Three-wheel vehicles have existed since the earliest days of the motor vehicle. They include varied configurations, including the trike, reverse trike, sidecar motorcycle, and what the Three-Wheel Vehicle Working Group has defined as the “autocycle,” which operates much like a passenger vehicle. These vehicles can vary drastically in price, performance, and design. Manufacturers’ desire to create fuel-efficient vehicles and to cater to people who want to ride a motorcycle but don’t want the worry of the instability of a two-wheel motorcycle have led to a proliferation of three-wheel vehicles on the market.
Jurisdictions are faced with complex and evolving issues regulating the operation and registration of three-wheel vehicles. As a result, the AAMVA formed the Three-Wheel Vehicle Working Group and tasked it with the development of best practices and recommendations for regulating or restricting on-highway operation and registration of three-wheel vehicles. The group focused on creating guidelines that adequately identify the different vehicles in production today but that are broad enough to accommodate emerging vehicle technology.
Most three-wheel vehicles clearly meet the definition of a motorcycle in United States code 49 CFR 571.3(b) and should be regulated as motorcycles. However, two-wheel motorcycles and three-wheel vehicles operate very differently. This document provides guidelines to help jurisdictions determine the type of knowledge and skills testing required for the operation of each type of three-wheel vehicle and the type of driving privilege the operator should obtain. It also offers recommendations for identifying the different types of three-wheel vehicles for registration and crash reporting purposes, which will also help law enforcement easily determine which laws to enforce for the different types of three-wheel vehicles.
Many jurisdictions allow operators of two-wheel motorcycles (tested or trained on a two-wheel motorcycle) to operate any motorcycle yet restrict three-wheel motorcycle operators (tested or trained on a three-wheel motorcycle) to only operating threewheel motorcycles. The 3WVWG recognizes that this practice needs to change and addresses it in the recommended best practices.
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Jurisdictions are faced with complex and evolving issues regulating the operation and registration of three-wheel vehicles. As a result, the AAMVA formed the Three-Wheel Vehicle Working Group and tasked it with the development of best practices and recommendations for regulating or restricting on-highway operation and registration of three-wheel vehicles. The group focused on creating guidelines that adequately identify the different vehicles in production today but that are broad enough to accommodate emerging vehicle technology.
Most three-wheel vehicles clearly meet the definition of a motorcycle in United States code 49 CFR 571.3(b) and should be regulated as motorcycles. However, two-wheel motorcycles and three-wheel vehicles operate very differently. This document provides guidelines to help jurisdictions determine the type of knowledge and skills testing required for the operation of each type of three-wheel vehicle and the type of driving privilege the operator should obtain. It also offers recommendations for identifying the different types of three-wheel vehicles for registration and crash reporting purposes, which will also help law enforcement easily determine which laws to enforce for the different types of three-wheel vehicles.
Many jurisdictions allow operators of two-wheel motorcycles (tested or trained on a two-wheel motorcycle) to operate any motorcycle yet restrict three-wheel motorcycle operators (tested or trained on a three-wheel motorcycle) to only operating threewheel motorcycles. The 3WVWG recognizes that this practice needs to change and addresses it in the recommended best practices.