Why are atv's or quads illegal to drive on the street?

Question

I never understood this. I want to buy a high speed atv like a triazuma or a gg quad, but it's illegal to drive them on the street. why is that?????

Answer 1

Headlights are not DOT approved, no brake lights or turn signals, no legal mufflers or emission controls.

Answer 2

IT is an "OFF" road vehicle.  Buy yourself a motorcycle or one of those tike if you like to have more then 2 wheels.

Answer 3

The DOT can register an ATV to be street legal if, it has street legal tires, working turn signals and head/brake lights, as well as hazard blinking lights. If converted to have all of these specs met, they can be registered by the DOT for plates and tags. I left out that they have to be a 4 stroke engine.

FYI- This is the law in Texas. I can't vouch for any other states, and I know this because, well lets just say they let you write about anything you want in college and I for some crazy reason went with this question as my topic. All info I got from Texas DOT website as well as e-mails from DOT cust. service, who got quite a kick out of this question and did most of the work for me.

Answer 4

Ah grasshopper its just where you live. Here we have to add a mirror and a license plate light and a horn, then we plate them as motorcycles. Technically we should change the tires but I don't know anyone who has done this.  It boils back to our Governor who pushed for this to happen and since the HP's are his private goon squad he tells them that the tire issue "isn't important".  The only place we can't ride them are the Interstates.

Answer 5

because they aren't made to be street legal ,they can be made to be but still the law doesn't allow them to be street legal,they would need turn signals and brake lights and be able to pass a safety test,and need to be able to keep up with on going traffic,I'm sure someday they probably will make one street legal but for now they aren't,good luck.

Answer 6

In general they are off road vehicle.  They have knobby tires and those knock the heck out of the road condition.

And in the end, they do not meet DOT safety requirements.  Many  of them do not have brake lights, turn lights, etc.

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Which doesn't always explain why they cannot be converted. I'm guessing that DOT just don't want to deal with handling individual conversions.

Good Luck...

Answer 7

because the handling and suspension is just not meant for the street, sort of like a SUV thats why when they take one turn the just flip

Answer 8

Because they are not licensed or registered with the DMV, nor do you get regular insurance on them to protect again damage to persons or property. They have no standard street safety features required by law [[ie: turn signals, etc.]].

Answer 9

It is not  just a matter of hang lights on them. The lights have to be of a certain  minimal brigthness, All the lights have to be  seen a a certain distance, there is a distance requirement on hearing the horn. The brakes have a maximum distance requirement to stop at a speed. Tire that come on them are not good on the street. And if you did all that then  you have to have a MSO so you can get a title. And when you have all of that done you would still have to meet the age requirements for your state.

Answer 10

The main thing i have noticed about sport atv , [Kawasaki kfx400 ] is that the machine was designed for dirt not pavement . When taking a curve on  a asphalt road , I can lean as hard as I can and my quad will still come up on 2 wheels . On the dirt , no problem . the back tires slide a little, just enough to keep all four tires planted .

Now if the dealer will change the axles and a-arms to make the atv about 12" wider , lower the machine to where it is only a few inches off the ground, and put Hoosier street track tires on it , then it  would handle the pavement at highway speeds ,but then it would not be much use off road .