Why arent 4 wheelers able to be street legal

So my buddy and i were chatting on the way home yesterday and curious as to why 4 wheelers cant be street legal. In most cases they are as fast as a car. You can do the whole enduro bike thing for motorcycles, so why not four wheelers?

Height? Cornering? Stability? Or the fact you would never sit in traffic )

Would definitly be better on gas.

You mean Quads / Side by sides etc?

I've seen a few registered ones on the road here in AZ.

I wonder myself.

Illinois it is illegal to ride them on streets. other than lighting on some I dont know. Make um street legal and require license if you wish to ride on street and mufflers etc to make them less noisy but I am for it.

This does piss me off about PA. ATV's must be registered plated and insured now... but aren't allowed to go on the street... All most need are some turn signals.

Yep! I'd buy one in an heart beat if you could take them on the street.

I would think some mirrors, blinkers and possibly a more visible brake light and all should be good.

I would assume they are not allowed the street for the following:

A) Size. They are lower/smaller than regular motorcylces. We have a hard enough time on two wheels not being seen be drivers.

B) They would need to have DOT approved lighting and turnsignals.

C) They would have to be registered and insured.

D) DOT approved exhaust/muffler system.

E) DOT approved street tires.

Honestly as an avid motorcyle rider I cannot see having quads on a highway. They are not designed to be revved for that long at that high a RPM. What stability would they have at 65 MPH on blacktop? How would car/truck drivers see them?
What kind of gas mileage can you expect?

And the biggest reason....would the motorcycle industry spend the money to make these changes to the quads for so few that would actually be on the road?

S.

I think passing the crash tests would pretty much knock them out of the running.



The DOT stuff could be added, but then they'd work worse for what they ARE for.

I don't see them performing any worse in a crash test than a motorcycle.

X2

X3 when struck no diff than motorcycle. Possibly better control than a motorcycle due to 4 wheels.

you can drive them on the road here with a slow moving vehicle placard.(The orange/yellow triangle) This designates "Farm Equipment"

As far as the above poster saying they weren't designed for extended periods of being wound out??? Tell that to the ATV entries of the Baja 1000.

The NJ Turnpike is more dangerous than the Baja 1000.

S.

Couldn't be any worse than a moped, and they are street legal.

A motorcycle's safety is in the rider and in it's height. On a quad, you can't see shit in traffic, it's not very stable when it comes to emergency situations, and the other DOT reasons previously listed.

I frequent a Lotus Elise message board and they all say how cars and trucks don't notice them. Just think of what it would be like on a quad.

I don't know, I'd bet you sit lower on any Harley compared to a quad. I know my sportster when I had it had a seat heat of 23"... It was LOW...

No parts on a quad are DOT tested/approved. They don't have emissions systems, except mufflers for sound. Those are the two reasons they aren't allowed on the street.

Somebody made the comment about mopeds/scooters being "street legal". No, technically they're not. They're unregulated, provided their engine is small enough. Which means a 50cc quad would be allowed on your local city street, too, if anybody makes one that small. In Kentucky, provided you have 3 or less wheels, and an engine less than 250cc's, it's unregulated. I don't know what the law says about smaller quads; never had a reason to look into it.

I have a polaris ranger UTV and here in AZ it is street legal, goes 44mph, all i needed to register with a motorcycle plate was a rear view mirror, horn, lighted license plate and insurance. As long as I am not hindering traffic i drive it most places including the trails. In the area i live in there are a ton all over the streets. Quads are able to be street legal here too. A new thing is DOT approved tires which are easy to get since Super Swampers come in 27in size.

I have never seen a moped on a highway. What is a moped's top speed...30MPH?

S.

Do they actually crash test motorcycles?

Yep.