Governor Reverses Ban On Electric Skateboards

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Electrically-motorized skateboards are now legal in Southern California and across the state.

Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 604 allowing electrically-motorized skateboard users over the age of 13 to ride within bicycle lanes in California.

Electrically-motorized skateboards were banned from use in California in 1977 to keep noisy, gas-powered boards off the streets.

Thanks to some recent high-tech advances, today's electric skateboards are clean, quiet, and safe to ride. Many commuters are using them to ride to their bus or train stops, or between home and work or school.

"This legislation has been carefully crafted over the past two years to ensure the safety of riders and to provide communities the flexibility to regulate boards to meet their needs," said Assembly Republican Leader Kristin Olsen, of Modesto, who authored the bill.

AB 604 passed the Senate on a 32 to 1 vote before heading to the Governor's desk Sunday for his signature.

The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2016. But it does not necessarily make the motorized skateboards legal everywhere. Individual cities can decide for themselves.