North Dakota Golf Cart & Low Speed Vehicle Laws

PLEASE NOTE: Golf Cart Laws may vary from City to City, so please be sure to check with your local municipality in regards to the laws in your area. We are in the process of gathering laws by municipality for you, however, this is a huge undertaking and does take time. Thank you.

This is an in-depth guide to North Dakota Golf Cart & Low-Speed Vehicle Laws. We’ve created this guide to help you, the consumer, in determining North Dakota’s laws.

Is this state Medium Speed Vehicle friendly? No State Law is Currently in Place.

Is License and Registration a Requirement? For LSVs, yes. For Golf Carts, no.

General Federal Law for Golf Carts:

Under current NHTSA interpretations and regulations, so long as golf cars and other similar vehicles are incapable of exceeding 20 miles per hour, they are subject to only state and local requirements regarding safety equipment. However, if these vehicles are originally manufactured so that they can go faster than 20 miles per hour, they are treated as motor vehicles under Federal law.

The standard requires low-speed vehicles to be equipped with headlamps, stop lamps, turn signal lamps, taillamps, reflex reflectors, parking brakes, rearview mirrors, windshields, seat belts, and vehicle identification numbers.

Find out more information on federal laws pertaining to golf carts and low speed vehicles here.

North Dakota Golf Cart & Low Speed Vehicle Laws

Guidelines for Golf Carts and PTVs (Personal Transportation Vehicles)

North Dakota law gives local municipalities the authority to allow golf carts to be driven on city streets as long as it is daytime travel between the owner’s place of residence and a golf course.

Golf Carts are not allowed to be driven on federal, state, or county highways in the city, except for the perpendicular crossing of these highways.

Golf Carts are exempt from title, registration, and equipment requirements.

Guidelines for LSV (Low Speed Vehicle)

• Has four wheels.
• Within one mile can reach a speed of more than 20 miles per hour (mph) but not more than 25 mph on a paved level surface.
• Has a 17-digit conforming vehicle identification number (VIN)
• May not exceed one thousand five hundred pounds [680.39 kilograms] in unloaded weight
• Must be certified to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) to be registered and operated on public streets, roads, or highways.
• Not be operated on any roadway with a speed limit above 35 mph
• must be equipped with headlamps, front and rear turn signal lamps, taillamps, stop lamps, reflex reflectors on each side as far to the rear of the vehicle as practicable and one red reflector on the rear, brakes, a parking brake, a windshield, a vehicle identification number, a safety belt installed at each designated seating position, an exterior mirror mounted on the operator’s side of the vehicle, and either an exterior mirror mounted on the passenger’s side of the vehicle or an interior rearview mirror.

LSVs may look like a golf-cart to the casual observer, but is actually a motor vehicle requiring a valid driver license, registration, and insurance.

HELPFUL LINKS

www.legis.nd.gov – Golf Carts
www.legis.nd.gov – Low Speed Vehicles

Disclaimer
Although each of these state guides gives a thorough approach to the golf cart laws in your state, it is recommended that you perform the research on your own and reach out to your local municipality.