Mary M. Mushinsky

Along with autumn's cooler weather and changing leaves, a number of new state laws are also hitting the books this month.

About 90 measures passed during the 2025 legislative session take effect October 1.

These include updated motorcycle and e-bike laws that reflect our continued efforts to promote public safety and adapt to emerging technologies and trends to better protect everyone traveling on our roads.

• A new law raises the age from 18 to 21 for requiring motorcyclists to wear a helmet. It also raises the age from 16 to 18 and under for children to wear a helmet while riding bicycles, scooters and skateboards.
• There are new regulations for certain high-powered e-bikes. Riders without pedals and equipped with batteries over 750 watts (25-28 mph) will now need a valid driver’s license. Additionally, e-bikes with batteries over 3,500 watts (35-50+ mph) will also require registration and insurance similar to motorcycles.
• $1,000 fines take effect for participants in street takeovers, and can also face license suspension and seizure of their vehicles.

We also took action to better protect our first responders who put their lives on the line to protect us.

• Firefighters will now be eligible for benefits similar to workers' compensation for certain cancers. This will be done via an expansion of the state's Firefighters Cancer Relief Fund.

Another new law is specifically aimed at better protecting sexual assault victims from societal discriminatory practices.

• Both victims of sexual assault and human trafficking have been added as a protected class under state discrimination laws. The law gives power to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities to be able to better protect these victims from discrimination relating to things such as housing, employment, credit ratings.

Here's a complete list of the new laws that take effect October 1.

You can read more about the new state laws in this article from CT Insider.