Licensing is difficult in Texas

[shome]

I was checking to see how the FUV can be licensed in Texas.  Here is what I learned.  My choices are 3 wheeled motor cycle, motorcycle or autocycle.

A 3WMC must meet the following design requirements:



1.  Three-track wheel orientation (leaves three separate tracks during straight-line operation)

•  Dual wheels may be in the front or the rear



2.  Motorcycle-based conversion or design

•  Handlebar steering

•  Motorcycle-type controls arranged with the standard convention (convenience alterations such as a single brake

pedal or lever control, automatic clutch, or automatic transmission are allowed)

•  Saddle seating

• ̵  Seating causes rider/passenger to straddle vehicle 
  
• ̵  If designed for a passenger, passenger must be seated behind operator 
  

3.  Turning diameter of the vehicle at its widest point must be less than 40'
4.  The vehicle must meet all applicable federal/state on-road vehicle standard

All that sounds great but there are exceptions to the above rules.

Under no circumstances will vehicles with the following designs be allowed in the 3WBRC:

•  Automotive hybrids or automotive conversions

•  Motorcycles with sidecars

•  Vehicles with automotive controls or seating

•  Vehicles with rear or front mounted engines (engines must be mounted mid-frame below the rider)

•  Vehicles with enclosed or semi-enclosed riding compartments

•  Any other radical departure from the standard motorcycle design, unless such departures are required to
compensate for a physical handicap.

Texas has a vehicle classification called an autocycle but that requires a steering wheel.  The FUV has motorcycle controls.

A motorcycle needs a saddle.

I am not sure that there is a valid classification for the FUV in Texas.  I am seriously disappointed.

Please someone correct me.

[DiscjockeyDale]

I was checking to see how the FUV can be licensed in Texas.  Here is what I learned.  My choices are 3 wheeled motor cycle, motorcycle or autocycle.

There is a very simple answer to your concerns.
The NHTSA compliance certification requirements and classifications trump anything the state laws say.
In other words, if it's Federally certified, the states are required to comply with that and register it.

How the states register it and what they call it is up to them...
As is whether you'll need a MC license/endorsement and/or a helmet to ride/drive it...
But if it meets federal requirements, the individual states will have to find a way to allow you to register it.

No worries.

[paravil]

• Vehicles with automotive controls or seating

• Vehicles with rear or front mounted engines (engines must be mounted mid-frame below the rider)

• Vehicles with enclosed or semi-enclosed riding compartments

• Any other radical departure from the standard motorcycle design, unless such departures are required to
compensate for a physical handicap.


This goes far in explaining the SRK´s design:

- No enclosures,
- Handlebar steering,
- Motorcycle type, straddled seating.
(. .... and mabe even the invalid, golf cart type of design).

These criteria also coincide with the internationally accepted vehicle categories.

[DiscjockeyDale]

This goes far in explaining the SRK´s design:

Again, none of this is going to affect the ability to register and license the FUV in Texas or any other state as long as the FUV meets Federal compliance requirements.
US Federal regulations and standards supersede state regulations on everything except operator licenses/endorsements and helmet requirements.
And that's simply because there are no Federal standards for operator licenses/endorsements and helmet requirements.

I've seen the language in the NHTSA regulations many times, but can't find it at the moment.
However, I did find this from SEMA: https://www.sema.org/files/attachments/g...k=26613749

"At the federal level, automobiles and auto parts are
regulated by two agencies, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). NHTSA oversees vehicle safety
issues. Vehicle emissions are regulated by the EPA. States
and local jurisdictions are permitted to establish their own
safety laws and regulations as long as they do not conflict
with a federal standard."

"States and local jurisdictions are free to enact equipment
regulations that are identical to NHTSA standards or, in the
absence of a federal rule, establish their own laws and
regulations. Frequent examples of separate state or local
standards are laws covering auxiliary lighting equipment
such as fog lamps, sound levels for exhaust and stereo
systems, bumper/frame height restrictions and window-
tinting transmittance parameters."

[jimball]

The battery tunnel should satisfy the requirement for straddle seating.  Motor scooters such as Vespas have nothing to straddle.  You can ride that type of motorcycle with your knees together.  My Honda Silverwing has a very low hump, so I am technically straddling it.  As for the engine location, Texas requirements do not even consider electric motorcycles.  Still, I do not expect Texas FUV owners to have a problem getting the FUV licensed if it is Federally certified.  But then again, it's Texas...

[DiscjockeyDale]

But then again, it's Texas...

Jimball, it's basically federal law that the States have to register and license it if it meets the federal requirements.
The only exception is if it does not meet a state requirement for which there is no federal ruling.
Such as the short list described in the SEMA material I posted. Fog lights, etc.

Everything that the OP listed is already covered by existing Federal requirements. The states MUST abide by that or face prosecution.

[jimball]

But then again, it's Texas...

Everything that the OP listed is already covered by existing Federal requirements. The states MUST abide by that or face prosecution.

Like I said, it's Texas...

[shome]

Thanks DiscJockeyDale. I don't believe this is just an issue in Texas. Classifications are based in law upon clearly written criteria. The autocycle definition was created to enable Polaris Slingshot without affecting motorcycles with sidecars. Other states decided differently as shown at this Polaris website.

https://slingshot.polaris.com/en-us/lice...uirements/

Rules for vehicles and drivers for motorcycles, 3WMC, autocycles and autos are different. I will have to wait and see how the legislature classifies the FUV. Federal recommendations may decide this issue. Texas may decide the FUV is something entirely different than the existing classifications. Hopefully the training requirements for an FUV driver will not be too burdensome.

[DiscjockeyDale]

It's not an issue at all.

Again, as far as being able to register any of these vehicles, it's the Federal requirements that trump the state by federal law. The language is very specific.
The only thing the state special classifications do is... They "find a way", as I described, and enable the states to match those federal requirements and register the vehicles.
The Slingshot is classified as a MC with special considerations by the federal government. Texas chose not to modify and attach special considerations to their MC requirements.
They chose instead to "create" a new category of vehicle. They were required to match, and comply with, the federal requirements. By law, they HAD to register the Slingshots.
They could have called it a "hot dog" or "Big Mac" as long as their requirements did not and do not vary from the federal requirements. And as long as they registered it.

The only other thing the Autocycle and other special state classifications and exemptions do is determine if you're required to have an MC operator's license/endorsement and helmet.

Please believe me, I've been looking at the NHTSA regulations and requirements for a couple of years now.
No matter how they choose to do it, Texas and every other state in the union is going to have to...
Find a way to register the FUV as it sits when it's in compliance with  the NHTSA requirements.

Unless the vehicle has features and configurations that the federal regulations didn't cover.
And there's not much chance of that. Have you seen how large and detailed the NHTSA compliance documents are?

You don't have to worry. Texas WILL register your vehicle when the time comes.
Or they WILL be prosecuted. The same goes for all 50 states.

Are you a licensed MC rider?

[Rickb]

The FUV will register as a motocycle in all 50 States. Licensing and helmet requirements will vary State to State.  My State of Idaho recently passed Autocycle legislation.  The FUV does not meet the autocycle definition, so I will be required to have a MC endorsement in my State to include written and riding tests which I view only as a minor inconvenience and a positive in the fact testing will provide personal exposure to and awareness of safe MC riding principles making me a safer more alert FUV owner/rider.