Greece E-Scooter Laws: Helmet Mandate and the Real Minimum Age (2026)

This article is general information about e-scooter (e-scooter, patini) law and is not legal advice. For a specific fine, accident, or age question, consult a Greek dikigoros or the official text of Law 5209/2025 directly. Information last verified on 23 July 2026.

Are e-scooters legal in Greece?

Yes. Greece's traffic code, Law 5209/2025 (Kodikas Odikis Kykloforias), published in the Government Gazette as FEK A 100/13.6.2025, creates a defined vehicle category called EPHO, "Elafry Prosopiko Ilektriko Ochima," light personal electric vehicle. Article 4, paragraph 17 of the law places e-scooters (patinia) in this category, alongside electric rollerskates and skateboards, self-balancing devices, and certain disability mobility devices, as separate sub-categories of the same EPHO class.

The law further splits EPHO devices by design speed: a device with a maximum speed of 6km/h or less is treated and moves as a pedestrian, while a device above 6km/h and up to 25km/h is treated and moves as a bicycle, subject to signage and lane rules. Rental e-scooter markets, including operators such as Bolt and Tier, operate in Athens and Thessaloniki under this same framework.

What counts as an e-scooter here

Article 4, paragraph 17 defines patinia (e-scooters) as one sub-category of EPHO, alongside trochopedila and trochosanides (electric rollerskates and skateboards) as a separate sub-category, and self-balancing devices as a third. This device-type distinction matters directly for the age rule below, since Greek law treats these as different categories with different age floors, not different speed tiers of the same device.

Where you can ride

Article 44, paragraph 5 requires that where a bicycle or moped lane exists, an EPHO device in the faster, above-6km/h sub-category must use it and is barred from the rest of the roadway. Article 56, read together with Article 55 paragraph 3, confirms EPHO devices may also use designated pedestrian streets.

Rider rules

Age: 12 for e-scooters, 15 for skateboards and rollerskates, not a speed-based split. Article 44, paragraph 10 sets the minimum age at 12 for patinia (e-scooters) specifically, and 15 for trochopedila and trochosanides (electric rollerskates and skateboards). This is a device-type distinction. Several Greek outlets, including topspeed.gr, in.gr, and gocar.gr, have reported this split as speed-based instead, describing age 12 for devices capped at 6km/h and age 15 for devices up to 25km/h. That framing conflates the law's separate speed sub-classification, used elsewhere to decide whether a device is treated as a pedestrian or a bicycle, with the age sub-classification, which runs by device type regardless of speed class. An e-scooter rider aged 12 or older meets the age requirement whether their device tops out at 6km/h or 25km/h; the 15-year floor applies only to rollerskates and skateboards.

Helmet: mandatory, unlike for cyclists. Article 44, paragraph 12 requires EPHO riders, across the patinia, rollerskate/skateboard, and self-balancing sub-categories, to wear an approved, properly fastened protective helmet, with an exception only for riders of electric wheelchairs for people with disabilities. The same article recommends, but does not require, a helmet for ordinary cyclists. This makes the e-scooter helmet rule stricter than the bicycle rule, a genuine asymmetry in Greek law worth calling out explicitly.

Penalties

Article 44, paragraph 15 assigns EPHO-specific violations, including the age and helmet rules above, to a penalty category the law itself labels "E1-A." The specific euro amount attached to that category was not located in the text extracted this session; it most likely sits in a separate penalty-schedule article or table not reached during this research pass. This article therefore does not state a specific fine figure for a Greek EPHO violation. Anyone facing a citation should confirm the current E1-A amount directly rather than relying on a number from secondary reporting.

Enforcement in practice

Greek outlets aftodioikisi.gr and autotypos.gr report that, despite the law's detailed and in some respects strict requirements, on-street enforcement of the age and helmet rules is patchy, and many riders and parents remain unaware the rules exist at all.

This enforcement gap does not change what the law requires. A 10-year-old riding an e-scooter, or an unhelmeted rider of any age, is out of compliance with Article 44 regardless of how consistently police in a given area act on it, and a quiet enforcement pattern is not a substitute for meeting the age or helmet requirement.

Legal history and what may change

Law 5209/2025 was published in the Government Gazette on 13 June 2025. Whether every EPHO-specific provision described above is already fully in force, or subject to some phase-in period, was not confirmed this session and should be checked directly against the current gazette text or subsequent implementing guidance before assuming a rule is already fully operative.

For how a neighboring EU country handles the same technology, see Italy's e-scooter laws, or the world e-scooter law guide for a full country comparison.