COLUMBIA, S.C. — Side-by-side utility vehicles will be allowed on some South Carolina public roads starting Nov. 18, when a new state law takes effect. Until that date, the S.C. Department of Public Safety warns, taking one onto a public road can still get a driver a ticket.
Not every off-road machine qualifies. Under the law, a UTV must be a four-wheel-drive side-by-side built to carry people or cargo, with a steering wheel, seats a rider does not straddle, an engine of 450cc or more and a top speed above 55 mph. It cannot weigh more than 4,000 pounds by gross vehicle weight rating or measure wider than 80 inches.
To go street legal, owners have to get a title and registration through the state DMV, carry liability insurance and mount a license plate on the back. Headlights, taillights, brake lights and turn signals must all work, and every seat needs a Type 2 belt, the lap-and-shoulder kind. Drivers must keep the registration card and proof of insurance with them.
Owners who keep their side-by-sides on farms, trails or private land do not have to register them or buy insurance.
There are limits on who drives and where. The driver has to be 17 or older and carry a valid Class D license, and no passenger can be younger than 8. Riders and drivers younger than 21 need a helmet plus goggles or a face shield. The vehicles are restricted to secondary roads posted at 55 mph or less, and they cannot travel more than 10 miles from the registered home address. For a home inside a gated community, that distance is counted from a community entrance.
Regular traffic laws still apply, including rules on impaired driving, speeding, seat belts and hands-free phone use. Dealers say the change could let owners use the vehicles for short trips to the store or the beach. The full rules appear in sections 56-2-5000 through 56-2-5130 of the state code.
Section: More Chapin SC crime news
Filed under: Chapin SC Traffic News
