Relating to all-terrain vehicles, including financial liability coverage for, registration of, and parks and trails designated for use by all-terrain vehicles, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions

Under current law, proof of financial liability coverage may be produced in paper or electronic format, including electronic images displayed on a cellular telephone. Financial liability coverage generally requires coverage in the amount of $20,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, $40,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and $15,000 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident. A person convicted of violating the financial liability coverage requirements in connection with a motor vehicle accident is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable by a scheduled fine of $645. A person otherwise convicted of violating the financial liability coverage requirements is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable by a scheduled fine of $325. The person may also be subject to removal of the vehicle’s registration decal and impoundment of the vehicle. However, the citation may be dismissed if the person later presents proof that coverage was in effect.234A are punishable by a scheduled fine of $70. CODE CHAPTER 321I. Under Code chapter 321I, the bill redefines ATV to mean a motorized vehicle with not less than four, instead of three, and not more than six nonhighway tires that is limited in engine displacement and that has a seat or saddle designed to be straddled by the operator and handlebars for steering control. As a result, three-wheel vehicles are no longer subject to the registration requirements under Code chapter 321I for off-road use and may be required to register as a motorcycle or motorized bicycle for on-road use under Code chapter 321.1A. Current law requires the owner of an ATV required to be registered to register the ATV annually with the department of natural resources (DNR). The registration application must be filed with the DNR through the county recorder’s office in the applicant’s county of residence, or for a nonresident ATV owner, the county in which the ATV is primarily used. The bill requires the DNR to allow an applicant to register, renew, and pay associated fees for an ATV registration through its internet site. Depending on how the registration application is filed, the DNR or county recorder is required to issue to the applicant a registration certificate and registration decal. The bill requires the DNR to create, maintain, and publish on its internet site a database of parks and trails designated by the DNR for use by ATVs operated by the public. The bill clarifies that all ATVs displaying a valid registration decal shall be allowed to be operated at DNR-designated ATV parks and on DNR-designated ATV trails. The bill allows ATV parks and trails that are available to the public but not designated as such by the DNR to submit certain information about the park or trail, including but not limited to rules of operation, allowable operating hours, permit requirements and fees, current conditions of the trails, and any other information the DNR may require by rule, to the DNR and the DNR shall publish the information received in the database in a manner that distinguishes the park or trail from a DNR-designated park or trail. The bill takes effect January 1, 2022.