THERE IS MUCH MORE TO THIS SECTION BUT TO MUCH TO LIST BUT THIS IS KINDA THE BASICS.
SPECIALTY MOTORIZED VEHICLES (IF IT HAS A MOTOR ITS MOTORIZED,SNOWMOBILE,ATV,TRAILBIKE) MUST BE REGISTERED, AND TO BE REGISTERED IT MUST HAVE A WORKING HEADLIGHT AND BRAKELIGHT (red) AS WELL AS BRAKES. IT CAN BE OPERATED ON SOME ROADS IF ALLOWED IN THAT JURISDICTION. CAN BE OPERATED ON THE BERM OR SIDE OF A ROAD TO TRAVEL FROM AN UNLOADING POINT TO A DESTINATION (SHORT DISTANCE). CAN CROSS A ROAD. OPERATOR MUST HAVE A VALID DRIVERS LICENSE UNLESS ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT.

 

..what do police say when they see you on the road,
if its winter and there is alot of snow on the ground i tell people that if that is their only way to get to the store go straight there and back. If there is no reason to be on the road then dont be on the road. Maybe i should clarify...street, i am a police officer in a small city. I have never written a citation for an atv on the street but i am not against it.

 

This is what I found with quick search for where i live.

New Mexico






State Laws:

• ATVs must be titled.
• ATVs must be registered; a user fee must be paid, if the ATV is used on public lands; registration is renewed every 2 years.
• ATV riders under age 18 must wear helmets and eye protection.
• ATV riders under age 18 must have a safety permit.
• ATV operators under age 18 may not carry passengers.
• ATV riders under age 18 must be supervised except under specified circumstances.
• ATV operators under age 10 may only operate age-appropriate size-fit ATVs.
• ATVs may not be operated on paved streets, except to cross. <---------------------------------------------
• No ATV shall be operated without a lighted headlight and taillight when visibility is limited.

State Agency that Regulates ATVs: State Police. View their Web Site: www.nmsp.com


However I have ridden my atv through the neighborhood streets, I followed the laws (stop signs, hand signals .....) also have ridden past alot of cops. I think it depends on a few things.

1. The attitude of the officer that catches you doing it
2. Your age.(teenagers will get nailed and their bikes impounded )
3. How you are riding..be responsible and use hand signals like if u were in a car with out functioning signals
4. Try not to get caught doing it.

 

I am a "cop" and a frequent ATV rider. In my area while some towns have designated roads for ATV access most "public ways" do not allow ATV traffic with the exception of 300 yards to travel from trails to trail or to cross waterways. Over the years I have caught many ATV's on roads and my rule and that of almost every officer I know is they get a warning unless they are doing something stupid like trespassing, speeding, burn outs, wheelies, and the big one, OUI. Responsible riders going down the sides of the road are no big deal to most cops and do not attract attention or generate citizen complaints.

For those of you that boast about outrunning the cops and never looking back your day will come when you'll get hurt or caught, or god forbid hurt someone else. Your the ones that cause problems for the rest of us. One thing to remember is that most police cars nowadays are equipped with cameras that record everything making it so much easier to trace the action back to you. For example we recently had a guy with an over inflated ego with the mind set that the cops would never catch him on an ATV. He was indeed able to get away at first by running and turning onto a woods road. The cameras were reviewed and it only took a little work to figure out who it was, afterall most people ride in the areas near where they live. When the guy was confronted he still denied it was him, the ATV was easy to indentify from the videa so it was taken and impounded as evidence for a couple months. Ultimately the guy decided to own up to it. So instead of a warning or at the worst a civil charge for operating the ATV on a public way he was charged with reckless operation, eluding an officer, making a false statement and the operating on a public way. Not to mention that he will never catch another break or get just a warning for an ATV issue again.

Be smart know the laws in your area and ride responsibly.

 

this is how i feel as well as other officers i work with and know. A few years back i was on the city streets here where i live (i dont crap, where i eat) and we were having a bad winter. Power was out all over town and i used my brothers honda 300 to go to my familys restaurant about 3 miles away to make sure all was well. I ran into one of our local deputies in a 4x4 and he asked me what i was doing and where i was going. When i explained what i was doing he said i was ok but to check it out and get off the road due to the snow emergency. He didnt recognize me (face mask) until i showed my face, so i know he wasnt cutting a "brother" a break, but i was also following local traffic laws and not being stupid. The key if you are caught is: Be respectful (as you always should) and know that we "cops" are doing our jobs.

 

People who run from the law really deserve to lose their ride-- that makes everyone who rides look like criminals. Usually the cops just warn you unless you are being an idiot and then they may just ticket you. More often than not-- unless you are severely breaking laws-- will they impound your ride.

Here, riding on the road is one of those impoundable offenses, however riding on the shoulder will get you a TICKET at most... not worth running from and risking being decapitated by a guide wire on the the side of the road (happened here 2 years ago to a 15 year old kid on his Raptor).

 

We ride almost every weekend here. We ride alot of blacktop and gravel roads. I have never been stopped by the law. But we do not ride fast or anything like that. As long as we stay on secondary roads they don't say anything. I leave right from my house. We ride between 60 and 100 miles at a time. sometimes stopping at gas stations to get gas.

 

Where I live its very leaniant, In town (population 2500) you can ride on all city streets as long as you 1. have a flag and 2. pay for a city permit. They dont even require helmets we can also ride all gravel roads, the only thing off limits is private land, Highways (other than simply crossing them) and interstates of course.

I also believe you are not allowed to ride in town after dark but not %100 on that... There are plenty of folks in our area who ride their atv to work, and I would to if I didnt have to wear shirt and Tie

 

i wish my city was like that i live in a little town in NC but i just got a $180 ticket and my buddy got a $300 ticket (that was b/c he wasnt wearing a helmet) and we both could lose our license and supposedly our insurance does out 3X's!!!!!

 

that sounds like fun