Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XIV Chapter 90
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90, § 1B (2026)

Motorized bicycles; operation regulations

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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Section 1B. A motorized bicycle shall not be operated upon any way, as defined in section one within the commonwealth by any person under sixteen years of age, nor at a speed in excess of twenty-five miles per hour. A motorized bicycle shall not be operated on any way by any person not possessing a valid driver's license or learner's permit. Every person operating a motorized bicycle upon a way shall have the right to use all public ways in the commonwealth except limited access or express state highways where signs specifically prohibiting bicycles have been posted, and shall be subject to the traffic laws and regulations of the commonwealth and the regulations contained in this section, except that: (1) the motorized bicycle operator may keep to the right when passing a motor vehicle which is moving in the travel lane of the way, and (2) the motorized bicycle operator shall signal by either hand his intention to stop or turn. Motorized bicycles may be operated on bicycle lanes adjacent to the various ways, but shall be excluded from off-street recreational bicycle paths.

Every person operating a motorized bicycle or riding as a passenger on a motorized bicycle shall wear protective headgear conforming with such minimum standards of construction and performance as the registrar may prescribe, and no person operating a motorized bicycle shall permit any other person to ride a passenger on such motorized bicycle unless such passenger is wearing such protective headgear.

A person convicted of a violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars for the first offense, not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars for a second offense, and not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars for subsequent offenses committed.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1982–2017 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Ceria, 431 N.E.2d 608 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982).
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Commonwealth v. Ceria, 431 N.E.2d 608 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). · cites it 2× “261, §§ 2,3, now defines a “motorized bicycle,” and specifically excludes such vehicles from the definition of “motor vehicles” as used throughout the chapter.”
Commonwealth v. Lopez, No. AC 15-P-1207 (Mass. App. Ct. May 10, 2017). · cites it 8× “On appeal, the defendant argues that although his 2 operating the moped with a suspended license may have been a violation of G. L. c. 90, § 1B (which allows for fines but no incarceration), as a matter of law, it cannot be a violation of G.”
Mad Maxine's Watersports, Inc. v. Harbormaster of Provincetown, 858 N.E.2d 760 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006). “90 that refers to the “[r]ight to operate” a motor vehicle “conferred by a license issued under section eight, a learner’s permit issued under section eight B, or by reciprocity to nonresidents under sections three and ten.”
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