E-bikes and e-scooters in France: what’s actually legal

The short answer

France groups scooters, hoverboards, monowheels and gyropods into one legal class: the EDPM.

The numbers that decide it

EDPM requirements under the Code de la route, in force since 1 July 2020.

Where you may ride — and it’s narrower than you think

Inside a built-up area

• Cycle paths and cycle lanes, wherever they exist. Not optional.
• No cycle path? Then roads with a limit of 50 km/h or less.
• Pedestrian zones are permitted, at walking pace (6 km/h), without disturbing anyone.
• Pavements are banned unless the mayor has expressly authorised them — and then at 6 km/h. Otherwise you must get off and carry it.
• Parking on the pavement is allowed if you’re not in anyone’s way — though the mayor may forbid that too.

Outside a built-up area — the part nobody expects

Beyond the town sign, an EDPM may use cycle paths and greenways only. That’s it. Ordinary roads are closed to you, whatever their speed limit.

A local traffic authority may specifically authorise roads up to 80 km/h. Where it has, you must then wear a helmet, wear retro-reflective equipment, and ride with your lights on.

The practical effect: an e-scooter is an urban vehicle in France, full stop. Ride out of town along a country road and you are not simply taking a risk — you are committing an offence, with a €135 fine attached.

What it costs when you get it wrong

The €1,500 figure is a fifth-class offence, and it is by some distance the harshest penalty in Europe for this. It exists because France decided the problem wasn’t the rider’s behaviour, it was the machine — and it went after the machine.

In Paris there’s an extra: parking a self-service scooter is prohibited outright, at €49 plus impound costs.

The insurance gap

This is where most French e-scooter riders are quietly, unknowingly exposed.

An EDPM is a motor vehicle in French law, and third-party liability cover is compulsory — for private scooters and, notably, for self-service rentals too. The cover pays for the damage you do to other people: the pedestrian you hit, the car you dent.

The catch is that a standard assurance habitation — home contents insurance — generally does not extend to it. Official guidance is to contact your insurer, either to extend the policy or to take out a dedicated contract. If you rent, check what the rental agreement actually covers before you unlock the scooter, not after you’ve hit someone.

Ride uninsured and hit a pedestrian, and the compensation is yours to pay personally. There is no fund standing behind you.

Paris: the city that voted them out

Paris introduced rental e-scooters in 2018, among the first cities in Europe to do so. In April 2023 it held a referendum. Nearly 89% of those who turned out voted to get rid of them, and on 1 September 2023 the rental fleets were removed — roughly 15,000 scooters, gone. Paris became the first European capital to ban shared e-scooters outright.

But note carefully what was banned and what was not. Privately owned scooters remain entirely legal in Paris. The ban applied to the free-floating rental operators, not to you and your own machine. Rental e-bikes were untouched and the operators simply pivoted to them.

If you are visiting Paris expecting to unlock a scooter with an app: you can’t. If you are moving to Paris and want to buy one: you can.

Electric bikes

A vélo à assistance électrique — pedal assist, cutting out at 25 km/h, with a 250 W motor — is a bicycle. It goes on the road or the cycle path, exactly as an ordinary bike does.

• A helmet is compulsory for children under 12, on any bicycle, electric or not. The penalty can run to €750, though in practice it is a flat €135 — and it falls on the adult accompanying them.
• From 12 upwards, a helmet is recommended but not required.
• Where a cycle lane sign is square, using it is advisory rather than compulsory. Where it’s round, it isn’t.
• You may use the pavement only if you get off and walk the bike.

Push past the limits — assist beyond 25 km/h, or a motor above 250 W — and the bike becomes a cyclomoteur. Registration, an AM licence and a helmet all follow.

What may change

A bill tabled in the Assemblée nationale in September 2025 would make helmets compulsory for all riders of bicycles and EDPMs, including in town, with a €135 penalty for going without. It was referred to committee and had not passed as of this page’s verification date. Treat it as proposed, not law.

Meanwhile several communes have moved ahead on their own. Nice and others have imposed local helmet requirements at all ages by municipal order. French mayors hold real power over EDPM rules in their own streets — which means that even once you know the national rules, the town you are actually in can be stricter. Check local signage and the mairie.

Before you hand over the money

• Check the top speed by construction, not the mode you’ll use. A scooter with a 30 km/h mode is unlawful even locked to 25. That’s the €1,500 offence.
• Arrange insurance before the first ride. Not after. Call your insurer and ask specifically about EDPM cover — don’t assume the home policy stretches.
• Never let anyone unlock or derestrict it. €135 for riding it, and doing the work yourself carries far heavier penalties under the Code de la route.
• If you live rurally, think hard. Outside town you may only use cycle paths and greenways. If there are none near you, there is nowhere legal to ride.
• Check your commune’s own rules. Mayors can impose helmets, ban pavement parking, or close streets entirely.

Common questions

The e-bike trap: continuous vs peak watts

The single most common e-bike buying mistake.

Every e-bike law measures one number: continuous rated power — what the motor sustains all day, which must be 250 W to keep the bike legally a bicycle. But it’s almost never the number on the box; marketing quotes peak power, a brief burst two or three times higher. It looks better in an ad and means nothing in law.

A motor sold as “250 W (750 W peak)” can be perfectly legal — the continuous figure is what counts. A motor rated 500 W continuous is not, however it’s marketed. Ask the seller for the continuous figure in writing, and look for an EN 15194 marking on the frame — the European standard used as proof of compliance.

Note on sources. The rules here come from service-public.fr and the relevant ministries. The Paris referendum result and the September 2023 removal of rental fleets are drawn from contemporary news reporting.

Not legal advice. A plain-English summary of published government guidance, accurate to the verification date above. French mayors may impose stricter local rules than the national ones described here, and a national helmet bill is pending. Check the primary sources and your local mairie before you buy or ride, and take professional advice if anything important turns on it.

Contains information from service-public.fr, published under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0.