Low-speed vehicles

May 2013

In 1998 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) established a limited set of safety standards for low-speed vehicles (LSVs) intended for vehicles used "to make short trips for shopping, social, and recreational purposes primarily within retirement or other planned communities with golf courses." To qualify as an LSV, a vehicle must have 4 wheels and a top speed of 20-25 mph.

LSVs are exempt from most federal safety standards that apply to motor vehicles, and they are not required to meet any criteria for vehicle crashworthiness. Each LSV must be equipped with headlamps, taillamps, stop lamps, reflectors, mirrors, a parking brake, a windshield, and seat belts.

States, not NHTSA, are responsible for regulating the operation of motor vehicles on public roads and for handling LSV titling and registration. Most states allow LSVs to attain speeds no greater than 25 mph on roadways with speed limits of no more than 35 mph. Four states (Connecticut, Mississippi, Montana, and Pennsylvania) do not have statutes allowing the use of LSVs on their public roads. Many states allow their departments of transportation or local jurisdictions to restrict the use of LSVs on their roads.

The table and map below show which roads LSVs are allowed to be driven on and their top legally attainable speeds.

State	On which roads are low-speed vehicles permitted?	What is the top speed permissible for low-speed vehicles?
Alabama	roads on which a low speed vehicle would not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic	not specified
Alaska	local ordinance may allow use on roads with a posted speed limit of 45 mph or less; otherwise roads with a posted limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Arizona	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Arkansas	roads on which a low speed vehicle would not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic	not specified
California	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Colorado	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less¹	25 mph
Connecticut	no state law	no state law
Delaware	roads, other than dual highways in unincorporated areas, where the posted speed limit is 35 mph or less	25 mph
District of Columbia	roads on which a low speed vehicle would not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic	25 mph
Florida	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Georgia	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Hawaii	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Idaho	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Illinois	roads with a posted speed limit of 30 mph or less; local ordinance may allow use on roads with a posted speed limit of thirty-five mph or less	25 mph
Indiana	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	35 mph
Iowa	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Kansas	roads with a posted speed limit of 30 mph or less	25 mph
Kentucky	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Louisiana	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Maine	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	35 mph
Maryland	roads with a posted speed limit of 30 mph or less	25 mph
Massachusetts	roads with a posted speed limit of 30 mph or less	25 mph
Michigan	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Minnesota	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Mississippi	no state law	no state law
Missouri	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Montana	no state law	no state law
Nebraska	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Nevada	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
New Hampshire	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
New Jersey	roads with a posted speed limit of 25 mph or less; the commissioner may permit use on specified roads where the posted speed limit is greater than 25 mph but not greater than 35 mph	25 mph
New Mexico	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
New York	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
North Carolina	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
North Dakota	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Ohio	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Oklahoma	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Oregon	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Pennsylvania	no state law	no state law
Rhode Island	roads on Prudence Island with a posted speed limit of 25 mph or less during the hours of 6:00 am through 6:00 pm	25 mph
South Carolina	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
South Dakota	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Tennessee	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Texas	roads with a posted speed limit of 45 mph or less	35 mph
Utah	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Vermont	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Virginia	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Washington	roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
West Virginia	roads within the corporate limits of a municipality where the speed limit is 25 mph or less	25 mph
Wisconsin	local option may allow use on roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less	25 mph
Wyoming	non-interstate highways on which the vehicle is capable of achieving the maximum speed limit	not specified

¹Low speed vehicles may be operated on roads with a posted speed limit of 40 mph or less if the roadway has lanes that are eleven feet or wider, has two or more lanes in either direction and the Department determines, based on a traffic an engineering study, that the operation of a lsv poses no substantial safety risk.