Street legal buggies?

drtsqrl

I luv Pritchett
Location
Moab
Would you like to be able to legally drive your non-streetlegal 4x4 or buggy to the trailhead? Moab Friends-For-Wheelin’ is trying tomake that possible!
Because of Utah’s restrictive safety inspection law, many ofour modified trail rigs are unable to be licensed for street use. This meansthat we must trailer our rigs from our homes or motel to the trailhead, and itmakes it very difficult to run loop trails that start and finish in differentlocations. Trailheads are often plugged up with tow rigs and trailers, and ifwe do venture out on the highway, we are subject to tickets and fines. Severalyears ago, a law was passed that allows owners of ATV’s and UTV’s to streetlicense their vehicles. Although there are limits and restrictions to where andhow they can be driven, it nonetheless allows riders a way to legally drive onsome roads. We are attempting to obtain the same privileges as those users.
To this end, we have retained the services of Mike Swenson(Swenson Strategies and USA-All). Mike was instrumental in the passage of theoriginal ATV/UTV bill, and we are hoping that he will be able to do the samefor full-sized users. We are currently in the early stages, but so far ourmeetings have been positive. We haven’t worked out all of the details yet, butwe do anticipate some sort of inspection provision, and the vehicles will needto be equipped with standard safety features such as lights, turn signals, etc.We are hoping to eliminate the requirement of fender flares, and allowing beadlock wheels. Other details are still being negotiated.
Moab Friends-For-Wheelin’ is fronting a very sizeable amountof money to see this through. If this is something you support, we would be veryappreciative of any donation you could provide. We are setting up a PayPalaccount for this purpose, and I will post details as soon as it is up andworking.
If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.
Jeff Stevens
President, Moab Friends-For-Wheelin’
Update: Our PayPal account is now up and running. If anyone would like to help out, you can use your personal PayPal account. The email address to use is buggyfund@gmail.com.
 
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STAG

Well-Known Member
My only .02 ¢ (if its even worth that)... I don't want to be driving on the same roads as some of the buggies I've seen built.

I vote leave it as it is, if it can't pass a regular safety inspection, there's probably good reason.
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
I'll have to really dig through my memory but as I recall the original law (SB0181) change did in fact allow buggies to get the same street legal status but lawmakers revised the law to exclude full-size vehicles due to pressure from ??? What was their reasoning? Mike should know, as I recall it was he and Usa-All that supported SB22 which eliminated the street-legal status for full-size OHV's with larger than 26" tires, weight, width, etc.

RME'ers giving stink about the changes to SB22:
http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?62203-SB-22-Need-some-Suggested-Changes

Usa-All proud it passed, despite the fact it left full-size OHV's off the street:
http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?62360-SB-22-Passes-the-House
 

drtsqrl

I luv Pritchett
Location
Moab
Kurt, the first year of the ATV law did allow full-sized rigs. Apparently someone with the Highway Patrol didn't like it (that person is no longer there). Also, the word is that the Moab Sheriff was against it (we have a new sheriff now, and Moab has eased way up the last couple years on mud flap and fender enforcement.) Anyway, we were excluded after the first year. From the meetings we have had so far, we feel that we have a very good chance of getting this passed.
 

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
They have made many routes in Price legal to drive ATV's on, without a street license. As long as the atv sticker is current, you can drive the routes to and from the trails. It's very nice to just drive out of the driveway and across town in my buggy to get to trails further away.

If needed, I can try to find out what contacts in Price helped make this possible. It's an existing scenario that is successful so it might be beneficial to use it as a reference.

The only downside is that I can guarantee there will be some dumbasses reving up and down the streets making us all look like asses during the larger events in town. But I guess they already do that now anyways.
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
Kurt, the first year of the ATV law did allow full-sized rigs. Apparently someone with the Highway Patrol didn't like it (that person is no longer there). Also, the word is that the Moab Sheriff was against it (we have a new sheriff now, and Moab has eased way up the last couple years on mud flap and fender enforcement.) Anyway, we were excluded after the first year. From the meetings we have had so far, we feel that we have a very good chance of getting this passed.

That is encouraging, I just remember the hoopla when Usa-All supported SB22 and its changes despite major 4x4 support against it.

Will these vehicle be required to carry insurance?
 

drtsqrl

I luv Pritchett
Location
Moab
I agree that there are some questionable rigs out there, that is why we are proposing an inspection system in order to get licensed. As the law is now, your tires have to be 100 percent covered by fenders/flares, mud flaps are required, no beadlocks wheels, plus countless other things that many trail rigs don't pass.
My only .02 ¢ (if its even worth that)... I don't want to be driving on the same roads as some of the buggies I've seen built.

I vote leave it as it is, if it can't pass a regular safety inspection, there's probably good reason.
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
They have made many routes in Price legal to drive ATV's on, without a street license. As long as the atv sticker is current, you can drive the routes to and from the trails. It's very nice to just drive out of the driveway and across town in my buggy to get to trails further away...

Individual towns can designate ATV routes, thus eliminating the need for the street legal status. Many in the Piute system, Grantsville, Hurricane? and others have done this for their ATV travelers. As 191 through Moab is state controlled, I doubt Moab City or even Grand County could designate it open to ATV's, as I recall it has to be under a certain speed limit and under a certain amount of traffic?
 

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
Individual towns can designate ATV routes, thus eliminating the need for the street legal status. Many in the Piute system, Grantsville, Hurricane? and others have done this for their ATV travelers. As 191 through Moab is state controlled, I doubt Moab City or even Grand County could designate it open to ATV's, as I recall it has to be under a certain speed limit and under a certain amount of traffic?

Ah that makes sense. I forget about that state road issue. In many place I believe you can cross the state roads but not travel down them, unless of course you somehow get it legalized, as in this exact topic. :cool: The way Moab is laid out, seems you'd want to be able to travel 191 since it's the major line to most trails.
 
If this actually happens I may want to and enjoy going to Moab again. After discovering sand hollow and the town of hurricane welcoming ohv's to drive everywhere with no hassles I haven't enjoyed the trouble of trailering to get anywhere in Moab.


Good luck.
 

jeep-N-montero

Formerly black_ZJ
Location
Bountiful
My only .02 ¢ (if its even worth that)... I don't want to be driving on the same roads as some of the buggies I've seen built.

I vote leave it as it is, if it can't pass a regular safety inspection, there's probably good reason.

I fully agree, many "buggies" don't even have any type of fenders and maintaining highway speeds is on the scary side. I say leave it the way it is as well.
 

brandonlmb

brandonlmb
Location
Farmington
I like the idea of the buggies being able to travel from place to place in Moab. Yes there are scrapped together buggies, but there are a lot of scrapped together "street legal" rigs too. Would I want to drive my rig from one end of town to the other to get to the trails no. But short drives to trail to trail then sure I would do it. I think it makes more sense for the people out of state where their rigs are legal then get to Moab and have problems getting around do to their rigs not legal here. Just my thoughts.
 

RockChucker

Well-Known Member
Location
Highland
I fully agree, many "buggies" don't even have any type of fenders and maintaining highway speeds is on the scary side. I say leave it the way it is as well.

Please explain what a fender does for you? This would be no different than having an old hot rod driving down the road that doesn't have fenders. With there being a safety inspection and insurance stipulation, I'd say let it ride!
 

spaggyroe

Man Flu Survivor
Location
Lehi
Our proposal requires insurance.

Going off on a bit of a tangent here, but I'm curious to see what others are doing for buggy insurance.

Back to the subject at hand, I'm very interested in the cause. I'd love to drive my buggy short distances to trailheads.
Thanks to Jeff and Mike for all you do!
 

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Going off on a bit of a tangent here, but I'm curious to see what others are doing for buggy insurance.

When I had my buggy, I called my State Farm agent, told him what I had and he gave me a quote. As long as you aren't competing with it, it's just a rec vehicle. It would be like insuring a side-by-side or similar.
 

scout392

Member
Location
Montrose, CO
If this actually happens I may want to and enjoy going to Moab again. After discovering sand hollow and the town of hurricane welcoming ohv's to drive everywhere with no hassles I haven't enjoyed the trouble of trailering to get anywhere in Moab.


Good luck.


I agree. I have really stopped going to Moab when there are places like sand hollow and rangley Colorado that are so ohv friendly. It would be really cool if Moab allowed the same.
 

Jinx

when in doubt, upgrade!
Location
So Jordan, Utah
Jeff,
Thanks for what you and the MFFW are doing.

We we should be supporting you guys year round not just on big projects like this.

Thanks for letting us know what you are doing and giving us the opportunity to help.

Get that link posted so we can contribute, heck post an address and who you want the check made out to. I am not made of cash but would love to do what I can.
 

iamsparticus

Take your Rig to the Edge
Location
Ogden,Ut
I think this a very reasonable and logical thing to do. Being able to drive around moab, from trail to trail would be a great help and would keep the trail heads from becoming conjested with trailers and trucks. Ive seen more sketch legal rigs on the street then buggies by far, crap every 4inch short arm lifted TJ ive driven scared the crap out of me on the road darting every which way, a buggy should handle much better and be just as safe. I like the idea of a special inspection and insurance that should cover any bad eggs from getting in. Get the link up you have my full support and what ever money i can send your way
 
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