How to Make a UTV Street Legal in Tennessee

Making UTV's Street Legal in Tennessee 

Dana & Kenny Koogler 

April 19, 2017

Making UTVs Road Legal in Tennessee

Affadavit for Medium Speed Vehicle 
(Vehicle's top speed >30 mph but <35 mph)

Affadavit for Low Speed Vehicle
(Vehicle's top speed > 20 mph but < 25 mph)

Where to order Conversion Kit for UTV (Polaris RZR)

Insurance is Required - We switched to GEICO and saved $70 per year. 

Even more importantly they insure you for on the trail use AND on the road!  It is pointless to pay for insurance to be road legal only to have coverage for trail use!  

Purchase your TWRA Hunting/Fish with Small Game Stamp here

Link to Chart of What Plates Should be Issued

  Many times we ride in places where it is convenient to go from point A to point B by just 

continuing down a black top road on the RZR.  We do it and we have seen lots of other riders do it.   Some areas that have lots of four wheeling activity you can get away with it. Other areas you would be hassled by local law enforcement, park service, or other legal authorities. 

Recently it became possible to make UTVs road legal for low and medium speed roads.  

Rather than risk getting ticketed we went ahead and made the modifications needed to make our Polaris RZR legal.  It was not super expensive or difficult.  It is now ok for us to ride it on any road where the speed limit does not exceed 40 mph.  It is also ok for us to cross roads that have higher speed limits.  

     Laws vary from state to state so if you read this and are from another state you'd need

to check on your own area.  You will need to find out if you can make your UTV road legal?

You will need to find out the specific requirements for your area and the process.   

Remember too that many other states do not recognize the legality of it.  We cannot take our road legal RZR into North Carolina and get by with driving it on the hard top road for 

example.  Kentucky will not allow you to register it as street legal, but they leave it to the discretion of their counties and towns to decide if that area will allow it.   I'd check on all the laws of the area I was planning to visit.  Generally speaking states that are UTV friendly and depend on four wheeling as part of their economy  tend to allow it.

West Virginia ,  Ohio, Kentucky, Utah, and Arizona are  examples of such places. 

  At the start of this blog post I have given links to the needed laws and where to down load the forms and print them.  I have listed a link to a kit Kenny ordered on Amazon to convert our machine. You can most likely find what you need for your particular machine on Amazon and have it sent right to your house.  It is usually cheaper and easier to order a kit rather than try to piece together all you will need to get it done UNLESS your side by side came with some of those features already installed. 

   Updates to the use of UTV's and ATVs on Roads in Tennessee

 Helmets are required for ATVs while side by sides with a hard top and roll cage ... you do not have to have one UNLESS you do not have a DOT approved safety glass windshield.  Headlights must be visible for at least two hundred feet in front of the machine.    They can be out on the roads from half hour after sunrise until half hour before sunset.   Both these statutes have to do with visibility to other vehicles. 
May be operated on two lane roads only and cross major thoroughfares.   May not be on interstate highways at any time.


 ** Some areas of the state have city or county statutes that allow the machines on roads for agricultural use any time and in areas where ATV riding is a tourism draw they have made it easier and less hassle.   Examples are Petros in Morgan County on Hwy 116 and Huntsville, TN near Royal Blue. 

          

   List of Modifications Needed to Make a UTV Road Legal

Rear view mirrors

Horn

Signal lights
License plate

DOT approved safety glass windshield *

Register it as medium speed vehicle

Affadavit for medium speed vehicle

Insurance

Our Polaris RZR on the trail.

 We prefer the trail to the road, but it is a nice option in East Tennessee to be able to use it on back roads. It gets great gas mileage,  is fun, and is designed specifically to handle these type rough roads. The suspension on it makes it far more enjoyable than driving any other vehicle. 

Off Highway Vehicle Changes and Improvements

August 8, 2020-- I heard back from the Tennessee Dept. of Revenue.
They said that if you are a non resident of Tennessee.. but going to be visiting and want to make your machine legal for road use... you can get a Class 1 or 2 Temporary Operation Permit that will cover you while you are on your trip. You'd have to contact Tenn.gov for additional details.  There is a question submission form on the website.  You can ask and will be answered in a timely fashion.  

Updated as of January 26, 2023 

   LED light bars are illegal.  

Know that if you are not in compliance with these laws and requirements you run the very real risk of getting a ticket.   The Federal law officers in the Cherokee National Forest in particular are not playing around.   They are ticketing for all kinds of offenses. 

Wear your seat belts!

Do not park blocking gates by even a fraction of an inch. 

Don't run LED light bars.  

If you do not have a safety glass windshield... wear a helmet and goggles.

Watch your speed and know the speeds on area roads and stay within your speed limit where you are legal.

Windshields on Road Legal Side by Sides

   As of Jan. 26, 2023 -- I talked to a clerk at the Blount County court house.

She is the one who helped us get our machine road legal.  I asked about the requirement for a DOT approved safety glass windshield in road legal side by sides.  I told her I could not find it in the state regulations nor could anyone else.  She said it is indeed true that you either need a DOT approved windshield or to wear a helmet and goggles.   It is a FEDERAL regulation that is not new. It is part of the DOT laws that govern all road travel on every motorized vehicle every single day.  She also reminded us that if we travel out of state to various national parks they often require the purchase of their stamp for the machine.  It is a revenue stream for their area.   We are planning a Colorado vacation in 2024.   It will mean learning about the regulations for that area.  

Updated: as of June 2023-- More clerks are asking the simple question "How fast will this machine go?" if the machine has the capacity to go 55 mph or better they are simply issuing a Class 1 Tag like for a motorcycle!    This is becoming more common place.   Also IMPORTANT recent development.  The whole having insurance on the machine to make it street legal thing.  When you purchase the policy make certain the coverage is for on and off the road. On the road being most important.   We recently learned we are paying for Progressive Insurance that covers it only OFF the road!  We are now in the process of searching out other insurance. We asked them if we could change coverages and they said no, that they don't insure except for off road use for these vehicles.    

July 2023--- Heads up.  TWRA and the state has passed laws about no alcohol on the trails or roads.  There are folks out there who believe drinking and driving doesn't count if they are four wheeling.   Comply if you care about your machine, your license, and your privileges to ride.  They are checking coolers and giving sobriety tests.  It is easy enough to get in an accident four wheeling if you are sober.  So much more if you are drunk!