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Lots of places outlawed "3 wheelers" in the mid 80s, and may have to adjust those laws. Of course laws are easily forgotten: once upon a time driving a golf ca

Lots of places outlawed "3 wheelers" in the mid 80s, and may have to adjust those laws. Of course laws are easily forgotten: once upon a time driving a golf cart on the public roads, without license plates or "slow vehicle" signs, would've been good for a ticket and probably vehicle confiscation. No one thinks anything of it today.

Kon-Peki 4y ago
> No one thinks anything of it today. Because a lot of people put in a lot of work to legalize it. > On June 17, 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a final rule establishing a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 500, “Low-speed vehicles,” and added a definition of “low-speed vehicle” (LSV) to 49 CFR 571.3 (63 FR 33194). This new FMVSS and vehicle class definition responded to the growing public interest in using golf cars and other similarly sized small vehicles to make short trips for shopping, social, and recreational purposes primarily within retirement or other planned, self-contained communities. These vehicles, many of which are electric-powered, offer comparatively low-cost, energy-efficient, low-emission, quiet transportation.[1] > The definition of LSV established by that rulemaking was, “a 4-wheeled motor vehicle, other than a truck, whose speed attainable in 1.6 km (1 mile) is more than 32 kilometers per hour (20 miles per hour) and not more than 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) on a paved level surface.” https://www.federalregister.gov/d/06-3590/p-14 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/06-3590/p-14
LinuxBender 4y ago
I am in a rural area and the street legal side-by-sides are fully supported. Most of them can do 65 MPH. People use them to go to into town all the time. I also see the mini Japanese trucks. The non-street-legal side-by-sides get pulled over and the driver gets cited but AFAIK they don't get impounded. I think that's a fair balance. The street-legal side-by-sides are much easier to find now and what I like about them is the lack of all the computer/telemetry junk. They just work and they are super handy around the homestead. I've seen E-trikes during the summer but they would not be usable half the year winter here is almost half of the year. E-Trikes don't carry as much cargo or groceries as a side-by-side, though they are a lot more affordable.
- 0_____0 4y ago
  Spending time in the rural US I saw a ton of the street legal side by sides. They're expensive new!! You can fully just buy a car for what some of them cost. They also tend to be loud as balls, not sure if that's an aftermarket thing. They're a lot more nimble on unimproved roads than the massive trucks and SUVs people tend to drive now, but part of me supposes that if people just bought smaller vehicles they wouldn't need a side by side AND a megatruck to tow it places.
Symbiote 4y ago
Do you mean tricycles (human-powered), or some sort of three-wheeled motorbike? I'd always assumed tricycles had the same legal status as bicycles in pretty much every country, and likewise an e-tricycle and e-bicycle.
- h2odragon 4y ago
  motorcycles. These things: https://www.carscoops.com/2021/01/the-story-of-how-and-why-three-wheel-atvs-were-banned/ https://www.carscoops.com/2021/01/the-story-of-how-and-why-t... which notes that they're not actually banned anymore, either. I'm learning all sortsa things today.

Kon-Peki 4y ago

> No one thinks anything of it today. Because a lot of people put in a lot of work to legalize it. > On June 17, 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a final rule establishing a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 500, “Low-speed vehicles,” and added a definition of “low-speed vehicle” (LSV) to 49 CFR 571.3 (63 FR 33194). This new FMVSS and vehicle class definition responded to the growing public interest in using golf cars and other similarly sized small vehicles to make short trips for shopping, social, and recreational purposes primarily within retirement or other planned, self-contained communities. These vehicles, many of which are electric-powered, offer comparatively low-cost, energy-efficient, low-emission, quiet transportation.[1] > The definition of LSV established by that rulemaking was, “a 4-wheeled motor vehicle, other than a truck, whose speed attainable in 1.6 km (1 mile) is more than 32 kilometers per hour (20 miles per hour) and not more than 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) on a paved level surface.” https://www.federalregister.gov/d/06-3590/p-14 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/06-3590/p-14

LinuxBender 4y ago

I am in a rural area and the street legal side-by-sides are fully supported. Most of them can do 65 MPH. People use them to go to into town all the time. I also see the mini Japanese trucks. The non-street-legal side-by-sides get pulled over and the driver gets cited but AFAIK they don't get impounded. I think that's a fair balance. The street-legal side-by-sides are much easier to find now and what I like about them is the lack of all the computer/telemetry junk. They just work and they are super handy around the homestead. I've seen E-trikes during the summer but they would not be usable half the year winter here is almost half of the year. E-Trikes don't carry as much cargo or groceries as a side-by-side, though they are a lot more affordable.

0_____0 4y ago
Spending time in the rural US I saw a ton of the street legal side by sides. They're expensive new!! You can fully just buy a car for what some of them cost. They also tend to be loud as balls, not sure if that's an aftermarket thing. They're a lot more nimble on unimproved roads than the massive trucks and SUVs people tend to drive now, but part of me supposes that if people just bought smaller vehicles they wouldn't need a side by side AND a megatruck to tow it places.

Symbiote 4y ago

Do you mean tricycles (human-powered), or some sort of three-wheeled motorbike? I'd always assumed tricycles had the same legal status as bicycles in pretty much every country, and likewise an e-tricycle and e-bicycle.

h2odragon 4y ago
motorcycles. These things: https://www.carscoops.com/2021/01/the-story-of-how-and-why-three-wheel-atvs-were-banned/ https://www.carscoops.com/2021/01/the-story-of-how-and-why-t... which notes that they're not actually banned anymore, either. I'm learning all sortsa things today.