The city of Warrenton is the latest in a string of local towns amending their laws to allow more types of small recreational vehicles on city streets. The city is now allowing UTVs (aka side-by-sides) to use local roads, but is also applying relatively strict inspection and permitting requirements to those vehicles.

The Warrenton Board of Aldermen voted on April 5 to amend the city’s ordinance to allow UTVs under similar permitting conditions to what already applied to a narrow category of low speed vehicles. UTVs are now allowed on all city streets once they have received a permit sticker from Warrenton City Hall, which also requires the vehicle to be inspected by an automotive professional.

A notable exception to the deregulation of small vehicles is that golf carts — meaning low-performance vehicles literally manufactured for use on a golf course — remain banned. ATVs, the off-road vehicles with saddle-style seats and handlebar controls, also remain banned.

Here’s some useful info to know for any UTV owners that want to take to the streets:

Required equipment, inspections

To receive a permit to drive in Warrenton, UTV owners must get their vehicles inspected by a licensed vehicle inspection service, or by an established automotive mechanic. To pass inspection, a UTV must be equipped with a number of mandatory safety features, including full light assemblies, parking brake, seat belts, and other features.

UTV owners must also have an insurance policy that explicitly covers the UTV in order to get a permit sticker, and must carry proof of insurance whenever operating the vehicle.
Rules of the road

The ordinance allowing UTVs on Warrenton’s streets mandates that the vehicles follow all of the city’s traffic laws. Drivers must have a valid driver license, vehicles must obey speed limits and traffic signs, and drunk driving can still get a person arrested.

UTVs also aren’t allowed to carry more passengers than they were designed for, and also may not have passengers younger than 16 unless the operator is a parent or legal guardian of the passenger, according to the ordinance. The city ordinance even includes a requirement for age- and size-appropriate restraints for young children.

State highways

Notably absent from the new ordinance is any restriction preventing UTVs from driving on the state highways that come through Warrenton (Highways 47, AA, M, MM, and U).

Originally, the UTV ordinance included a provision that would have mostly kept the vehicles off of state highways except for Highway 47. However, that restriction was removed from the draft ordinance after a comment in protest from Rodger Tucker, a resident who lives just outside the city limits south of Warrenton.

Tucker, who has been a proponent of the UTV changes, complained that the city’s ordinance would have been more restrictive than state law when it came to operating a UTV on state roads near his house.

“I can legally drive within 3 miles of my home. ... (But) if I lived off of Highway U, I legally wouldn’t be able to travel into city limits because of that restriction,” Tucker said.

After some discussion about the matter, City Attorney Christopher Graville commented that aldermen could simply remove that provision if that was their wish. That suggestion was met with immediate agreement from the entire board.