Vehicle regulations and laws are consistently under review and subject to multiple changes. This is due to the constant changes which occur on the road, usually due to increased and constant technological upgrades to vehicles on the road as well as other transportation technology. Recently, New York state has announced a new list of vehicles prohibited from being driven on the roads. This is in response to the summer season soon beginning, meaning many obscure vehicles tend to be seen on the roads.
Traffic laws and regulations are consistently under review
Keeping up with the constant legal changes for drivers and automobile regulations can be a very tiring process. In addition, many of these changes are often limited to state-level, meaning that if you intend to travel out-of-state, you should check to see if there are any legal driving requirements in the state you are travelling to, which you may not be aware of as the same law is not present in your state.
However, one recent federal driving law change that all drivers must partake in, no matter which state you hail from, is the REAL ID updates. From May 7, you may not enter a federal building or do domestic travel, only with your driver’s license as a form of identification, unless it has been REAL ID certified. The REAL ID deadlines come nearly two decades after it was first introduced due to pushback from states.
New York State bans these vehicles
New York State has recently reminded residents of the strict regulations and rules surrounding what type of vehicle you are legally allowed to drive on New York roads:
“You cannot register or operate any of the motorized devices from the list below on any street, highway, parking lot, sidewalk, or another area in New York State that allows public motor vehicle traffic. You may be arrested if you do.”
According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, the following vehicles may not be registered or operated on New York state roads:
- Mini-bike
- Off-road Motorcycle (Dirt Bike)
- Go-Kart
- Golf Cart
- KEI-Class Vehicles
- Lawnmower
The prohibition of these vehicles is to ensure public safety on the roads. Not only do these vehicles not meet road safety requirements, but they also lack mandatory parts that make a vehicle roadworthy. For example, mini-bikes lack essential safety components such as headlights and mirrors. Other vehicles, like golf carts, are not designed to operate in high-speed traffic.
Other traffic changes for New York drivers
Other changes New York drivers can expect to see being implemented on the road this year include updates in speed regulations. New York City residents will see the speed limit change from 25mph to 20mph. The speed limit reduction will be gradually implemented throughout the state so that by the end of 2025, the whole state will have the new speed limit implemented.
“Every mile per hour you reduce the speed limit by crashes go down and also when someone is hit at a slower speed the chances that they survive is much much higher,” said Elizabeth Adams, the co-executive director of Transportation Alternatives to CBS News,
The changes in the speed limit are due to Sammy’s Law taking place this year. The law was put in place after 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein was killed in Brooklyn in 2013 after being hit by a car in 2013. After an over-decade-long legal battle, the new law has meant that New York City has been granted permission to lower the speeding limit without needing state approval. The law hopes to improve pedestrian safety and make the roads a safer place for all road users.
