Street Legal in Nevada
The summary, for those not into reading the whole thing:
It took a lot of patience, but I have been successful in making my RZR street legal in Nevada, when driven (sic) according to NRS 490.105.
The “street legal” OHV sticker. The date is surrounded by stars; this denotes a “Large All-Terrain Vehicle” which has proof of insurance. Ordinary OHV stickers do not have the stars.
The whole process took me 6 days. I filled out the forms and mailed them with a $20 check on Friday. The sticker arrived in the mail the following Thursday.
The Process
As we all know, we’ve been trying to gain use of the privileges granted in Senate Bill 343 since it was signed into law in May of 2013. This placed NRS 490.105 into the books, which allows street legal use.
The stickler, over the last year, has been getting the Nevada OHV / Department of Transportation to actually complete the registration process.
Since I’ve become kind of obsessed with this, I’ve been keeping track of everything that has changed. During a recent Google search for “Nevada Large All Terrain Vehicle” one of the hits was for the registration forms. This perked up my ears, so I downloaded the pdf.
The new option(s) on the registration forms
Step 1
So, I started with the requirements in NRS 490.120. It says your SxS needs the following:
Our RZR 570 is stock, so no problems there.
Step 2
You need to have insurance. This is referenced in NRS 490.0825 and specifically in NRS 485.185. Basically, it says you need insurance that is:
Our insurance from State Farm waaaay exceeds this, so, another check mark.
Step 3
Is yours a new registration? Ours has been previously registered (and titled) as an OHV in the State of Nevada, so we didn’t need to get it re-inspected for the VIN number and all that nonsense. Whew.
Step 4
Pick the registration form. We had purchased our RZR in June 2012, so we used the form for
APPLICATION FOR OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE REGISTRATION DECAL
FOR AN OHV PURCHASED PRIOR TO JULY 1, 2012
(If you purchased your RZR after July 2012, there is a different form. It’s essentially the same. APPLICATION FOR OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE REGISTRATION DECAL
FOR AN OHV PURCHASED FROM A NEVADA DEALER AFTER 7/1/2012. Note there are different forms for out of state dealers, private party sales, etc. - scroll to the bottom of the page)
Anyway, you should fill this form out, just check the box for “Large All Terrain Vehicle”.
Then, take this form down to a Notary Public – I went to my local bank, where they have a Notary and don’t charge for their services – and sign the bottom in the Notary’s presence.
Step 5
Next up is this form: LARGE ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE INSURANCE DECLARATION. Pull out your insurance card and transfer the insurance details, as well as your Driver’s License information, to this form and sign it (no Notary this time).
Step 6
I paid by check. That and both forms went into an envelope, and I mailed it to the Wright Way address. Six days later, voila – a new registration sticker!
What does this get us?
This makes your RZR street legal under NRS 490.105. Please note this is NOT carte blanche to ride (oops, drive) your RZR willy-nilly on any paved road you want.
Quite literally, you are given permission to drive on only two types of roadways:
That’s it. If you are inside an incorporated city, those are no longer county roads. If it’s a Nevada State Highway, that, too, isn’t a county road.
However, the vast majority of rural Nevada roads DO fall into something we can drive on. Generally, if it’s two-lane blacktop with a speed limit of 45 mph or less, it’s fair game. Don’t be silly and try to drive on I-80, or down the Vegas strip, or something.
This opens up a lot of territory – for example, we can ride the Black Rock desert, and drive our RZR right into downtown Gerlach and get dinner at Bruno’s.
Each county can pass laws restricting NRS 490. For example, here in Washoe County, you are limited to roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or less. As far as I know, that’s the only example in Nevada so far.
Summary
So there it is. Took some doing, but it’s available at last!
All the best, james
The summary, for those not into reading the whole thing:
It took a lot of patience, but I have been successful in making my RZR street legal in Nevada, when driven (sic) according to NRS 490.105.
The “street legal” OHV sticker. The date is surrounded by stars; this denotes a “Large All-Terrain Vehicle” which has proof of insurance. Ordinary OHV stickers do not have the stars.
The whole process took me 6 days. I filled out the forms and mailed them with a $20 check on Friday. The sticker arrived in the mail the following Thursday.
The Process
As we all know, we’ve been trying to gain use of the privileges granted in Senate Bill 343 since it was signed into law in May of 2013. This placed NRS 490.105 into the books, which allows street legal use.
The stickler, over the last year, has been getting the Nevada OHV / Department of Transportation to actually complete the registration process.
Since I’ve become kind of obsessed with this, I’ve been keeping track of everything that has changed. During a recent Google search for “Nevada Large All Terrain Vehicle” one of the hits was for the registration forms. This perked up my ears, so I downloaded the pdf.
The new option(s) on the registration forms
Step 1
So, I started with the requirements in NRS 490.120. It says your SxS needs the following:
- At least one headlamp
- At least one tail lamp
- At least one red reflector on the rear of the vehicle
- A stop lamp on the rear of the vehicle
- A muffler
Our RZR 570 is stock, so no problems there.
Step 2
You need to have insurance. This is referenced in NRS 490.0825 and specifically in NRS 485.185. Basically, it says you need insurance that is:
- An insurance company licensed in this state.
- $15,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident
- $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident
- $10,000 for destruction of property
Our insurance from State Farm waaaay exceeds this, so, another check mark.
Step 3
Is yours a new registration? Ours has been previously registered (and titled) as an OHV in the State of Nevada, so we didn’t need to get it re-inspected for the VIN number and all that nonsense. Whew.
Step 4
Pick the registration form. We had purchased our RZR in June 2012, so we used the form for
APPLICATION FOR OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE REGISTRATION DECAL
FOR AN OHV PURCHASED PRIOR TO JULY 1, 2012
(If you purchased your RZR after July 2012, there is a different form. It’s essentially the same. APPLICATION FOR OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE REGISTRATION DECAL
FOR AN OHV PURCHASED FROM A NEVADA DEALER AFTER 7/1/2012. Note there are different forms for out of state dealers, private party sales, etc. - scroll to the bottom of the page)
Anyway, you should fill this form out, just check the box for “Large All Terrain Vehicle”.
Then, take this form down to a Notary Public – I went to my local bank, where they have a Notary and don’t charge for their services – and sign the bottom in the Notary’s presence.
Step 5
Next up is this form: LARGE ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE INSURANCE DECLARATION. Pull out your insurance card and transfer the insurance details, as well as your Driver’s License information, to this form and sign it (no Notary this time).
Step 6
I paid by check. That and both forms went into an envelope, and I mailed it to the Wright Way address. Six days later, voila – a new registration sticker!
What does this get us?
This makes your RZR street legal under NRS 490.105. Please note this is NOT carte blanche to ride (oops, drive) your RZR willy-nilly on any paved road you want.
Quite literally, you are given permission to drive on only two types of roadways:
- County “General roads”
- County “Minor roads”
That’s it. If you are inside an incorporated city, those are no longer county roads. If it’s a Nevada State Highway, that, too, isn’t a county road.
However, the vast majority of rural Nevada roads DO fall into something we can drive on. Generally, if it’s two-lane blacktop with a speed limit of 45 mph or less, it’s fair game. Don’t be silly and try to drive on I-80, or down the Vegas strip, or something.
This opens up a lot of territory – for example, we can ride the Black Rock desert, and drive our RZR right into downtown Gerlach and get dinner at Bruno’s.
Each county can pass laws restricting NRS 490. For example, here in Washoe County, you are limited to roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or less. As far as I know, that’s the only example in Nevada so far.
Summary
So there it is. Took some doing, but it’s available at last!
All the best, james