I heard that during a state of emergancy (big time snow storm ect.) that it is legal to ride an ATV or snomobile on the roads, since nothing else can use them
, is this true?

 

It depends on the state, in Montana, if the roads are impassable, you can use a snowmobile provided it has current tags. not sure about atvs. Here in Washington, the Mayors can declare a snow emergecy if neccesary, but it has never happend any where I lived[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] Maybe this year!

 

Being a former Emergency Management volunteer I know that the government can make special exceptions to rules set forth buy them. In certain situations they may call upon people who have specialized equipment to assist in emergencies. In Colorado they have special teams of volunteers who do search and rescue operations with ATV's. During the winter they use teams of snowmobiles for SAR ops.

If local, state or federal government declare a state of emergency, there is a good reason for it but I don't know, in any state, if this is an open ticket to break regular laws. Then again, I don't think there is a law against piloting your boat down Main Street when it is flooded.

I don't think anyone would hassle you if the streets were impassible. The most important thing is keep safe.

 

here in MN, there are certain times of the year that we can ride in the very bottom of the ditches. It is closed for a few months to help protect what wildlife might be nesting there in the summer months. Then there are what we call township roads that are legal to ride on year round. These are just a minimal usage road that is maintained, but typically doesn't see much traffic. Then there is also the option of buying an agricultural license that would allow us to ride on the very edge of county roads. There is a standard registration that all machines must have and the ag. registration is extra but only costs around $5-6.

Several years ago, I had a local policeman pull me over and give me a warning for riding a city street. He let me off when I told him that I was riding 10 miles to get to work. Later on that week, he stopped me in the gas station and said he had something for me. He had talked with a conservation officer about ATV's and the legal in's and out's. He handed me a copy of the statutes. In there it stated that, at the time, what roads we could not ride on. But the thing it didn't state was city streets. In order to be legal for the city, it needed working brakes front and rear, lights front and rear, and 16 square inches of reflective material in front of the handle bars. In light of all this, the local cops all told me I was legal to ride on the streets.

Then along came the state trooper one day. Although Main street was considered a state highway, the trooper claimed I was riding down the street where I actually made a 90 degree crossing, legal by the book. He proceded to invite me to the squad car, ran my license, and started on the ticket. We argued about whether or not I was legal and I told him that none of the locals had a problem with me riding. He hands me the ticket anyhow. I thought ok, after he left and went to the gas station, I left the wheeler sit and dug out my statutes to show him I was legal. I walk over and hand them to him and he claims that it included city streets. My response was if this was so, it would be stated. It was not! He's hot as a chili pepper at this time and says to me "I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A LITTLE PRIC ABOUT THIS". So I bit my tongue and said I will be in contact with the city attorney, who never prosecuted the ticket, that was written up as a DWI according to the stautue on the ticket.

Sorry to get long winded about this, but I thought it was a cool story to share. Be sure to check the local regulations before you ride in unknown territory.

 

ok cool,
but even if it is illegal, im not gonna get hassled if the roads are impassible. whos is gonna stop me?
or have the equipment to? theyd have to be on a quad or snomobile them selvs, lol

 

Thats quite interesting to me.

In Europe, all ATVs abd snowmobiles need a registration and when imported from the US, the importer has to do the mods to hit European requirements for legal road use. I think there are just a handful ATVs around which are not registered and they are in use on private farmland. (In the scottish Highlands perhaps or on the huge cattle-ranches in England).


For the rest of Europe, you can (well, in most countries you have to) use your ATV like a motorbike on any public road.

With snowmobiles in case they are allowed at all:

Thats just northern Norway, whole Sweden and Finland. You can use them on public roads up there. (Nobody really cares what you do with snowmobiles in Iceland or Greenland, of course...)

In general the European authorities wanna keep ATvs on the roads. In case you get caught in the wwoods, they sew you because of violating the environmental law.

 

Here in WV, its legal to ride on the road at any time as long as you have a driver's license and use hand signals. The legislators have been trying for a while to pass a law that prohibits it, but until they do we can ride anywhere.