# ATV on public road right-of-way?



## DYI hunting (Sep 27, 2006)

Can you legally drive an ATV on the edge of a public road?  I was driving my ATV down the edge of a county road to my pasture and had a cop flash his lights when driving by (blue lights).  The thing is, he didn't stop.  So I am left wondering, is it illegal or not?  I was not on pavement, I was about 3 foot from the edge of the road.  Didn't make sence to me why he would flash and not stop.  Maybe he had something more important to do, but still wanted to signal me I was doing something wrong?

So what is the word, illegal or not?


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## beginnersluck (Sep 27, 2006)

My wife and I were taking a leisurely ride on some dirt roads behind my house and I had a lady cop stop to inform me that you couldn't ride them on county roads. She then said as long as nobody complained and if we were not cutting up (and she could tell that we weren't), that nobody would care.  I just looked at her and said ok, and drove off.  Surely she had something better to do than tell me I'm breaking the law and then say it's ok!   At least I didn't go to jail!!


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## CAL (Sep 27, 2006)

Had a GSP officer check this out.Put a triangle slow moving vehicle sign on your machine and it is recognized as a tractor or off road vehicle.You can then drive it on the highway if so desired.It becomes legal.I drive my Kubota every where except on the interstate.It is legal there,I am just scared!


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## Woody (Sep 27, 2006)

CAL said:


> I drive my Kubota every where except on the interstate.It is legal there,I am just scared!




If a Kubota passes me on I-285 ------ I'm gettin off at the next ramp.


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## Coastie (Sep 28, 2006)

I believe they are illegal to ride on any public road. Riding on the edge of the road, or the right of way, may be different but if the Police get a complaint they probably wouldn't make much of a distinction. 
If you carry liability insurance on your ATV and if there is a way to register it, you might posibly have an valid argument
but I don't know of many people that do that. ATVs are very unstable when transitioning from dirt to pavement or from pavement to dirt and don't really handle that well when they are on pavement, they are called All Terrain Vehicles, but that usually is meant to mean hills and dirt and stuff, not GA 400 or I85.


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## Twenty five ought six (Sep 28, 2006)

It is illegal to operate an ATV on a roadway in Georgia.  The roadway includes the ROW and shoulders.

Regardless of what your cousin's buddy heard at the local garage, this is the way that it is.  Like all laws, whether it is enforced at a particular moment by a particular law enforcement officer is up to that officer's discretion.

If you do a Google search on "ATV Georgia Public Roads", you will find several hundred references that support this statement, from various segments of the ATV community.

For those who won't do the search, and want to rely on their cousin's friends hearsay, here is one High Sheriff who diagrees:



> ATV's On Roadway Illegal
> “Is operating an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) on Effingham County roadways legal?”
> 
> Answer: NO
> ...



While the High Sheriff refers to a local ordinance, the ordinance tracks state law.

You might also want to refer to O.C.G.A. Sec. 40-2-20. (Official Code of Georgia).


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## JR (Sep 28, 2006)

Woody said:


> If a Kubota passes me on I-285 ------ I'm gettin off at the next ramp.



    I second that Woody!


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## leroy (Sep 28, 2006)

Coastie said:


> I believe they are illegal to ride on any public road. Riding on the edge of the road, or the right of way, may be different but if the Police get a complaint they probably wouldn't make much of a distinction.
> If you carry liability insurance on your ATV and if there is a way to register it, you might posibly have an valid argument
> but I don't know of many people that do that. ATVs are very unstable when transitioning from dirt to pavement or from pavement to dirt and don't really handle that well when they are on pavement, they are called All Terrain Vehicles, but that usually is meant to mean hills and dirt and stuff, not GA 400 or I85.




That is what a GSP told my father-in-law insurance, tag, lights to make it legal he was out checking cows and was 200 yards from home when a GSP stopped him threatened to tow his 4 wheeler.


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## DYI hunting (Sep 28, 2006)

I use my ATV as a farm vehicle and to keep a check on my property.  I use it to haul about everything for the fence, garden, and to harvest crops.  I have a trailer I tow quite often.

The only decent access for my pasture is down the road about 200 yards.  I have a tractor I know I am completely legal with, but the ATV, I am still unsure of.

I does have headlights and brake lights on it.  If I put a slow-moving vehicle sign on it, would it be legal?  It isn't like I am flying down the road joy riding, I am farming and keeping watch on my field.


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## Jack Flynn (Sep 28, 2006)

Alright here's the take on em and public roads straight from dnr. They have to carry collision insurance and must be tagged for the county they reside in. Now tagging them requires way to much to make it worth the hassle. DNR and GSP said turn signals, brake lights, a helmet always! Also if if you are hunting say going to and from your stand on a right of way "like at tuckahoe" the gun has to be unloaded, none in the magazine and out of sight????? Go figure. I guess it is against the law to show/brandish= confused..... in public. This info came from tuckahoe  if anyone wants to know. It was a mess that year. Not even worth having one with all that ahssle.


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## DYI hunting (Sep 28, 2006)

I did some searching online and it looks like an ATV is not considered a farm vehicle and therefore cannot be used on roads even with the slow-moving vehicle sign.

Now second question.  My pasture fence runs all the way up the the edge of the road right of way, which is 30 foot from the yellow line.  If I am riding the fence line on my property that is part of the road right-of-way, is this illegal also?  I have to do that sometimes to check the fence.


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## Randy (Sep 28, 2006)

DYI hunting said:


> Now second question.  My pasture fence runs all the way up the the edge of the road right of way, which is 30 foot from the yellow line.  If I am riding the fence line on my property that is part of the road right-of-way, is this illegal also?  I have to do that sometimes to check the fence.



I think and hope you are worrying just a little too much.  If you stay well off the road, even if you are technically still on the ROW, and if you are not causing trouble, I would hope the worst you would get from LEO is a talking to (at least the first time anyway).


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## Twenty five ought six (Sep 28, 2006)

> If I am riding the fence line on my property that is part of the road right-of-way,



Can't happen, unless you have granted a  non-deeded easement, which is unlikely for a public road.

If its your property you can ride on it (assuming its not within the easement). 

If its right of way, you can't ride on it (legally).


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## the HEED! (Sep 28, 2006)

Ive ridden from Powelton in Hancock to Crawfordville in Taliaferro county on county dirt roads on a 4 wheeler then almost through Crawfordville on the side of the road and never been stopped


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## Randy (Sep 28, 2006)

the HEED! said:


> Ive ridden from Powelton in Hancock to Crawfordville in Taliaferro county on county dirt roads on a 4 wheeler then almost through Crawfordville on the side of the road and never been stopped



Cause twenty five ought six does not work in your area.


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## Snakeman (Sep 28, 2006)

the HEED! said:


> Ive ridden from Powelton in Hancock to Crawfordville in Taliaferro county on county dirt roads on a 4 wheeler then almost through Crawfordville on the side of the road and never been stopped



Just because you haven't been caught, doesn't make it legal.

The Snakeman


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## Meriwether Mike (Sep 28, 2006)

The LEO do not worry about the four wheelers running the roads in Heard County. They used the dirt roads through my old lease as a race track.


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## CAL (Sep 28, 2006)

Believe who you want and what you want.Doesn't matter to me either way.My friend is a Captain with the GSP.The slow moving vehicle sign works as I said.It works for tractors,no tag and no insurance.I certainly wouldn't be doing something illegal and wouldn't under any circumstances post something here that wasn't legal and would get someone in trouble.

We had a situation where some young folks were caught crossing 520 with their 4 wheelers.They were arrested,their 4 wheelers towed and stored.Big to do about the whole situation.After investigated found that the slow moving vehicle sign would have kept all this from happening.


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## REMINGTON710 (Sep 28, 2006)

ILLEAGLE

But weather you get in trouble all depends on your aditude. I have had cay things to me about riding in the yard then I was going to do some spraying at the church bout 1/2 mile away and 2 drove past and one said be careful over the pa. By the way I don't think that it hurt that the cows that my grand father has the police officers wife loves 'em

Be nice to them and they will be nice to you


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## Nicodemus (Sep 28, 2006)

Down here in this part of the country I live in,  if you have a slow movin` vehicle triangle  on your rig, you`re gonna be alright.


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## Toliver (Sep 28, 2006)

Georgia Code 40-1-1(3)

(3) 'All-terrain vehicle' means any motorized vehicle designed for off-road use which is equipped with three or more low pressure tires and with a seat to be straddled by the operator and with handlebars for steering control.

40-7-2.
The rapid increase in the use of off-road vehicles and their growing impact upon aspects of the public interest are matters of concern to the General Assembly and to the people of this state. Therefore, in order to promote the safe use of off-road vehicles, to protect the wildlife and natural resources of the state, and to guarantee the availability of various forms of recreation to all citizens in an environment of diversity and quality, this chapter is enacted. 

40-7-3.
As used in this chapter, the term 'off-road vehicle' means any motorized vehicle designed for or capable of cross-country travel on or immediately over land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, or other natural terrain and not intended for use predominantly on public roads. It includes, but is not limited to, four-wheel drive or low-pressure tire vehicles, two-wheel vehicles, amphibious machines, ground effect or air cushion vehicles, and any other means of transportation deriving power from any source other than muscle or wind, except that such term shall exclude any motorboat; any military, fire, or law enforcement vehicle; any vehicles used exclusively on airports; all farm machinery, farm tractors, and other self-propelled equipment for harvesting and transportation of forest products, for clearing land for planting, for utility services and maintenance, for earth moving, construction, or mining; and self-propelled lawnmowers, snowblowers, garden or lawn tractors, or golf carts, while such vehicles are being used exclusively for their designed purposes

40-7-4.
Any person operating an off-road vehicle under any of the following conditions shall be deemed to be in violation of this chapter and subject to the penalties provided in Code Section 40-7-6:
(1) Without operative brakes or without mufflers or other silencing equipment;
(2) On any private property without the express written permission of the owner of the property or his agent. 

40-7-5.
(a) Incorporated towns and municipalities and counties shall have the authority to adopt ordinances consistent with state laws or regulations to regulate time periods and zones of use for off-road vehicles.
(b) Agencies of state government shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations to regulate time periods and zones for use for off-road vehicles on property under their jurisdiction or management. 

40-7-6.
All peace officers shall enforce the provisions of this chapter. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $25.00. 

40-8-4.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate upon the public roads of this state any slow-moving vehicle or equipment, any farm trailer or semitrailer which is used for agricultural purposes and which would otherwise be exempt from this article as an implement of husbandry under Code Section 40-8-1, any animal drawn vehicle, or any machinery designed for use and generally operated at speeds less than 25 miles per hour, including all road construction or maintenance equipment and machinery except when engaged in actual construction or maintenance procedures and all other construction equipment and machinery, unless there is displayed on the rear thereof an emblem which shall comply with subsection (b) of this Code section. It shall also be unlawful to operate upon the public roads of this state without such an emblem any three-wheeled motorcycle used only for agricultural purposes unless such three-wheeled motorcycle is licensed as required by Chapter 2 of this title and is in compliance with all other requirements of this chapter.
(b) The emblem required by subsection (a) of this Code section shall conform with those standards and specifications adopted for slow-moving vehicles by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in December, 1966, and contained within such society´s standard ASAE S276.1, or shall be an emblem of the same shape and size painted on such vehicle in a bright and conspicuous retroreflective red orange paint. Such emblem shall be mounted on the rear of such vehicles, in the approximate horizontal geometric center of the vehicle, at a height of three to five feet above the roadway, and shall be maintained at all times in a clean and reflective condition.
(c) Any person violating this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(d) Nothing in this Code section shall apply to any self-propelled, two-wheeled vehicle.


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## Eddy M. (Sep 28, 2006)

toliver tried to read your post but fell asleep after the second section how about a BRIEF compact summary from you eddy


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