[AnnieMei]

72Beetle summed up the local laws here fairly well. It's legal to ride a 49cc and less scooter on city streets without a helmet, license, registration, or insurance. There are limits to horsepower as well.

These scooters all have mirrors, lights, and signals, though. Plus they are quite a bit larger and more noticeable than a 50 dirt bike.

Its different from state to state
Here , MOPEDS have to have a license and you must be a licensed driver ( we have a category on our licenses for Mopeds/scooters, but I wont go into how anyone at age 14 can get one when our local laws require you to be 16 at least and they are riding mopeds around ). It doesn't require insurance, but it must have headlight, signals and brake lights. Otherwise, illegal to drive on the road.