This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
SB258 • The Senate advanced a bill Monday to allow "street legal" all-terrain vehicles to travel on any road, except for interstate freeways, outside of Salt Lake County.
However, it made one big change to SB258 before it passed 21-4 and was sent to the House, capping the speed limit at 50 mph.
The bill originally would have allowed ATVs to travel up to the posted speed limit of 65 mph on such busy highways as U.S. 89, U.S. 40 and U.S. 6. "But the Highway Patrol convinced me that was too much," said Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, the bill's sponsor.
He changed it so that ATVs cannot legally travel faster than 50 mph on highways. If they travel on a busy highway, they must stay to the extreme right-hand side to let others pass more easily. They also must have reflective tape on the front and back.
Jenkins said that in recent years, cities and counties could opt to allow ATVs on their roads, making for a confusing patchwork of where they are allowed and banned.
His bill would eliminate that by allowing ATVs everywhere, except interstate freeways, outside of Salt Lake County. He said, "We've had very little problem" with allowing them on roads so far.
— Lee Davidson