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Q: Do you need a driver's license to drive scooters here?
11 years 11 weeks ago in Transport & Travel - China
Not here in Wuxi, and as far as I know you don't generally need a license to drive or ride a scooter if by "scooter" you mean a typical e-bike. You do need a license plate, but not a driver's license. I h.ave an e-bike; plates but no license and no problems. I had to show my passport and wait about a week for the license plate. No worries.
Don't ask me about motorcycles. (Oh sorry, you didn't ask about motorcycles!) I have heard every possible answer with respect to motorcycles and then some people say "just buy one and ride it, no one will bother you". I think for a motorcycle you should at least have a license plate and insurance. Then again people say a motorcycle is illegal - IOW you cannot get a license - but I do see them now and then. My neighbor rides one to high school most days.
Sorry if I have only succeeded in passing on my confusion.
Scooters everywhere have basically two different propulsion methods. They ar either powered by a gasoline driven motor, or an electrical one. And also, in China, gas scooters and/or gas driven motorcycles can not have engines exceeding 250 cc. Another regulation for electrical driven scooters is tht they can not run higher than 60 volts. Now, you can drive any electrical driven scooter without a driver's license, and in some locations may, or may not, require a license plate. Gas driven scooters or motorcycles DO REQUIRE a driver's license, and some cities have banned them after a certain date, so new ones can not be bought, but old ones can still be used if they still run. And to further complicate the issue, there are locations that have totally banned the use of them. For example, in Nanning, Guangxi Province, no license plates or driver's license are needed for e-bikes. No new gas bikes will be registered or license plates issued or renew, and driver licenses are needed to ride one. Many go to nearby villges, buy one there and register it there with a local address at the vilklage, they drive them into Nanning and use them. Is that legal, I have no idea, but it is done.
