Charleston, SC Mobility & Curb Rules: Shared E-Scooter Rules (2026)

Sec. 19-91(b) defines a motorized scooter as a two-wheeled, motor-powered device with handlebars and a floorboard designed to be stood upon. Subsection (b)(1) makes it unlawful for anyone to operate a motorized scooter, other than one they personally own, upon any roadway designed for vehicular traffic, any public sidewalk, a city-owned or leased parking garage or surface lot, or a city-owned or leased athletic field or tennis court. Even on private property, reckless operation is barred, and riders must exercise due care and yield to pedestrians and other traffic.

Subsection (b)(3) goes further, making it unlawful to rent, offer, or make available a motor scooter for use on a public right-of-way at all, a flat ban that forecloses dockless or docked shared-scooter rental fleets from operating on city streets and sidewalks. Any motor scooter left unattended on public property may be removed and held by the city for 24 hours; the owner can reclaim it only by proving ownership and paying a $45 removal and storage fee, and scooters unclaimed after 24 hours may be discarded, donated, or auctioned, with the city bearing no liability for loss or damage during confiscation.

A related subsection covers roller skates, in-line skates, toy scooters, coasters and motorized toy vehicles under 15 mph, which face their own bans on high-speed roads, garages, athletic fields and school overlay or peninsula commercial zones.