Colorado § 42-4-221 - Bicycle, electric scooter, and personal mobility device equipment - penalty - sale of electrical assisted bicycle equipment requirements - unfair or deceptive trade practice.

§ 42-4-221. Bicycle, electric scooter, and personal mobility device equipment - penalty - sale of electrical assisted bicycle equipment requirements - unfair or deceptive trade practice.

(1) No other provision of this part 2 and no provision of part 3 of this article 4 applies to a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD or to equipment for use on a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD except those provisions in this article 4 made specifically applicable to such a vehicle.

(2) Every bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD in use at the times described in section 42-4-204 shall be equipped with a lamp on the front emitting a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front.

(3) Every bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD shall be equipped with a red reflector of a type approved by the department, which shall be visible for six hundred feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle.

(4) Every bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD when in use at the times described in section 42-4-204 shall be equipped with reflective material of sufficient size and reflectivity to be visible from both sides for six hundred feet when directly in front of lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle or, in lieu of such reflective material, with a lighted lamp visible from both sides from a distance of at least five hundred feet.

(5) A bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD or its rider may be equipped with lights or reflectors in addition to those required by subsections (2) to (4) of this section.

(6) A bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter shall not be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter, any siren or whistle.

(7) Every bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter shall be equipped with a brake or brakes that will enable its rider to stop the bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter within twenty-five feet from a speed of ten miles per hour on dry, level, clean pavement.

(8) A person engaged in the business of selling bicycles, electrical assisted bicycles, or electric scooters at retail shall not sell any bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter unless the bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter has an identifying number permanently stamped or cast on its frame.

(8.5) A local government may regulate the operation of an electric scooter in a manner that is no more restrictive than the manner in which the local government may regulate the operation of a class 1 electrical assisted bicycle.

(9) (a) On or after January 1, 2018, every manufacturer or distributor of new electrical assisted bicycles intended for sale or distribution in this state shall permanently affix to each electrical assisted bicycle, in a prominent location, a label that contains the classification number, top assisted speed, and motor wattage of the electrical assisted bicycle. The label must be printed in the arial font in at least nine-point type.

(b) A person shall not knowingly modify an electrical assisted bicycle so as to change the speed capability or motor engagement of the electrical assisted bicycle without also appropriately replacing, or causing to be replaced, the label indicating the classification required by subsection (9)(a) of this section.

(c) On or after January 1, 2027, the label required by subsection (9)(a) of this section must, for a multiple mode electrical assisted bicycle, also identify the highest class or each of the classes in which the electrical assisted bicycle is capable of operation.

(10) (a) An electrical assisted bicycle must comply with the equipment and manufacturing requirements for bicycles adopted by the United States consumer product safety commission and codified at 16 CFR 1512 or its successor regulation.

(b) A class 2 electrical assisted bicycle must operate in a manner so that the electric motor is disengaged or ceases to function when the brakes are applied. Class 1 and class 3 electrical assisted bicycles must be equipped with a mechanism or circuit that cannot be bypassed and that causes the electric motor to disengage or cease to function when the rider stops pedaling.

(c) A class 3 electrical assisted bicycle must be equipped with a speedometer that displays, in miles per hour, the speed the electrical assisted bicycle is traveling.

(d) A multiple mode electrical assisted bicycle must meet all the requirements in this article 4 applicable to each respective class of electrical assisted bicycle for which the multiple mode electrical assisted bicycle provides for operation.

(11) A person that violates subsections (1) to (10) of this section commits a class B traffic infraction.

(12) (a) A person shall not sell or offer to sell, in a store or online, a vehicle that is not an electrical assisted bicycle if the vehicle is falsely labeled as a class 1, class 2, class 3, or multiple mode electrical assisted bicycle.

(b) A person shall not advertise, offer for sale, or sell, in a store or online, a vehicle that is not an electrical assisted bicycle:

(I) By representing the vehicle as an electrical assisted bicycle; or

(II) (A) Using the words "electrical assisted bicycle", "electric bike", or "e-bike" or other similar terms without providing the following disclosure in clearly legible, written form: "This vehicle is not an electrical assisted bicycle as defined in state law pursuant to section 42-1-102, Colorado Revised Statutes. It is instead a type of motor vehicle and subject to applicable motor vehicle laws if used on public roads or public lands. Your insurance policies may not provide coverage for crashes involving the use of this vehicle. To determine coverage, you should contact your insurance company or agent."

(B) The disclosure required pursuant to subsection (12)(b)(II)(A) of this section must be provided at the store where the vehicle is advertised or sold and, for a vehicle advertised or sold online, on the website for the vehicle and in any social media marketing for the vehicle.

(c) A person that violates this subsection (12) commits an unfair or deceptive trade practice in violation of article 1 of title 6.

(13) A seller of an electrical assisted bicycle shall disclose to the purchaser:

(a) The motor power in watts of the electrical assisted bicycle;

(b) The maximum speed of the electrical assisted bicycle;

(c) Whether the electrical assisted bicycle is a class 1, class 2, class 3, or multiple mode electrical assisted bicycle; and

(d) For a class 3 electrical assisted bicycle or multiple mode electrical assisted bicycle that is capable of operating as a class 3 electrical assisted bicycle, a statement that it is unlawful for an individual who is under sixteen years of age to operate a class 3 electrical assisted bicycle in Colorado.

(14) (a) A person shall not manufacture, distribute, assemble, recondition, sell, offer to sell, lease, or rent a lithium-ion battery or a second-use lithium-ion battery as part of or intended for use in an electrical assisted bicycle unless the lithium-ion battery or second-use lithium-ion battery has been certified by an accredited testing laboratory for compliance with a battery standard referenced in UL 2849 or EN 15194 or another safety standard approved by the director of the division of fire prevention and control.

(b) (I) If certification has been obtained pursuant to subsection (14)(a) of this section, the certification or the logo, wordmark, or name of the accredited testing laboratory that provided the certification must be displayed:

(A) On the packaging or documentation for an electrical assisted bicycle or a lithium-ion battery or second-use lithium-ion battery intended for use in an electrical assisted bicycle at the time of sale; or

(B) Directly on the electrical assisted bicycle or the lithium-ion battery or second-use lithium-ion battery intended for use in an electrical assisted bicycle at the time of sale.

(II) The certification or the logo, wordmark, or name of the accredited testing laboratory that provided the certification need not be displayed for an electrical assisted bicycle that is being sold secondhand or rented.

Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2256, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 2009: (1) to (8) amended, (HB 09-1026), ch. 281, p. 1275, § 45, effective October 1. L. 2017: (9) amended and (10) and (11) added, (HB 17-1151), ch. 98, p. 296, § 4, effective August 9. L. 2019: (1) to (8) amended and (8.5) added, (HB 19-1221), ch. 271, p. 2559, § 5, effective May 23. L. 2025: (9)(c), (10)(d), (12), (13), and (14) added and (11) amended, (HB 25-1197), ch. 279, p. 1448, § 1, effective August 6. L. 2026: (12)(b)(II)(A) amended, (HB 26-1237), ch. 117, p. 478, § 46, effective August 12; (12)(c) amended, (HB 26-1426), ch. 334, p. 2029, § 104, effective August 12.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 42-4-218.5 as it existed prior to 1994, and the former § 42-4-221 was relocated to § 42-4-224.

Cross references: For the penalty for a class B traffic infraction generally, see § 42-4-1701 (3)(a)(I); for the penalty and surcharge for equipment violations of subsections (1) to (10), see § 42-4-1701 (4)(a)(I)(D).