The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
012
:
OPERATION OF BICYCLES, ELECTRIC PERSONAL ASSISTIVE MOBILITY DEVICES, AND PLAY VEHICLES
(Cite as: 23 V.S.A. § 1136)
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§ 1136. Application of subchapter; rights and obligations of bicyclists under other laws
(a) The parent of any child and the guardian of any ward may not authorize or knowingly
permit any such child or ward to violate any of the provisions of this subchapter.
(b) This subchapter applies whenever a bicycle is operated upon any highway or upon any
path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles, subject to the exceptions stated
in this subchapter.
(c) Every person riding a bicycle is granted all of the rights and is subject to all of
the duties applicable to operators of vehicles, except as to those provisions that:
(1) are inconsistent with provisions that specifically address the rights and duties of
vulnerable users generally or bicyclists specifically; or
(2) by their very nature can have no application.
(d)(1) Except as provided in this subsection, motor-assisted bicycles shall be governed as
bicycles under Vermont law, and operators of motor-assisted bicycles shall be subject
to all of the rights and duties applicable to bicyclists under Vermont law. Motor-assisted
bicycles and their operators shall be exempt from motor vehicle registration and inspection
and operator’s license requirements. A person shall not operate a motor-assisted bicycle
on a sidewalk in Vermont.
(2) A person under 16 years of age shall not operate a motor-assisted bicycle on a highway
in Vermont.
(3) Nothing in this subsection shall interfere with the right of municipalities to regulate
the operation and use of motor-assisted bicycles pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 2291(1) and (4), as long as the ordinances do not conflict with this subsection. (Added 1971, No. 258 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. March 1, 1973; amended 2015, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 44, 57; 2017, No. 132 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 2025, No. 18, § 42, eff. May 13, 2025.)