why they are safe

 

In general they are not engineered to take the loads you see on cement. Yes I know they can of large jumps, but sharp turns puts alot of lateral stress on the chassis.

They also would need full lights. That means not only adding the lights, but increasing the size of the alternator to provide the power and upping the battery size for the larger loads.

 

Hi there
Quads are street legal in communities that pass bylaws to allow them.
Ontario has passed the required laws that allow quads to use the roads in Ontario.
visit our snowmobile website: www.rcsasnow.com

 

One huge reason they are not street legal is the fact that they don't have an open diff in the rear but rather most are solid axle. Combine that with the narrow width(especially those models made in the 80's when the laws were first passed) and the soft, offroad only tires gives you handling characteristics that are pretty poor on paved roads. Many places that have legalized quads on the roads are only legalizing certain roads, and there are several restrictions in place.

 

I keep seeing postings about control problems with ATV's on paved roads, but I just don't see it. I've been riding on paved roads for years and haven't had any problems. I do slow down for turns and don't take chances. Whenever possible, I put the wheels on one side on the gravel shoulder when making a sharp turn. That's not always possible, but when it's not, there's no big deal. Seems like there is more of a problem when I accidentally leave my pickup in 4wd, then try to make a turn on pavement.

 

Most people may not have an issue handling an atv on the road, but the laws are generally designed to account for the minority. Also, like I stated above, many of these laws have been in place since the old trike days. Do me a favor and look at the sidewall of your tires, are they DOT approved for street use? Mine sure aren't. They are to soft/grippy a compound for starters. Would you be able to ride all the trails you normally do shod with a DOT approved tire?

 

Interesting. No, I don't see anything on my ATV tires that says "DOT Approved."

But, I have DOT approved tires on my truck, and I can tell you I can take it almost everywhere that I do my ATV. There's that show on cable TV (I think it's called "4 Wheelin'") where they take trucks and jeeps on trails where I'd never go with my ATV. I can't see that DOT approval has any bearing for off-road.

For on-road, I'm wondering if we might be looking at a situation where the ATV tire manufactuers just haven't bothered to get DOT approval. You would think the same tire safety concerns would apply both on- and off-road.

My feeliing is that ATV's should be allowed on roads, except for major highways and freeways. There are fewer people killed or injured on ATV's than motorcycles, or even bicycles. We've even had a couple of on-road accidents around here that involved horse riders. AVT's are allowed on roads in several townships in this county, but there have been no accidents involving ATV's...knock on wood.

 

Off road quads don't meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) set by the National Highway Safety Administration, i. e. DOT tire, etc as the others mentioned above. However I did read last year in an ATV magazine that Polaris was going to introduce a street quad in Europe. What Idaho is doing is addressing primarily the improved graded unpaved public roads and reinforcing the issue that off-road dirt bikes, ATVs, & UTVs must stay on dirt unless the vehicle meets FMVSS. In Idaho it's extremely important to be able to use public maintain dirt roads to link to different OHV trail systems on Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Idaho State lands. Idaho has thousands of miles of OHV trails, however with the new proposal it will allow OHVs to use improved public (dirt) roads to go to rural markets, gas stations, cabins, and motels too.

 

I checked it out on http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...dex.html#SN119. Looks like those standards are mainly concerned with "passenger cars, trucks and buses." I just glanced through it, so I may have missed some subpart that mentions ATV's and motorcycles.

 

In Idaho, adopts Title 49 Code of Federal Regulation Chapter V for safe construction and manufacturing of motorized vehicles as they relate to FMVSS or certified by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Idaho code further reads: Motor vehicle. Every vehicle which is self-propelled and meets FMVSS pursant to Idaho Code Title 49 Section 107.....For purposes of chapter 12 and 24 of this title it shall also include all-terrain vehicles, utility type vehicles, off-road motorcycles, motor driven cycles, motorbikes, and mopeds.
Self propelled motor vehicles which do not meet the FMVSS to 49-107(4) shall not be permitted to operate on public highways, as defined in Idaho Code Title 40 section 117(5).

I'm not sure how the laws read other states in the U.S.