Utah e-bike helmet law begins Wednesday

SALT LAKE CITY — Anyone under 21 years old, riding an e-bike, e-scooter, e-motorcycle, or anything similar, must now wear a helmet. It's part of a new Utah law beginning May 6, 2026, and state leaders are trying to get the word out. HB381 is trying to fix a problem with young riders getting hurt, riding e-bikes without a helmet. State leaders hope by making it a law, they'll make it safer. State lawmakers, police, state safety experts and others echoed that charge Wednesday morning as the new law took effect. It states people who ride e-bikes and e-motorcycles under the age of 21 are now required to wear a helmet when traveling on public roads. State leaders told KSL in 2025 emergency rooms with Intermountain Health treated 536 e-bike and e-scooter injuries statewide. Primary Children's Hospital saw a nearly 67% jump in e-bike injuries with kids and teenagers in a single year, and less then half of them wear wearing a helmet. Some kids as young as 8 years old were getting seriously hurt. Leaders feel that has to change. "We're seeing a lot of head trauma and that's awful. It's hard enough to be a kid without some brain damage, so that's what we're trying to avoid," said Senator Todd Weiler, R - Woods Cross (Utah Senate District 8). To help everyone get used to the new helmet law, the Utah Highway Safety Office is funding additional overtime shifts for police statewide to stop and educate riders, including both parents and kids. 11 police agencies are working an extra 150 shifts over the entire month. Also as of Wednesday, an additional change in the law makes DUI charges possible when adults travel on e-bikes and e-motorcycles with an open container or while impaired. For the helmet update, if you're a parent with a kid and an e-bike, here's what they want you to do: check your type of e-bike or e-scooter, buy the right helmet, and don't make aftermarket modifications. Leaders said with the law now in effect, now is the best time to do it.

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