Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1272 · Article 34-C. Operation of Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Devices
Operating electric personal assistive mobility devices
Text — Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
§ 1272. Operating electric personal assistive mobility devices. 1. No electric personal assistive mobility device shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which such device is designed and equipped. No person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device shall carry any person as a passenger in a pack fastened to the operator or fastened to such device.
2. No person shall operate an electric personal assistive mobility device outside during the period of time between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise unless such person is wearing readily visible reflective clothing or material which is of a light or bright color.
3. No person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device shall carry any package, bundle or article which prevents the operator from keeping at least one hand upon the handle bars or which obstructs his or her vision in any direction.
4. Every person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device shall yield the right of way to pedestrians and motor vehicles.
5. Every operator of an electric personal assistive mobility device shall be sixteen years of age or older.
6. No person shall operate an electric personal assistive mobility device in a state park or historic site.
7. If the governing body of any county not wholly included within a city, city with a population of less than one million, town or village shall authorize the use of electric personal assistive mobility devices upon any sidewalk, such authorization shall not permit the operation thereof at a speed in excess of eight miles per hour. Additionally, if such authorization is granted, no operator of an electric personal assistive mobility device shall overtake a pedestrian on a sidewalk unless there is adequate space for the personal assistive mobility device to pass around the pedestrian and warning is given to such pedestrian through the audible device defined in subdivision two of section twelve hundred seventy-five of this article.
8. A first violation of the provisions of this section shall result in no fine. A second or subsequent violation shall result in a civil fine not to exceed fifty dollars.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
- Official file
- https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/VAT1272
- Text hash
- sha256 60067b98222dbb1074e0f1d1e0e3f5412bb8c60bbe3ee295b511d7158e7a9bbb
- Composed by
- gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.