Vermont Statutes Title 23 Sec. 3502
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 23 Sec. 3502
- ATV: means any nonhighway recreational vehicle, except snowmobiles, having not less than two low pressure tires (10 pounds per square inch, or less); not wider than 64 inches, with two-wheel ATVs having permanent, full-time power to both wheels; and having a dry weight of less than 2,500 pounds, when used for cross-country travel on trails or on any one of the following or a combination thereof: land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, and natural terrain. See
- Commissioner: shall mean in this title only the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Operator: shall include all persons 18 years of age or over properly licensed to operate motor vehicles. See
- Owner: shall include any person, corporation, co-partnership, or association holding legal title to a motor vehicle or having exclusive right to the use or control thereof for a period of 30 days or more. See
- Person: includes any natural person, corporation, association, co-partnership, company, firm, or other aggregation of individuals. See
- Portable electronic device: means a portable electronic or computing device, including a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or laptop computer. See
- Resident: as used in this title only, means any person living in the State who intends to make the State his or her principal place of domicile either permanently or for an indefinite number of years. See
- seal: shall include an impression of the official seal made upon paper alone or by means of a wafer or wax affixed thereto. See
- Secretary: means the Secretary of Natural Resources. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
- VASA: means the Vermont ATV Sportsman's Association, a statewide association of ATV clubs. See
§ 3502. Registration and Trail Access Decal (TAD) required; exceptions
(a)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, an individual shall not operate an ATV on the VASA Trail System, on State land designated by the Secretary pursuant to subdivision 3506(b)(4) of this title, or along any highway that is not adjacent to the property of the operator unless the ATV:
(A) is registered pursuant to this title or in accordance with subsection (e) of this section; and
(B) displays a valid VASA Trail Access Decal (TAD).
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, neither registration nor display of a TAD is required to operate an ATV:
(A) on the property of the owner of the ATV;
(B) in a ski area, off the highway, for the purpose of grooming snow, maintenance, or in rescue operations;
(C) for official use by a federal, State, or municipal agency if the ATV is identified with the name or seal of the agency in a manner approved by the Commissioner; or
(D) on privately owned land when the operator is specifically invited to do so by the owner of the property and carries the written consent of the owner.
(E) [Repealed.]
(3) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, an operator may operate an ATV without a TAD displayed if the operator possesses a completed TAD form processed electronically within the prior 10 days that is either printed out or displayed on a portable electronic device. Use of a portable electronic device to display a completed TAD form does not in itself constitute consent for an enforcement officer to access other contents of the device.
(4) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection and subdivision 3506(b)(16) of this title, neither the display of a TAD nor the use of protective headgear is required to operate an ATV on frozen bodies of water as designated by the Agency of Natural Resources under the provisions of 10 V.S.A. § 2607.
(b) The provisions of section 305 of this title shall apply to a registration, except the registration of a vehicle registered under subsection 3504(b) of this title shall become void on the last day of February next following the date of issue.
(c) The possession of a valid TAD or registration of an ATV does not constitute a license to operate an ATV on public or private lands, even if temporarily while crossing the public or private lands.
(d) An ATV that does not comply with the provisions of this chapter shall not be registered by the Commissioner.
(e) An ATV owned by a person who is a resident of any other state or province shall be deemed to be properly registered for the purposes of this chapter if it is registered in accordance with the laws of the state or province in which its owner resides. An operator who is a resident of any other state or province shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter while operating an ATV within this State, including possessing a valid TAD in the same circumstances that a resident of this State is required to possess a valid TAD. (Added 1983, No. 240 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2001, No. 75 (Adj. Sess.), § 11; 2007, No. 76, § 33b; 2009, No. 50, § 80; 2015, No. 50, § 26, eff. June 3, 2015; 2019, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 17; 2019, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § G.113, eff. Oct. 2, 2020; 2021, No. 76, § 36; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 430, eff. July 1, 2022.)