This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah will soon have a new category of licensed vehicles: "autocycles," which are part automobile and part motorcycle.
The Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to pass HB38, and sent it to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature, to set up regulations for those unconventional vehicles.
An autocycle is a three-wheeled vehicle that's similar to a motorcycle, but it has a steering wheel, car-like seats that do not require straddling, and safety features such as a steel roll cage, air bags or anti-lock brakes.
The new bill will allow driving them without a motorcycle license, which has previously been required.
"They ride like a car. They fit most of the categories of a car, yet they are under a motorcycle code" now, Rep. Stewart Barlow, R-Fruit Heights, the bill's sponsor, told a committee earlier.
"We're expecting to see a lot more of them on the market" because they sell for about $8,000 "and all get roughly 50 to 80 miles per gallon," he said.
— Lee Davidson