- Boone County held a public hearing Sept. 24 on potentially allowing street-legal UTVs on some public roads.
- Kentucky law gives local governments flexibility to set restrictions on where and how UTVs can operate.
- County officials expressed interest in continuing to explore regulations while weighing safety, enforcement and jurisdictional concerns.
Boone County is considering a move that would allow street-legal UTVs on some public roads.
On Sept. 24, Boone County Assistant County Administrator Matthew Dowling gave the fiscal court an overview of how street-legal UTVs could be regulated if the county chooses to allow them on public roads.
“Really, it comes down to looking at identifying specific roads, or identifying specific speed limits that you want to regulate the program by,” Dowling told the fiscal court. “Basically, where you can take them, how fast they can go, things like that.”
Commissioner Chet Hand first asked county staff to evaluate the possibility in June.
A utility terrain vehicle, or UTV, is a motorized off-road vehicle designed to navigate rugged terrain while carrying multiple passengers or hauling cargo. Unlike an all-terrain vehicle, or ATV, which typically seats a single rider who straddles the vehicle and steers with handlebars, UTVs feature side-by-side seating.
That seating arrangement gives UTVs their common nickname, “side-by-sides,” while ATVs are often called “quads” or “four-wheelers.”
Currently, 72 of Kentucky’s 120 counties allow street-legal UTVs. Most are rural counties, where there is a lower volume of traffic and the vehicles provide people with a convenient form of transportation for farmers who use them for short farm-to-farm trips.
If Boone County chooses to allow the vehicles on county roads, it would become the most populous county in Kentucky to do so.
Kentucky state law gives counties and municipalities the authority to decide through local ordinances whether to allow street-legal UTVs on public roads. Local governments can impose additional restrictions, such as limiting the vehicles to roads with certain speed limits or establishing requirements for helmets, passenger ages, doors, exhaust noise and mud or debris.
Regardless of local regulations, state law prohibits the vehicles from operating on interstates, parkways and other controlled-access highways.
Dowling also identified several potential challenges, including increased noise, trespassing complaints, unauthorized use in county parks, mud and debris on roadways, and difficulties enforcing regulations across jurisdictional boundaries.
“It would be very challenging from a law enforcement standpoint … (and) anyone involved to really manage this program, if the … cities and the county have differing rules and regulations,” he said. “A golf cart is one thing, but this type of vehicle, given just, naturally, its size and speed and things like that, are much more difficult if you’re in a subdivision where one portion of the street’s Florence and the next portion may be Union.”
Boone County resident Jerry Palmer spoke in favor of allowing UTVs on county roads, describing the vehicles as useful for both recreation and everyday tasks. He said he uses his UTV to plow snow during the winter, in addition to helping his elderly mother, who lives nearby.
“I do want to point out with the side-by-sides is they’re definitely a good recreational use, just for Sunday drive, take family out, have fun,” Palmer said. “It’s an awesome opportunity. It’s fun, but they’ve got a lot of utility to them.”
Following the hearing, Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore and members of the fiscal court expressed interest in continuing to explore regulations that would allow street-legal UTVs on county roads.
