Minitruck state laws

November 2009

Minitruck: sold as off-road vehicles for farms and construction sites and are far smaller than conventional on-road small trucks; can reach top speeds of 55 mph or more, but many have governors to limit their speed to 25 mph
Passenger car: must comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, including crashworthiness standards
Medium-speed vehicle: has a speed of at least 30 but not more than 35 mph and has some safety equipment such as lights, reflectors, mirrors, parking brake, windshield, and safety belts
Low-speed vehicle: has a speed of at least 20 but not more than 25 mph, is used primarily for short trips and recreational purposes, and has some safety equipment such as lights, reflectors, mirrors, parking brake, windshield, and safety belts
Golf cart: designed and manufactured for operation on a golf course

Minitrucks are sold as off-road vehicles for farms and construction sites and are far smaller than conventional small trucks sold for on-the-road use. These vehicles go by many names, including Japanese minitruck, Kei truck, microtruck, and utility transportation vehicle. Minitrucks have the capacity to reach top speeds of 55 mph or more, but many are sold with governors to limit their speed to 25 mph.

Federal safety standards don't apply to minitrucks because they are sold as off-road vehicles, even though they are permitted on public roads in some states. 14 states (Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming) now allow minitrucks on specific portions of public roads. In Illinois and Missouri, minitrucks are allowed only by local ordinance. 4 states (Illinois, Kansas, Maine, and Tennessee) require minitrucks to comply with federal safety standards for low-speed vehicles.

The table below describes state laws that specifically address the use of minitrucks on public roads. In states without those laws, there may be provisions in other state laws, such as those permitting incidental use of off-road vehicles on public roads, that allow the limited use of minitrucks on public roads.

Table
Map: states allowing minitrucks on roads

Map of states with laws allowing minitrucks on roads

(hover over the map for more detail)


	Arkansas Where permitted: roads with a posted speed limit of 55 mph or less excluding interstate highways and controlled access highways


	Florida Where permitted: roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less


	Illinois Where permitted: roads with a posted speed limit of less than 35 mph if allowed by local ordinance


	Kansas Where permitted: public roads except interstate, federal or state highways; within corporate city limits if allowed under local ordinance


	Louisiana Where permitted: any road except interstate highways


	Maine Where permitted: roads with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less


	North Dakota Where permitted: any paved road except highways with a posted speed of more than 65 mph


	Oklahoma Where permitted: any road except interstate highways


	Tennessee Where permitted: streets where the posted speed limit is less than 40 mph; a county or municipality may prohibit the operation of medium-speed vehicles on any road under its jurisdiction if the governing body of the county or municipality determines that such a prohibition is necessary in the interest of safety


	Utah Where permitted: any road except those with more than one lane in each direction; street within a county of the first class; municipality that is within a county of the first class; or municipality with a population of 7,500 or more people, and streets with a posted limit of 40 mph or more


	Alabama Where permitted: No law


	Alaska Where permitted: No law


	Arizona Where permitted: No law


	California Where permitted: No law


	Wyoming Where permitted: any road except interstate highways