Maine 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 Maine Golf Cart & Low-Speed Vehicle Laws. We’ve created this guide to help you, the consumer, in determining Maine’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, it is up to the local government to decide if they want to require you to register your golf cart with your local municipality.

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.

Maine Golf Cart & Low Speed Vehicle Laws

Guidelines for Golf Carts and PTVs (Personal Transportation Vehicles)

The state of Maine has given the authority to local municipalities to decide if they will allow for golf carts to be driven on public roadways. A few laws do pertain, however, statewide for those local municipalities that allow golf carts on public roadways:

• The golf cart must be driven on the extreme right side of the ride.
• The golf cart must be driving the same direction as traffic.
• The roadway must be labeled as a golf cart access route with postings conspicuously placed in regular intervals.

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)
• Has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of less than 3,000 pounds.
• 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.
• May cross at intersections that have a speed limit above 35 mph.

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

HELPFUL LINKS

legislature.maine.gov – Law pertaining to Golf Carts
legislature.maine.gov – Law pertaining to 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.