Wyoming Has No Low-Speed Vehicle Class: Off the Course a Golf Cart Becomes a Multipurpose Vehicle

The golf cart definition in W.S. 31-5-102(a)(lxi) is a five-part test, and the fifth part is about use rather than hardware. A golf cart has not less than three wheels in contact with the ground, an unladen weight of less than 1,300 pounds, is designed to be or is operated at not more than 15 miles per hour, is designed to carry golf equipment and not more than four persons including the driver, and is being used to transport an occupant directly to, from or on a golf course, or for special events or circumstances authorized by the city, town or county. Drive the same machine to the grocery store and the fifth condition fails.

At that point W.S. 31-1-101(a)(xv)(M) picks it up. A multipurpose vehicle is a motor vehicle designed to travel on at least four wheels in contact with the ground, with an unladen weight of at least 300 pounds but less than 3,000 pounds, a permanent upright seat or saddle for the driver mounted at least 24 inches from the ground, and an identifying number. The definition then says in terms that multipurpose vehicle includes off-road recreational vehicles, electric powered vehicles and golf carts when being used other than as provided in W.S. 31-5-102(a)(lxi)(E). Note the four-wheel floor: a three-wheeled cart satisfies the golf cart definition but not the multipurpose definition, so it has no road-legal category off the course.

W.S. 31-5-124(b) is the operating rule, and it is permissive by comparison with most states. Multipurpose vehicles may be operated on public streets or highways subject to three conditions. They may not be operated on interstate highways. If the vehicle is incapable of achieving the maximum speed allowed on the specific highway, it must be driven on the extreme right hand edge of the roadway and must carry either a reflectorized flag as described in W.S. 31-5-960(a)(vi) or a slow moving vehicle emblem as described in W.S. 31-5-921(h). And any multipurpose vehicle designed for operation at speeds under 25 miles per hour must carry the slow moving vehicle emblem. There is no requirement that a city designate a route, no 35 mile per hour road ceiling and no daylight-only limit, which is what separates Wyoming from the states that confine carts to signed streets.

The two markers have precise specifications. The flag in W.S. 31-5-960(a)(vi) must be mounted in a bracket permanently affixed to the vehicle, visible from all directions at a height of not less than 48 inches and not more than 72 inches above the ground, made of durable all-weather material, orange, and triangular with a minimum base of eight and one-half inches and minimum sides of eleven and one-half inches. The emblem under W.S. 31-5-921(h) must meet current American Society of Agricultural Engineers standards, and W.S. 31-5-921(g) forbids displaying it on a vehicle travelling faster than 25 miles per hour, so a faster side-by-side uses the flag rather than the triangle.

Registration follows the ordinary Title 31 path. W.S. 31-2-201(a) requires registration of any vehicle operated on a Wyoming highway. The state registration fee for a multipurpose vehicle is $25 under W.S. 31-3-101(a)(ii)(D), on top of the county fee in W.S. 31-3-101(a)(i), which runs at 3 percent of a declining fraction of factory price plus special equipment value, starting at 60 percent in the first year of service and settling at 15 percent from the sixth year, with a $5 floor. W.S. 31-2-204(a) issues one plate rather than two for a multipurpose vehicle, W.S. 31-2-205(a)(i)(A)(II) excuses it from the front plate entirely, and W.S. 31-2-204(b) allows a plate as small as three inches by six inches.

Equipment requirements turn on width. Under W.S. 31-5-912, a multipurpose vehicle wider than 50 inches needs at least two head lamps, one on each side of the front, while one 50 inches or less needs at least one. W.S. 31-5-913 applies the same split to tail lamps and requires a lamp illuminating the rear plate in white, W.S. 31-5-914 requires two rear red reflectors on the wider machines and at least one on the narrower, and W.S. 31-5-915(a) requires two stop lamps or one respectively. W.S. 31-5-956(h) applies the tire rules, including the two thirty-seconds of an inch tread floor, to multipurpose vehicles.

Local authorities have far less room here than in cart-friendly states. Except as otherwise provided, W.S. 31-5-110(a) bars local authorities from charging a fee for use of the public highways, excluding anyone from their free use, or in any other way regulating the operation of motor vehicles or their speed upon or use of the public highways, leaving them four listed powers inside their corporate limits: vehicles for hire and processions, closing a highway for a race, excluding vehicles from a cemetery, and excluding commercial vehicles from a park. The one cart-specific municipal power Wyoming does grant sits inside the definition itself, where a city, town or county may authorize special events or circumstances that keep a cart in the golf cart category.

A driver is exposed on four fronts at once. S. S. 31-4-104: a fine not to exceed $750 where no separate penalty is provided. S. 31-7-106(a), which requires a driver's licence of the class, type and endorsements valid for the motor vehicle being driven. S. 31-4-103(a), the harshest of the four: a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months imprisonment and a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1,500, with the judge required on a second or subsequent violation to order the registration and plates surrendered to the county treasurer until all obligations are met.

Excusable neglect or mistake by another is a statutory defence to the insurance charge. S. S. 31-5-1201: a misdemeanor with a fine of not more than $200 for a first conviction, $300 for a second of the same offense within a year, and $500 or six months or both for a third.