North Dakota defines an off-highway vehicle as any motorized vehicle not designed for use on a highway and capable of cross-country travel on land, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, or other natural terrain. The term does not include an electric bicycle. Every off-highway vehicle must be classified into one of three categories; a class I off-highway vehicle is one that does not qualify as road capable under chapters 39-21 and 39-27, has a seat or saddle designed to be straddled by the operator, and has handlebars for steering control of two wheels.
Except as the chapter provides, an individual may not operate an off-highway vehicle unless it is registered with the department of transportation. The department issues a reflectorized decal bearing the registration number, or one number plate if the owner asks, which the operator must securely affix and display so it is clearly legible. The registration fee is $5 for a two-year period, plus an off-highway vehicle trail tax of $15 for each registered vehicle. Registration and fees are not required for off-highway vehicles owned and used by the United States or any state or its political subdivisions, registered in a foreign country and temporarily used in North Dakota, validly licensed in another state and not within North Dakota for more than 30 consecutive days, used exclusively on private lands, or used exclusively in organized track racing events. The owner of a vehicle exempt under the foreign-country or other-state exception must buy an out-of-state public trails and lands access permit for a fee of $10 per year.
An individual under the age of 18 may not operate, ride, or otherwise be propelled on an off-highway vehicle unless the person wears a safety helmet meeting United States department of transportation standards. The rule is written for the "off-highway vehicle", defined as any motorized vehicle not designed for use on a highway and capable of cross-country travel, with class I having handlebars for steering control of two wheels.
Except as section 39-29-10 provides, an individual may not operate an off-highway vehicle without having in possession a valid driver's license or permit. An individual under 16 who is not in possession of a valid operator's license or permit to operate an off-highway vehicle may not operate one, except upon the lands of the individual's parent or guardian or as a participant in an organized sporting event that involves the use of off-highway vehicles. The section then states: "An individual at least twelve years of age may operate an off-highway vehicle if the individual has completed an off-highway vehicle safety training course prescribed by the director of the parks and recreation department and has received the appropriate off-highway vehicle safety certificate issued by the director of the parks and recreation department." Failure to exhibit the certificate on demand to any official authorized to enforce the chapter is presumptive evidence that the person does not hold one.
An individual may not operate an off-highway vehicle on the roadway, shoulder, or inside bank or slope of any road, street, or highway except as the chapter provides, and, except in emergencies, may not operate one within the right of way of a controlled-access highway. Only a registered off-highway vehicle may be operated on a gravel, dirt, or loose surface roadway, or on a paved highway designated and posted at a speed not exceeding 55 miles per hour, and not on a paved highway if the vehicle is unable to attain at least 30 miles per hour on a paved level surface. For that roadway operation the vehicle must be equipped with a mirror, a horn, a speedometer and odometer, a brake light, a lighted headlamp, and "a motor of at least three hundred fifty cubic centimeters". Unless otherwise provided by law, operation on an aggregate road surface is limited to roads designated as part of an active off-highway vehicle trail by the managing entity. A direct crossing of a street or highway may be made only at an angle of approximately 90 degrees where no obstruction prevents a quick and safe crossing, after a complete stop before the shoulder or main traveled way, yielding to oncoming traffic that is an immediate hazard, and, on a divided highway, only at an intersection with another public street or highway. An individual may not operate an off-highway vehicle without a lighted headlamp and taillamp, except when used by an off-highway vehicle instructor during a certified safety training course. Within the right of way of a road, street or highway, during times or conditions that warrant the use of lights by other motor vehicles, it must be operated in the same direction as motor vehicles on the immediately adjacent side of the roadway.
North Dakota defines an electric bicycle as a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals, a saddle or seat for the rider, and an electric motor of 750 or fewer watts that meets one of three classes. A class 1 motor assists only when the individual is pedaling and ceases to assist at 20 miles per hour; a class 2 motor is capable of propelling the bicycle without pedaling and ceases to assist at 20 miles per hour; a class 3 motor assists only when the individual is pedaling and ceases to assist at 28 miles per hour.
This page restates state law in plain words and links the text it came from. It is not legal advice. Cities, counties and the agencies that manage federal land (the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service) add rules of their own, so check with whoever manages the ground you plan to ride.
