The following vehicles are not required to be registered under this chapter:

(1) Converter gears used to convert a semitrailer into a trailer or a two-axle truck or tractor into a three or more axle truck or tractor or used in any other manner to increase the number of axles of a vehicle;

(2) Electric-assisted bicycles;

(3)(a) Farm vehicles operated within a radius of twenty-five miles of the farm where it is principally used or garaged for the purposes of traveling between farms or other locations to engage in activities that support farming operations, (b) farm tractors and farm implements including trailers designed as cook or bunk houses used exclusively for animal herding temporarily operating or drawn upon the public highways, and (c) trailers used exclusively to transport farm implements from one farm to another during daylight hours or at night when the trailer is equipped with lights that comply with applicable law;

(4) Forklifts operated during daylight hours on public highways adjacent to and within five hundred feet of the warehouses they serve;

(5) Golf carts, as defined in RCW 46.04.1945, operating within a designated golf cart zone as described in RCW 46.08.175;

(6) Motor vehicles operated solely within a national recreation area that is not accessible by a state highway, including motorcycles, motor homes, passenger cars, and sport utility vehicles. This exemption applies only after initial registration;

(7) Motorized foot scooters;

(8) Nurse rigs or equipment auxiliary for the use of and designed or modified for the fueling, repairing, or loading of spray and fertilizer applicator rigs and not used, designed, or modified primarily for the purpose of transportation;

(9) Off-road vehicles operated on a street, road, or highway as authorized under RCW 46.09.360, or nonhighway roads under RCW 46.09.450;

(10) Special highway construction equipment;

(11) Dump trucks and tractor-dump trailer combinations that are:

(a) Designed and used primarily for construction work on highways;

(b) Not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property on a public highway; and

(c) Only incidentally operated or moved over the highways;

(12) Spray or fertilizer applicator rigs designed and used exclusively for spraying or fertilization in the conduct of agricultural operations and not primarily for the purpose of transportation;

(13) Tow dollies;

(14) Trams used for transporting persons to and from facilities related to the horse racing industry as regulated in chapter 67.16 RCW, as long as the public right-of-way routes over which the trams operate are not more than one mile from end to end, the public rights-of-way over which the tram operates have average daily traffic of not more than fifteen thousand vehicles per day, and the activity is in conformity with federal law. The operator must be a licensed driver and at least eighteen years old. For the purposes of this section, “tram” also means a vehicle, or combination of vehicles linked together with a single mode of propulsion, used to transport persons from one location to another;

(15) Vehicles used by the state parks and recreation commission exclusively for park maintenance and operations upon public highways within state parks; and

(16) Vehicles shipped as marine cargo, if:

(a) The vehicles are operated:

(i) From wharves to and from storage areas or terminals owned by a public port established according to chapter 53.04 RCW; or

(ii) Between storage areas or terminals owned by a public port established according to chapter 53.04 RCW; and

(b) At least part of the operation takes place on public roadways connecting facilities of a single public port.

Findings—2019 c 94: “(1) The legislature finds forty percent of jobs in Washington state are connected to international trade.

(2) The legislature also finds that:

(a) Washington state ports serve as major intermodal hubs for vehicles both imported to and exported from the United States, supporting both manufacturing and logistics jobs;

(b) Vehicles shipped as marine cargo are not registered until purchased by the end user; and

(c) To efficiently move unregistered vehicles shipped as marine cargo between port-owned marine terminals, storage lots, and vehicle processing facilities, they must operate on public roadways.” [ 2019 c 94 § 1.]

Intent—Effective date—2011 c 171: See notes following RCW 4.24.210.

Effective date—Intent—Legislation to reconcile chapter 161, Laws of 2010 and other amendments made during the 2010 legislative session—2010 c 161: See notes following RCW 46.04.013.