# Title 39 — Motor Vehicles

## Chapter 39-29.1 — Low-Speed Vehicles

### § 39-29.1-01. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Low-speed vehicle" means a four-wheeled vehicle that is able to attain a speed, upon
a paved level surface, of more than twenty miles [32 kilometers] per hour in one mile
[1.6 kilometers] and not more than twenty-five miles [40 kilometers] per hour in one
mile [1.6 kilometers] and may not exceed three thousand pounds [1361 kilograms] in
weight when fully loaded with passengers and any cargo.
2. "Operate" means to ride in or on and control the operation of a low-speed vehicle.
3. "Register" means the act of assigning a registration number to a low-speed vehicle.
### § 39-29.1-02. Applicability.

A low-speed vehicle is a motor vehicle under this title, except:
1. Chapter 39-22 does not apply to low-speed vehicles.
2. Registration of a low-speed vehicle is governed by this chapter.
3. A political subdivision may not require licensing or registration of low-speed vehicles.
4. The governing body of a city may regulate, restrict, or prohibit the use of low-speed
vehicles operating in the city limits in areas under the jurisdiction of the city.
### § 39-29.1-03. Low-speed vehicle registration - Application - Issuance - Fees - Renewal.

1. An individual may not operate a low-speed vehicle unless the vehicle has been
registered in accordance with this chapter.
2. The department shall design and furnish an application that must be used to register a
low-speed vehicle. The registration must state the name and address of every owner
of the low-speed vehicle and must be signed by at least one owner. A copy of the
application is evidence of registration for the first thirty days after the date of
application.
3. On receipt of an application and the appropriate fee, the department shall register the
low-speed vehicle and assign a registration number and a certificate of registration.
The certificate of registration must include information regarding the make, year, serial
number, and name and address of the owner.
4. The fee for registration of a low-speed vehicle is twenty dollars for each registration
cycle of two years ending on March thirty-first. The department may prorate the initial
registration fee. For a duplicate or replacement registration number or registration card
that is lost, mutilated, or becomes illegible, the department may charge a fee of not
more than five dollars.
5. To renew a registration, the owner of a low-speed vehicle shall follow the procedure
adopted by the department and pay the registration fee.
6. The department may adopt rules for the registration of low-speed vehicles and the
display of registration numbers.
### § 39-29.1-04. Low-speed vehicle dealers.

A low-speed vehicle dealer does not need a motor vehicle dealer's license. Upon application
and on payment of a twenty dollar fee, a low-speed vehicle dealer is entitled to be issued
registration numbers distinctively marked as dealer's registration numbers. The dealer's
numbers may be used only on low-speed vehicles owned by the dealership.
### § 39-29.1-05. Exemption from registration - Exemption from fees.

1. Registration and payment of fees is not required of:
a. A low-speed vehicle owned and used by the United States or another state or its
political subdivisions.
b. A low-speed vehicle registered in a foreign country and temporarily used in this
state.

c. A low-speed vehicle validly licensed in another state and which has not been in
this state for more than thirty consecutive days.
d. A low-speed vehicle used exclusively for work on private agricultural land or on
an industrial jobsite on private land.
2. A low-speed vehicle owned by this state or any of its political subdivisions are exempt
from registration fees for low-speed vehicles.
### § 39-29.1-06. Transfer or termination of low-speed vehicle ownership - Change of

address of owner.
Within fifteen days of a transfer of any ownership interest in a low-speed vehicle, other than
a security interest, the destruction or abandonment of any low-speed vehicle, or a change of
address of the owner as listed with the application for registration, written notice of the fact must
be given by the last registered owner to the director in the form the director requires.
### § 39-29.1-07. Rules of operation.

A person may not operate a low-speed vehicle on a highway on which the speed limit
exceeds thirty-five miles [56.33 kilometers] per hour. The operator of a low-speed vehicle may
make a direct crossing of a highway on which the speed limit exceeds thirty-five miles [56.33
kilometers] per hour if the crossing is made so the operator can continue on a highway on which
the speed limit does not exceed thirty-five miles [56.33 kilometers] per hour.
### § 39-29.1-08. Equipment.

A low-speed vehicle must be equipped with headlamps, front and rear turn signal lamps,
taillamps, stop lamps, red reflex reflectors on each side as far to the rear of the vehicle as
practicable and one red reflector on the rear, brakes, a parking brake, a windshield, a vehicle
identification number, a safety belt assembly installed at each designated seating position, an
exterior mirror mounted on the operator's side of the vehicle, and either an exterior mirror
mounted on the passenger's side of the vehicle or an interior rearview mirror.
### § 39-29.1-09. Penalty.

A violation of this chapter for which there is no civil or criminal penalty in this title is a class B
misdemeanor.
