Go-Karts and the Street Legality Thereof

Factual Questions
1

The kind of go-kart I’m talking about.

A few stores around Springfield, IL, have these for sale this time of year. They look like fun! Of course, if I can’t drive one on city streets, then it wouldn’t be practical in the slightest.

Can anyone speak to whether or not such a thing is street legal in the US, particularly in Illinois?

TIA

2

They’re not legal in New York, but I can’t find any info on the Illinois DMV website. Your best bet is to call your local DMV.

3

Pennsylvania- no way.

4

Illinois no way. A friend of mine got stopped on one when we were 15 and the resulting penalties didn’t allow him to get a drivers license until he was 18 (Such a life ending event when you’re 4 months from your 16th birthday). He was charged with operating an unlicenced motor vehicle on a public roadway by a person under 16. They basically treat them like cars, and the violations the same.

5
      • In many US states, if a vehicle has four or more wheels then it must pass safety standards that regular cars must pass. And now that includes having airbags or active seatbelts, emissions controls, 5-MPH bumpers, DOT-rated tires, and a number of other required features. If there is any windshield it must be approved laminated glass (front required, and rear if present) and side windows must be tempered glass. Generally the only exceptions to all these requirements are vehicles that are antique and that did not have the features originally from the factory at the time of manufacture; they are allowed under subsequent regulations. So if you have a really old car that did not come with any or even all of these features, you can still get it licensed for street use.
  • If a vehicle has three wheels or less (normally in use), it qualifies under the federal motorcycle classification which has far fewer technical requirements. The main things that motorcycles need is to have a rear license plate, use DOT-rated (street-legal) tires and have a brake light. To ride after sunset you need a DOT-rated headlight. If you want to build a wild+crazy vehicle in the US, using four wheels is difficult to license but building it with three wheels makes it fairly easy.
  • Most of these technical requirements are federal ones, for interstate-highway use. There are a few towns in the US that have made golf carts street-legal on some roadways but only the federal gov’t can set laws regarding interstate use.
    ~
6
      • In many US states, if a vehicle has four or more wheels then it must pass safety standards that regular cars must pass. And now that includes having airbags or active seatbelts, emissions controls, 5-MPH bumpers, DOT-rated tires, and a number of other required features. If there is any windshield it must be approved laminated glass (front required, and rear if present) and side windows must be tempered glass. Generally the only exceptions to all these requirements are vehicles that are antique and that did not have the features originally from the factory at the time of manufacture; they are allowed under subsequent regulations. So if you have a really old car that did not come with any or even all of these features, you can still get it licensed for street use.
  • If a vehicle has three wheels or less (normally in use), it qualifies under the federal motorcycle classification which has far fewer technical requirements. The main things that motorcycles need is to have a rear license plate, use DOT-rated (street-legal) tires and have a brake light. To ride after sunset you need a DOT-rated headlight. If you want to build a wild+crazy vehicle in the US, using four wheels is difficult to license but building it with three wheels makes it fairly easy.
  • Most of these technical requirements are federal ones, for interstate-highway use. There are a few towns in the US that have approved vehicles that the federal law would not; for example a few towns made golf carts street-legal on some roadways–but only the federal gov’t can set laws regarding interstate use.
    ~
7

In NJ, it would need to be registered as a boat.
I KID! (Well, if it could float, it’d require a boat registration) :smiley:

Generally, most states have laws that easily force these into a category which eliminates their practical use on streets/roads/etc.

‘For off road use only’ is usually mentioned somewhere on the product/literature. Heck, you can buy parts for full size cars, like lens covers, that add the disclaimer,“For off road use only”.

As for where that off-road use is legal…well, that is a story in, and of, itself.