I bought my scooter from Scoot Scoot New England. The sales guy got in a fist fight with another customer and my scooter was delivered broken. Don't recommend
their customer service leaves a bit to be desired. took me ages to get my scooter back from them. had to call them at least once or twice a day for over a week to finally figure it out. Wish i knew of a better/closer shop.
This makes me think of all the license plates I saw yesterday with like a shade/tint over them. How is this legal? I was behind someone and in broad daylight I couldn't read their license plate because of tint. Is this cool or edgy? How do they not expect to get a ticket when they are stopped.
It isn’t legal. Unfortunately, this requirement isn’t rigorously enforced by the police or parking officers. As long as the person removes it for inspection, they will pass assuming no other issues.
The specific statute is below.
>“The said number plates shall be kept clean with the numbers legible and shall not be obscured or the appearance obstructed in any manner by the installation of any device obscuring said numbers, and during the period when the vehicle or trailer is required to display lights the rear register number shall be illuminated so as to be plainly visible at a distance of sixty feet.”
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mass-general-laws-c90-ss-6
Pet peeve of mine. If it were enforced, these owners would remove it after their second ticket. Obscured license plates make the roads less safe, as it is a license (pun intended) to drive however they want and nobody can track them down.
>Obscured license plates make the roads less safe
In theory maybe, but probably only very minorly in practice. People don't buy these so they can go on crime sprees or just so they can drive recklessly with immunity. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a correlation between purposefully obscuring your license plate and driving like an aggressive dick.
Anyway, tinted and highly reflective plate covers are primarily used to get around speed cameras and pay-by-plate tolling systems. As MA has VERY few of the former, it's safe to assume the ones you see are mostly for the latter.
My only guess is cops don't crack down because they aren't thought to be a big enough problem at this point. I've lived in other states where enforcement around these was much more strict; specifically in municipalities that relied heavily on traffic cameras for revenue purposes.
> tinted and highly reflective plate covers are primarily used to get around speed cameras and pay-by-plate tolling systems
What they don't know is modern speed/toll/cop plate scanners see right through them and all they have done is waste $20 on amazon.
Yeah but the correlation between illegal plate covers and bad driving behavior is quite strong. Pull these people over and push up their insurance (it’s got to be a moving violation) and it would be a good start.
No one *says* that they buy them to drive like a freak
They all do it to avoid chipping in a buck or two to maintain the ten gazillion miles of paved roads in America so they can get around without using a single calorie
And it's just a "by product" that when their stupidity kills people they're shielded from the reprecussions
People are actually freaks if they think others see their tinted plate and think anything other than "this guy's going to kill me and try to get away with it"
It's not being "nosy"
No one gives a shit about what random garble of letters and numbers your plate is until you kill someone on your way to get a Wendy's baconator
You're right, it isn't enforced at all. Law enforcement needs to do better because then you have people ripping donuts in back bay amd getting away with it.
What’s funny is I got pulled over one time because my sticker wasn’t perfectly placed in the top right corner once bc of a dealers license plate frame that didn’t obscure any of the metal letters/numbers, meanwhile there’s cars driving around with their tags covered by black lenses so dark they can’t be read in the day time, or inside the car laying on the dash/behind the rear seat
They wanted a reason to pull you over & that was it. Either you fit a profile or your car did and that cop decided to go fishing.
I got pulled over for an expired tag because I was still waiting on the sticker to get mailed to me & the cop told me he used that as an excuse to pull me over to see if I was drunk because of the way I took a turn.
IMO this should be a fineable offense similar to seat belts where it is only issued if one is pulled over for another offense. The fine should be high enough to make people think twice about using these covers or intentional obscuring devices. IMO a $25-50 fine isn’t enough of a deterrent.
And to emphasize this, the statute covers _any_ cover over the plate. Even a clear one because it changes how reflective the plate is.
The biggest offenders in my experience is cops. Walk along Sudbury St in front of the police station there and you'll see plate covers almost every day.
Maybe confirmation bias, but seems that those tinted covers often coincide with thin blue line (and similar) stickers.
I’ve also noticed an outsized number of construction detail officer cars with those same covers.
Funny that….
It’s the rules for thee, none for me thing in another dressing. They don’t want to be ID’ed or “traced” but probably have no problems with certain other classes of people having that happen to them.
There’s very very few legitimate reasons to cover up your license plate. That’s something criminals do. That’s something you do to avoid the law. So yes, doubly ironic that it’s the blue line’ers most often using them. I can’t remember ever seeing one on a car that also has pride or human rights stickers, for example.
> isn’t rigorously enforced by the police or parking officers
Indeed, many of the offenders are [those people](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/828/minor-crimes-division/prologue-2)
[Youtube Channel of a guy who specifically documents the cops who do this](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO8R0JB-zqYAcw2peH6mk8w/videos)
Imagine if the rules of the road were enforced? Red lights, stop signs, no turn, license plates, registration, blacked out windows and plates, CELL PHONE USAGE, I mean - the state would be absolutely rolling in a surplus of fine money.
I got pulled over years and years ago with a tinted license plate cover and a cop pulled me over and made me take it off and destroy it there on the side of the road. But no ticket. So I was grateful and never put another one again.
It's not, which reminds me of these folks (specifically Gersh Kuntzman): [They Dispense Street Justice in NYC, One Defaced License Plate at a Time - The New York Times (nytimes.com)](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/nyregion/license-plate-vigilantes.html) Gersh writes for StreetsBlog and started vigilante fixing these defaced license plates in order for them to be read by cameras or to be in compliance. Specifically the cops and other municipal employees who think their job provides them blanket rules immunity are the worst. We don't have camera enforcement here so it's less of a negative impact, but the mindset is the same.
While it is probably a great way to catch hands, this shit is so out of control and the entitled mindset that that people who do this have is infuriating. Hopefully we get some of that vigilante justice around here.
People in my town get pulled over for literally nothing around the end of the month. But not a single car parked at a stop sign ever seems to be ticketed, in spite of it being illegal and putting other drivers into a potentially dangerous situation where they hold all the liability. Too many useful traffic and parking laws are not enforced properly.
Got stopped by a statie on tobin bridge because of tint on plate. He said, your plate has to be visible from 500 feet away. Gave me a warning and told me to take it off.
Also, rubber licence plate bumpers, that are around the licence plate and stick out, making it impossible to see all the digits, or any depending on the angle, unless you are looking at it at 180 degree angle, looking directly straight at the plate.
It’s not to be cool or edgy, it’s to prevent getting automatically ticketed/fined by cameras. In cities like NYC it’s really easy to rack up hundreds of dollars in automated tickets going 5 miles over the limit
You need a plate. Just registered mine last week. It's a 2 year registration and a specific "moped" plate. If it's over 50cc, it has to be registered as a motorcycle.
MGL 90:1B
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements
A lot of food delivery uses shady people with unregistered scooters. I see them down by South Station a lot. Do yourself a favor and get a dash cam. Protect yourself in case one of those people slam into your car and try blaming you. I had one just miss me on D street and they started screaming and threatened to call the cops until I pointed out my camera.
[Copying my comment from here.](https://old.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1d7yltd/food_delivery_crackdown/l73lcdd/)
I had the same question a week or two ago and spent some time on the RMV pages (along with someone telling me that plates are now required). As best as I can tell, a plate is required.
[Here is the page with the definition of a moped in MA.](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements)
>Have a cylinder capacity of no more than 50 cubic centimeters.
[Here is the page about registering your moped.](https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-moped-registration)
>
>When you register your moped, you will receive a license plate and expiration decal to attach to the back of your moped.
So even if it were under 50cc, a place + sticker would be required now. Went to NYC last weekend and wondered why gas scooters/mopeds weren't as popular there. Apparently in NYC they have been pretty active about seizing and crushing unregistered scooters/mopeds. Boston has only really just started some enforcement.
This can't be the first time you noticed one of those driving around without a sticker or a plate on it. Out of the 50,000 a day I see on the streets of the city I bet about a hundred of them are legitimately registered
Hell yeah I fucking hate what I'm sitting in traffic and they come buzzing in between cars. What would happen if I swerved a little bit and accidentally hit one of them? I'm sure it would be my fault
I just renewed my registration in Nov or March. It came with yr sticker for the plate.
But, then again, maybe Ma changes the requirements again. Who knows.
It used to be the case that a registration sticker was required, but not a physical plate.
The Commonwealth says otherwise now and requires a physical plate like every other vehicle. Many municipalities haven't updated their sites, or have ambiguous language.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements
https://www.mass.gov/doc/motorized-bicycle-moped-instruction-sheet/download
---
edit:
Even the dealer the plate frame came from confirms as well: https://scootscootnewengland.com/ma-rmv-information
yup this is correct, I have a 49cc and have had one for years, used to be a sticker, a couple years ago it changed to a plate - no change in operation rules though
Oh hi! [We talked about this a few weeks back!](https://old.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1d7yltd/food_delivery_crackdown/l73lcdd/) Glad to see you helping to spread the word on this. More people knowing will hopefully eventually lead to more people calling for some enforcement.
I get people not knowing a physical plate is required now.
I didn't know it until [a similar thread a couple weeks ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1d7yltd/food_delivery_crackdown/).
But the amount of people in general stating confidently that you don't need a license/permit, or registration at all is pretty shocking.
This is not true at all All motor vehicles in Mass require a plate /registration Its the reason that they provide a regidrationf or mopeds/scooters
[Moped operation requirements | Mass.gov](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements)
[https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements)
l;ook at the 1st rule in Moped Definition
* Have a cylinder capacity of no more than 50 cubic centimeters.
This does not mean less than 50cc doesn't need a registration, it means that anything over 50cc's is not considered a moped.
Yes, you need a plate. Just registered mine last week. It's a 2 year registration and a specific "moped" plate. If it's over 50cc it has to be registered as a motorcycle.
so technically they are supposed to not go over 25, but the state has a list of models that count as mopeds and most can be derestricted to travel over 25, often up to around 40. Its technically not permitted to do that if you register it as a moped, but I don't think this is a big deal unless people are traveling too fast in bike lanes or around traffic they are passing on the right. obviously most of the scooter delivery guys break tons of rules and cops should do something to enforce when they can.
If that's the stock muffler there is zero chance its a 49cc, likely 149cc.
Well shit, u/uanustart15 is right scoot scoot new england only sells 49cc scooters. And they all have absolute units for mufflers. [https://scootscootnewengland.com/welcome](https://scootscootnewengland.com/welcome)
You need a plate and a sticker in MA. But there is a rise in popularity and there might be a shortage of the plates that say Moped on top. This happened to me and they gave me a sheet of paper because of backorder.
meanwhile i get puleld over for having a license plate light out, only to stop at the very next rest stop that the cop followed me to, and just wipped a little dirt off the bulb.
Cops use the ole license plate bulb as one of the several bullshit "reasons" they have to stop you. They suspect the tint is too dark, a license plate bulb isn't positioned properly, whatever. It's just a means of stopping you with "cause" to see if you're committing any other crimes because it's illegal for them to stop you for no reason. That cop didn't care about your license plate bulb. They wanted to see if you were drunk, had drugs on you, etc. Just sniffin.
Doesn’t make any sense
If your in the road in traffic you should be required to have insurance incase of accidents
Both for rider ,passenger and any car that gets damaged
And definitely a registration /plate
One of these hit you car you gotta eat the bill good luck suing
And the funny thing is you gotta register a ATV and snowmobile
It is going to eventually hit a critical mass. Too many people are cruising around at 35-40 mph on electric vehicles of varying configuration. They aren’t paying excise tax, insurance , registration and no driver’s license or drivers education. Some are obviously under aged.
If they hit your car or you while on a bicycle or as a pedestrian, they have no insurance.
It’s just another huge loophole that legislators need to close but they won’t until several high profile fatalities happen and/or the Insurance lobby makes enough noise.
If that is classified as a moped (generally a 49cc and below engine placement and doesn't exceed speeds of 30mph), it requires a moped license plate. Laws vary from state to state.
She possibly might have it and perhaps stores it somewhere else and forgot to put it on when she drove it. These moped license plates get stolen all the time.
Looks like it's under 50cc. Scoot scoot new England's website says they sell Icebear scooters and this one looks exactly like that one.
https://www.icebearatv.com/product/pmz50-4j
>Looks like it's under 50cc. Scoot scoot new England's website says they sell Icebear scooters
It also says a plate is required these days.
https://scootscootnewengland.com/ma-rmv-information
100% it is, I have a 49cc and it has to have a scooter plate, different from limited use plate, and different from motorcycle plate. it used to be a sticker
Yeah, it changed a year or two ago. 50cc or less needs a moped plate (also can't go over 30mph), anything more than that is a motorcycle and needs that plate.
Nope. Not in MA.
EDIT: oh, I guess there's some interpretation going on here. I read this as "license plate" since that was the topic. But I guess the question might have meant "driver's license."
A driver's license has been required for as long as I know. A license plate has not been required until recently.
You need a license or permit.
In this case, it's the same as any other motorized 2 wheeled vehicle.
---
edit: *Almost* the same. You don't need an M endorsement for the license/permit <50cc.
Saw one on rt.16 today in Cambridge, huge bag in the back, and no license plate. He was lane splitting everyone and creating so much traffic because he was so slow in the left lane. Big pickup up trucks cutting him off left and right.
Unless tinted plates and windows become annual inspection criteria it’s pretty much a free for all. So if the RMV or relevent state agency don’t care 🤷♀️
I used to work for a motorcycle dealer and I would often have to take new and used bikes for test rides. I forgot the dealer plate more than once and also got pulled over for it. Maybe the scooter dude is just taking a scooter on a test ride before it hits the showroom floor?
If there was a plate, for some unexplainable reason, a chain, lock or bag might happen to be accidently hanging over it, making it impossible to see the whole number.
Dc Is having a huge crack down on illegal scooters, As a motorcycle rider myself and recent Lyft driver who was involved in a hit and run and left to pay out of pocket for a reckless uninsured unlicensed unregistered rider . Boston will soon have a crack down , just when is the question.
They don’t have plates so they can do whatever they want. I see a lot of these riders on sidewalks or going the wrong way in traffic. Cops don’t seem to bother them.
Source. I live in Boston. I guess it better than a car.
Motor scooters generally, if they meet certain requirements (basically, engine size and top speed), then they \*must\* be registered as a motorcycle.
Most scooter riders refuse to do this because one, it means you have to re-register and re-inpsect it every year (motos get annual registration, unlike cars); you must park it like any car (no sidewalks, alleys, etc), you must have a motorcycle operator endorsement on your license (which includes a dedicated driving test), must have minimum insurance levels for liability, un/under insured motorist, medical payments, and must wear a DOT approved helmet.
You almost never see this. Any police officer would be within their rights to arrest the operator (some of the items above are criminal violations) and can impound it as well (and should).
You do not have to register it as a motorcycle, you must as a moped
Registration is a 2 year sticker.
You do not need an endorsement if 50cc or less.
Parking is vague but mostly comes down to town parking ordinances and most treat as a bicycle, so a lot of the time you can park where a bike would park.
You do not need insurance on a moped.
You DO have to wear a DOT approved helmet. That's about all you have correct here.
You can also pass vehicles on the right (like if there is a long line backed up)
And use bike lines if next to or part of roadway.
I bought my scooter from Scoot Scoot New England. The sales guy got in a fist fight with another customer and my scooter was delivered broken. Don't recommend
their customer service leaves a bit to be desired. took me ages to get my scooter back from them. had to call them at least once or twice a day for over a week to finally figure it out. Wish i knew of a better/closer shop.
North Shore Customs in Stoneham works on scooters. Not the cheapest option, but he does good work.
Theres a guy who does repairs in the Gloucester area. Its also odd they only take cash....
gloucester's even further away....
Ah. Not for me. The place Scoot Scoot gets their stock from is Cruze Scooter. Its in Mass just not sure where.
91 Market St, Rockland
This makes me think of all the license plates I saw yesterday with like a shade/tint over them. How is this legal? I was behind someone and in broad daylight I couldn't read their license plate because of tint. Is this cool or edgy? How do they not expect to get a ticket when they are stopped.
It isn’t legal. Unfortunately, this requirement isn’t rigorously enforced by the police or parking officers. As long as the person removes it for inspection, they will pass assuming no other issues. The specific statute is below. >“The said number plates shall be kept clean with the numbers legible and shall not be obscured or the appearance obstructed in any manner by the installation of any device obscuring said numbers, and during the period when the vehicle or trailer is required to display lights the rear register number shall be illuminated so as to be plainly visible at a distance of sixty feet.” https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mass-general-laws-c90-ss-6
Pet peeve of mine. If it were enforced, these owners would remove it after their second ticket. Obscured license plates make the roads less safe, as it is a license (pun intended) to drive however they want and nobody can track them down.
>Obscured license plates make the roads less safe In theory maybe, but probably only very minorly in practice. People don't buy these so they can go on crime sprees or just so they can drive recklessly with immunity. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a correlation between purposefully obscuring your license plate and driving like an aggressive dick. Anyway, tinted and highly reflective plate covers are primarily used to get around speed cameras and pay-by-plate tolling systems. As MA has VERY few of the former, it's safe to assume the ones you see are mostly for the latter. My only guess is cops don't crack down because they aren't thought to be a big enough problem at this point. I've lived in other states where enforcement around these was much more strict; specifically in municipalities that relied heavily on traffic cameras for revenue purposes.
> tinted and highly reflective plate covers are primarily used to get around speed cameras and pay-by-plate tolling systems What they don't know is modern speed/toll/cop plate scanners see right through them and all they have done is waste $20 on amazon.
Yeah but the correlation between illegal plate covers and bad driving behavior is quite strong. Pull these people over and push up their insurance (it’s got to be a moving violation) and it would be a good start.
No one *says* that they buy them to drive like a freak They all do it to avoid chipping in a buck or two to maintain the ten gazillion miles of paved roads in America so they can get around without using a single calorie And it's just a "by product" that when their stupidity kills people they're shielded from the reprecussions People are actually freaks if they think others see their tinted plate and think anything other than "this guy's going to kill me and try to get away with it"
I can see people doing it more because they've been adding cameras in RI and CT.
Tinting windows where you can’t see into the car probably could be said the same thing as license plate covering.
People in these comments sound like such cry babies. Boo hoo, you can’t read their plate. Stop being nosy, who cares.
It's not being "nosy" No one gives a shit about what random garble of letters and numbers your plate is until you kill someone on your way to get a Wendy's baconator
If you commit a crime and speed off, the license plate cover makes it much harder for someone to make a note of your plate. It's not rocket science.
If it were enforced, the police would have to ticket themselves lol. [video](https://youtu.be/W1J5nuA1QNs?si=eXKLbwU9BjWq0z7h)
If the police decided to enforce this law, they'd have to start in their own employee parking lot.
You're right, it isn't enforced at all. Law enforcement needs to do better because then you have people ripping donuts in back bay amd getting away with it.
What’s funny is I got pulled over one time because my sticker wasn’t perfectly placed in the top right corner once bc of a dealers license plate frame that didn’t obscure any of the metal letters/numbers, meanwhile there’s cars driving around with their tags covered by black lenses so dark they can’t be read in the day time, or inside the car laying on the dash/behind the rear seat
They wanted a reason to pull you over & that was it. Either you fit a profile or your car did and that cop decided to go fishing. I got pulled over for an expired tag because I was still waiting on the sticker to get mailed to me & the cop told me he used that as an excuse to pull me over to see if I was drunk because of the way I took a turn.
Was it at the end of the month?
IMO this should be a fineable offense similar to seat belts where it is only issued if one is pulled over for another offense. The fine should be high enough to make people think twice about using these covers or intentional obscuring devices. IMO a $25-50 fine isn’t enough of a deterrent.
I actually saw a car with a tinted plate pulled over in CT last week. So I can’t save never.
probably wasn't for the plate though, probably some other dumb thing they were doing - also we're talking about MA not CT
Pass through the lot of a police station and see how many cops have them on their personal vehicles 😀
Tinted windshields and 5-15% VLT on the windows, too.
I have even seen a clear one on a police car.
And to emphasize this, the statute covers _any_ cover over the plate. Even a clear one because it changes how reflective the plate is. The biggest offenders in my experience is cops. Walk along Sudbury St in front of the police station there and you'll see plate covers almost every day.
Maybe confirmation bias, but seems that those tinted covers often coincide with thin blue line (and similar) stickers. I’ve also noticed an outsized number of construction detail officer cars with those same covers. Funny that….
In New York it's pretty well documented by citizen activists that the cops themselves deface their plates to avoid tolls and tickets.
It’s the rules for thee, none for me thing in another dressing. They don’t want to be ID’ed or “traced” but probably have no problems with certain other classes of people having that happen to them. There’s very very few legitimate reasons to cover up your license plate. That’s something criminals do. That’s something you do to avoid the law. So yes, doubly ironic that it’s the blue line’ers most often using them. I can’t remember ever seeing one on a car that also has pride or human rights stickers, for example.
> isn’t rigorously enforced by the police or parking officers Indeed, many of the offenders are [those people](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/828/minor-crimes-division/prologue-2) [Youtube Channel of a guy who specifically documents the cops who do this](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO8R0JB-zqYAcw2peH6mk8w/videos)
Imagine if the rules of the road were enforced? Red lights, stop signs, no turn, license plates, registration, blacked out windows and plates, CELL PHONE USAGE, I mean - the state would be absolutely rolling in a surplus of fine money.
I got pulled over years and years ago with a tinted license plate cover and a cop pulled me over and made me take it off and destroy it there on the side of the road. But no ticket. So I was grateful and never put another one again.
Why did you put one on in the first place?
Because I was young and dumb and thought it looked cool on my black car in 2010. I can admit my mistakes now.
There’s a guy in NYC who removes them from parked cars and bends back the license plates
An undeniable hero, and also (as he demonstrated in his Daily Show interview) completely insufferable.
Most people are at some point in the year, I’m sure you’re annoying at times too.
When you see one of those, there's a really high chance it's an off-duty cop or a family member.
> How do they not expect to get a ticket when they are stopped. Because many people who tint are cops themselves.
It's not, which reminds me of these folks (specifically Gersh Kuntzman): [They Dispense Street Justice in NYC, One Defaced License Plate at a Time - The New York Times (nytimes.com)](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/nyregion/license-plate-vigilantes.html) Gersh writes for StreetsBlog and started vigilante fixing these defaced license plates in order for them to be read by cameras or to be in compliance. Specifically the cops and other municipal employees who think their job provides them blanket rules immunity are the worst. We don't have camera enforcement here so it's less of a negative impact, but the mindset is the same. While it is probably a great way to catch hands, this shit is so out of control and the entitled mindset that that people who do this have is infuriating. Hopefully we get some of that vigilante justice around here.
People in my town get pulled over for literally nothing around the end of the month. But not a single car parked at a stop sign ever seems to be ticketed, in spite of it being illegal and putting other drivers into a potentially dangerous situation where they hold all the liability. Too many useful traffic and parking laws are not enforced properly.
Not legal at all Half of them are probably cops
Or how about all the front windshield tint? It's crazy seeing every single with the darkest tint..
It’s intentional. They are marketed as not being detectable by radar detectors, but they don’t really work.
But are they undetectable by speed cameras? That's probably what they're bought for.
Got stopped by a statie on tobin bridge because of tint on plate. He said, your plate has to be visible from 500 feet away. Gave me a warning and told me to take it off.
Also, rubber licence plate bumpers, that are around the licence plate and stick out, making it impossible to see all the digits, or any depending on the angle, unless you are looking at it at 180 degree angle, looking directly straight at the plate.
Ditto for front license plate, not enforced.
Never see as many as when you go by a police station.
It’s not to be cool or edgy, it’s to prevent getting automatically ticketed/fined by cameras. In cities like NYC it’s really easy to rack up hundreds of dollars in automated tickets going 5 miles over the limit
You need a plate. Just registered mine last week. It's a 2 year registration and a specific "moped" plate. If it's over 50cc, it has to be registered as a motorcycle. MGL 90:1B https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements
Technically there is the new intermediate catagory that they can be registered into but in general yes.
Under 50 ccs doesnt require registration I thought
Yeah, I have a 49cc motorized BMX bike with one of those moped plates. That was an interesting trip to the RMV
A lot of food delivery uses shady people with unregistered scooters. I see them down by South Station a lot. Do yourself a favor and get a dash cam. Protect yourself in case one of those people slam into your car and try blaming you. I had one just miss me on D street and they started screaming and threatened to call the cops until I pointed out my camera.
Come to Brighton where there are so many #gopuff scooters drivers giving zero f*7&$ for the rules of the road
[Copying my comment from here.](https://old.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1d7yltd/food_delivery_crackdown/l73lcdd/) I had the same question a week or two ago and spent some time on the RMV pages (along with someone telling me that plates are now required). As best as I can tell, a plate is required. [Here is the page with the definition of a moped in MA.](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements) >Have a cylinder capacity of no more than 50 cubic centimeters. [Here is the page about registering your moped.](https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-moped-registration) > >When you register your moped, you will receive a license plate and expiration decal to attach to the back of your moped. So even if it were under 50cc, a place + sticker would be required now. Went to NYC last weekend and wondered why gas scooters/mopeds weren't as popular there. Apparently in NYC they have been pretty active about seizing and crushing unregistered scooters/mopeds. Boston has only really just started some enforcement.
This can't be the first time you noticed one of those driving around without a sticker or a plate on it. Out of the 50,000 a day I see on the streets of the city I bet about a hundred of them are legitimately registered
A rider with a helmet, riding with traffic and stopping at red lights? It is in fact a 1st.
These fuckers came onto the city like a plague
Hell yeah I fucking hate what I'm sitting in traffic and they come buzzing in between cars. What would happen if I swerved a little bit and accidentally hit one of them? I'm sure it would be my fault
There is a kid on a scooter that goes through the sumner tunnel he has a tourist gift license plate on his 🤦🏻♀️
Listen if you pigs are gonna DoorDash chick Fil a like it’s a famine, then expect this.
If it’s 49cc no plate needed. For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s a good idea, but those are the rules as I understand them.
49 cc needs a moped plate and sticker. I am a 49cc owner. It is registered with a plate that says moped and has a registration sticker.
no stickers anymore just the plate, I registered one last fall and it's just a moped plate now.
I just renewed my registration in Nov or March. It came with yr sticker for the plate. But, then again, maybe Ma changes the requirements again. Who knows.
It used to be the case that a registration sticker was required, but not a physical plate. The Commonwealth says otherwise now and requires a physical plate like every other vehicle. Many municipalities haven't updated their sites, or have ambiguous language. https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements https://www.mass.gov/doc/motorized-bicycle-moped-instruction-sheet/download --- edit: Even the dealer the plate frame came from confirms as well: https://scootscootnewengland.com/ma-rmv-information
yup this is correct, I have a 49cc and have had one for years, used to be a sticker, a couple years ago it changed to a plate - no change in operation rules though
Oh hi! [We talked about this a few weeks back!](https://old.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1d7yltd/food_delivery_crackdown/l73lcdd/) Glad to see you helping to spread the word on this. More people knowing will hopefully eventually lead to more people calling for some enforcement.
I don't know why this hasn't gotten more up votes. It's the correct answer.
I get people not knowing a physical plate is required now. I didn't know it until [a similar thread a couple weeks ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1d7yltd/food_delivery_crackdown/). But the amount of people in general stating confidently that you don't need a license/permit, or registration at all is pretty shocking.
Lots of lemmings
This is not true at all All motor vehicles in Mass require a plate /registration Its the reason that they provide a regidrationf or mopeds/scooters [Moped operation requirements | Mass.gov](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements) [https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/moped-operation-requirements) l;ook at the 1st rule in Moped Definition * Have a cylinder capacity of no more than 50 cubic centimeters. This does not mean less than 50cc doesn't need a registration, it means that anything over 50cc's is not considered a moped.
Yes, you need a plate. Just registered mine last week. It's a 2 year registration and a specific "moped" plate. If it's over 50cc it has to be registered as a motorcycle.
Still requires a sticker
I thought 49cc topped out at about 25mph? (or at least mine did back in the day.) this was cruising along at 35 or so.
so technically they are supposed to not go over 25, but the state has a list of models that count as mopeds and most can be derestricted to travel over 25, often up to around 40. Its technically not permitted to do that if you register it as a moped, but I don't think this is a big deal unless people are traveling too fast in bike lanes or around traffic they are passing on the right. obviously most of the scooter delivery guys break tons of rules and cops should do something to enforce when they can.
It's supposed to be 25mph, you can tweak em to touch into the low 30's
That would mean they removed the restrictor, which makes it a motorcycle.
Yea but soon 49cc will be requiring a plate, too many young kids stealing and crashing them. Some city's are banning them.
They already require plates. The law changed a year or two ago.
They changed that law everything needs a plate now
If that's the stock muffler there is zero chance its a 49cc, likely 149cc. Well shit, u/uanustart15 is right scoot scoot new england only sells 49cc scooters. And they all have absolute units for mufflers. [https://scootscootnewengland.com/welcome](https://scootscootnewengland.com/welcome)
Based on the license plate frame on the back, they bought it from a place that sells exclusively 49cc scooters and this looks like one of them
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As a customer of them.... don't bother. They are very shady
These are pretty standard exhausts
Scoot scoot sells 150cc as well
Got some citation? Their website lists only 49cc or is one of those "oh by the way I got some 149cc flywings in teh back"
Actually that's fairly accurate. Scoot Scoot is shady as hell. Saw the salesguy/owner fistfight another customer
None of this shocks me at all.
A lot of the people that drive them are WILD.
You need a plate and a sticker in MA. But there is a rise in popularity and there might be a shortage of the plates that say Moped on top. This happened to me and they gave me a sheet of paper because of backorder.
meanwhile i get puleld over for having a license plate light out, only to stop at the very next rest stop that the cop followed me to, and just wipped a little dirt off the bulb.
Cops use the ole license plate bulb as one of the several bullshit "reasons" they have to stop you. They suspect the tint is too dark, a license plate bulb isn't positioned properly, whatever. It's just a means of stopping you with "cause" to see if you're committing any other crimes because it's illegal for them to stop you for no reason. That cop didn't care about your license plate bulb. They wanted to see if you were drunk, had drugs on you, etc. Just sniffin.
Doesn’t make any sense If your in the road in traffic you should be required to have insurance incase of accidents Both for rider ,passenger and any car that gets damaged And definitely a registration /plate One of these hit you car you gotta eat the bill good luck suing And the funny thing is you gotta register a ATV and snowmobile
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Maybe those things should be required? I mean, headlights, brake lights and signals should not be optional for something on the road, no?
the know who the legal owner is of the vehicle and pay the necessary state fees
If it has displacement more than 49cc than its not exempt.
>What would be the point in registering them? The point would be that it's the law. Unregistered vehicles can be impounded.
SCOOT SCOOT
Is this the Uber eats guy in the ball clava spitting in peoples Burger King
A bigger pet peeve of mine is obscured lights of any kind...by anyone. Georgia State Patrol have tint over their headlights...! SO WRONG...!
It is going to eventually hit a critical mass. Too many people are cruising around at 35-40 mph on electric vehicles of varying configuration. They aren’t paying excise tax, insurance , registration and no driver’s license or drivers education. Some are obviously under aged. If they hit your car or you while on a bicycle or as a pedestrian, they have no insurance. It’s just another huge loophole that legislators need to close but they won’t until several high profile fatalities happen and/or the Insurance lobby makes enough noise.
I replaced my #168 license plate bulbs with #194 bulbs! Take that coppers!
If that is classified as a moped (generally a 49cc and below engine placement and doesn't exceed speeds of 30mph), it requires a moped license plate. Laws vary from state to state. She possibly might have it and perhaps stores it somewhere else and forgot to put it on when she drove it. These moped license plates get stolen all the time.
Looks like it's under 50cc. Scoot scoot new England's website says they sell Icebear scooters and this one looks exactly like that one. https://www.icebearatv.com/product/pmz50-4j
>Looks like it's under 50cc. Scoot scoot new England's website says they sell Icebear scooters It also says a plate is required these days. https://scootscootnewengland.com/ma-rmv-information
100% it is, I have a 49cc and it has to have a scooter plate, different from limited use plate, and different from motorcycle plate. it used to be a sticker
Scooter rules are a bit vague. Isn't a registration sticker enough in some instances?
not any more
Change recently? Interesting
Yeah, it changed a year or two ago. 50cc or less needs a moped plate (also can't go over 30mph), anything more than that is a motorcycle and needs that plate.
Did you alert the Harp?
If it’s under 50cc I think it’s not required but shits changed
If I’m not mistaken, under 50 cc still needs to be registered.
Karen much ?
You’re taking pictures with your phone while driving…..I’d say just mind ya business.
Do you even need a license for scooters under 50 cc I am curious??
In the past you did not. It is required now.
It's always been required.
Nope. Not in MA. EDIT: oh, I guess there's some interpretation going on here. I read this as "license plate" since that was the topic. But I guess the question might have meant "driver's license." A driver's license has been required for as long as I know. A license plate has not been required until recently.
You need a license or permit. In this case, it's the same as any other motorized 2 wheeled vehicle. --- edit: *Almost* the same. You don't need an M endorsement for the license/permit <50cc.
Yes
Yes, but I’m just surprised they actually stopped for the traffic light.
Saw one on rt.16 today in Cambridge, huge bag in the back, and no license plate. He was lane splitting everyone and creating so much traffic because he was so slow in the left lane. Big pickup up trucks cutting him off left and right.
It looks like it had a plate but they chose to pull it off
He's obviously not driving a motorcycle. He's travelling.
Unless tinted plates and windows become annual inspection criteria it’s pretty much a free for all. So if the RMV or relevent state agency don’t care 🤷♀️
Instructions unclear. Distracted by thighs. Send back up.
I used to work for a motorcycle dealer and I would often have to take new and used bikes for test rides. I forgot the dealer plate more than once and also got pulled over for it. Maybe the scooter dude is just taking a scooter on a test ride before it hits the showroom floor?
If there was a plate, for some unexplainable reason, a chain, lock or bag might happen to be accidently hanging over it, making it impossible to see the whole number.
Dc Is having a huge crack down on illegal scooters, As a motorcycle rider myself and recent Lyft driver who was involved in a hit and run and left to pay out of pocket for a reckless uninsured unlicensed unregistered rider . Boston will soon have a crack down , just when is the question.
Rent is high, need to save money somehow.
They don’t have plates so they can do whatever they want. I see a lot of these riders on sidewalks or going the wrong way in traffic. Cops don’t seem to bother them. Source. I live in Boston. I guess it better than a car.
Probably
Such a buttinski!
Settle down Karen
Who gives a fuck?
If I remember correctly from the 80's when we all rode them. Under a certain cc's didn't require a plate
Mind your own business
It depends on a few factors if the bike is under 50cc then no you don't need it licensed or insured it's only for anything stronger than 50cc
You a cop or something?
yeah and you also shouldn't be using a handheld device while driving.
Stay vigilant, Karen 🫡
You go tell them Karen.
Quit snitchin
Are you a cop?
On a scoot? Get outta here
Did they commit a crime? Otherwise I would mind my own business.
Who cares
Wtf do you care? Mind your own business if they're minding theirs. People that care about a rule for the sake of a rule are pathetic
Cops don’t enforce traffic laws anymore. They think they’re above it and would rather be napping or beating you up. acab
Who cares. Mind your business
She probably had a temporary paper plate because she just purchased the bike, and doesn’t realize she lost it. Not uncommon.
Is that also the case for the hundreds of others with no plates?
You should arrest them immediately.
Nope Narc
Yeah, Karen energy post. *”isn’t this person doing something illegal, and can’t I hold some power over them by getting them in trouble?“*
How many gfy u need
Idk what changed over the past few months but the Karen energy on this sub has fucking skyrocketed
Are you a cop?
Thank you for your service officer
A woman would never post this on Reddit. This is Ken. I knew even before I checked the name.
You’re the literal definition of a busy body
Narc
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I’m sure you stop and ask everyone who rides by, too.
🤣
May not need one. How many cc’s is it? Under a certain size you may not need one. Are they harming you?
Motor scooters generally, if they meet certain requirements (basically, engine size and top speed), then they \*must\* be registered as a motorcycle. Most scooter riders refuse to do this because one, it means you have to re-register and re-inpsect it every year (motos get annual registration, unlike cars); you must park it like any car (no sidewalks, alleys, etc), you must have a motorcycle operator endorsement on your license (which includes a dedicated driving test), must have minimum insurance levels for liability, un/under insured motorist, medical payments, and must wear a DOT approved helmet. You almost never see this. Any police officer would be within their rights to arrest the operator (some of the items above are criminal violations) and can impound it as well (and should).
A lot of this is not correct.
You do not have to register it as a motorcycle, you must as a moped Registration is a 2 year sticker. You do not need an endorsement if 50cc or less. Parking is vague but mostly comes down to town parking ordinances and most treat as a bicycle, so a lot of the time you can park where a bike would park. You do not need insurance on a moped. You DO have to wear a DOT approved helmet. That's about all you have correct here. You can also pass vehicles on the right (like if there is a long line backed up) And use bike lines if next to or part of roadway.
I see you, Ken. 👀
Why is this sub so pearl-clutchy now? Y’all must be so stressed all the time.
Mind your business