sixthreezero. The Folding Easy Transit 750 watt, Reverse Fat Tire 750, and our Simple Glide Fat Tire 750. All right, so many of you may be considering buying an electric trike, or you already have one, and you're wondering if you can ride on the sidewalks. Many people are not comfortable riding in bike lanes, and quite honestly, some cities may not provide bike lanes. The expectation is that bikers, e-bikers, and e-trikers would just ride in the lane like normal car traffic, and for everybody, that's maybe not in their mind safe, and you don't want to do that. Now, I can't speak specifically to whether it's legal to ride and electric trike on every sidewalk in America because what I'm finding is that e-bike legislation now is coming down to the city level. So you need to check with your local police department about your e-bike laws. And I know in California specifically and probably many other cities across the U.S, there are now specific people or a department that's actually dealing with e-bike laws and safety and ticketing, specifically because there are a lot of children now riding e-bikes to school. So it's been important for the police departments to get out there and put education in place and also ticketing because in California, especially the e-bikes are getting really crazy, breaking the rules of the road and causing accidents, not only that are harming themselves, but other people as well. So you'll need to check with your local city.

 I do know that in most cities, if there is a bike lane provided then legally you're not allowed to ride on the sidewalk, but that could be different from city to city. I'm gonna speak to what I know, which is I was just in Carlsbad doing a presentation on e-bikes. The local police force was there, and they do not allow electric trikes to be ridden on the sidewalks there. If that's something you were planning to do, just know that you can't legally do it there. Now, with that said, if it is your personal mobility device and you're using it to get around, there are ADA compliance laws that may cover you because when you have a device that works for you under the ADA laws, you can take that anywhere that you need to go for your personal mobility. I'm not a lawyer, not an expert on these things, but that's what I know, as far as I know. If that is your primary mode of transportation and you drive it into stores and whatnot, I would say I'm fairly certain you could get away with riding on the sidewalks. But I guess the risk, they want to protect people from people speeding down the sidewalks and hitting pedestrians. So check with your local city. 

I guarantee most cities across the country now are putting laws in place, and maybe a lot of them haven't even addressed the sidewalk, so if there's nothing that says you can't, then you can. You can always ride on the paths and bike lanes. Anywhere normal bikes can go, you can go, and of course, you can ride in the street, and you can take up the whole lane in the street if there is no bike lane provided, if that feels safer to you. I know a lot of people don't want to be in the street and if you can't ride on the sidewalk, try to find a good trail bike or somewhere where you can ride so you feel safe and comfortable. I hope that helps. If you have any other knowledge questions or comments on the topic, reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at 310-982-2877. In addition to that, we offer a 30-day test ride, your e-trike policy. If you don't love your e-trike in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked. No money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we warrant everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we take care of it, parts and labor. Also, come for a test ride. We're located in San Clemente, California at 1046 Calle Rocoto, Unit K. Come on out, visit us. Take a test ride before you purchase to ensure you're making the right choice. And lastly, join our community. We have a Facebook group called Sixthreezero Pedalers. There are thousands of members in the group. Join the group before you purchase to talk to existing riders and ensure you're making the right choice. Then when you have yours, post in the group, make friends, and finally download the app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. So thanks for sticking around and don't forget, it's your journey or experience. Enjoy the ride.