Chapter 10.32
WHEELED ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES
Sections:
10.32.020 Use of wheeled all-terrain vehicle on city streets.
10.32.030 Restrictions on use of wheeled all-terrain vehicle in the city.
10.32.040 Equipment requirements of a wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
10.32.050 Registration and insurance requirements of a wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
10.32.060 Duty to obey traffic control devices and rules of the road.
10.32.090 Violation—Penalties.
10.32.010 Definitions.
When used in this chapter, the city defines the words and phrases listed below as follows:
“City” means the city of Ocean Shores, its elected officials, its employees, and its agents.
“City street” means every way, lane, road, street, boulevard, and every way or place in the city open as a matter of right to public vehicular traffic inside the city limits.
“Commercial use” means any vehicle the principal use of which is the furtherance of a company’s business purpose but shall not include transportation of commodities, merchandise, produce, freight, animals, or passengers for hire.
“Emergency management” means the carrying out of emergency functions related to responding and recovering from emergencies and disasters, and to aid victims suffering from injury or damage, resulting from disasters caused by all hazards, whether natural, technological, or human caused, and to provide support for search and rescue operations for persons and property in distress.
“Highway,” for the purpose of this chapter only, means the entire width between the boundary lines of every roadway publicly maintained by the state Department of Transportation or any county or city with funding from the motor vehicle fund. A highway is generally capable of travel by a conventional two-wheel drive passenger automobile during most of the year and in use by such vehicles.
“Land owned or controlled by the city” means any land owned by the city of Ocean Shores, or any land controlled by easement, lease, license, right-of-entry, or other written agreement giving the city use of the subject property.
“Nonhighway road” means any road owned or managed by a public agency, a primitive road, or any private road for which the owner has granted an easement for public use for which appropriations from the motor vehicle fund were not used for (1) original construction or reconstruction in the last twenty-five years; or (2) maintenance in the last four years.
“Registered owner” shall have the same meaning as RCW 46.04.460.
“Rules of the road” means all the rules that apply to vehicle or pedestrian traffic as set forth in state statute, rule or regulation.
“Seashore conservation area” means all lands now or hereafter under state ownership or control lying between the North Jetty and Damon Road, and occupying the area between the line of ordinary high tide and the line of extreme low tide, as these lines now are or may hereafter be located, and, where applicable, between the seashore conservation line, as established by survey of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and the line of extreme low tide, as these lines now are or may hereafter be located; and shall also include all state-owned nontrust accreted lands along the ocean.
“Sidewalk” means that property between the curb lines or the lateral lines of a city street and the adjacent property, set aside and intended for the use of pedestrians or such portion of private property parallel and in proximity to a city street and dedicated to use by pedestrians.
“Wheeled all-terrain vehicle” or “WATV” means (1) a utility-type vehicle designed for and capable of travel over designated roads that travels on four or more low-pressure tires of twenty psi or less, has a maximum width less than seventy-four inches, has a maximum weight less than two thousand pounds, has a wheelbase of one hundred ten inches or less, and satisfies at least one of the following: (a) Has a minimum width of fifty inches, (b) has a minimum weight of at least nine hundred pounds, or (c) has a wheelbase of over sixty-one inches, and (2) where the operator and passenger sit side by side in the vehicle, manufactured primarily for recreational nonhighway all-terrain use, as further defined by the State Model Traffic Ordinance. (Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.020 Use of wheeled all-terrain vehicle on city streets.
Subject to the restrictions and requirements set forth in this chapter, a person eighteen years or older and with a valid driver’s license issued by the state of the person’s residence, and is the registered owner or an employee of the registered owner and is using the wheeled all-terrain vehicle in furtherance of the registered owner’s commercial purpose, may operate a wheeled all-terrain vehicle upon a city street having a speed limit of thirty-five miles per hour or less for commercial or personal use. (Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.030 Restrictions on use of wheeled all-terrain vehicle in the city.
A. A person may not operate a wheeled all-terrain vehicle upon a city street with a speed limit in excess of thirty-five miles per hour; however, a person may cross a city street with a speed limit in excess of thirty-five miles per hour at a controlled intersection if the crossing begins and ends on a city street with a speed limit of thirty-five miles per hour or less and occurs at an intersection of approximately ninety degrees.
B. Except as provided in subsection (C) of this section, it is unlawful to operate a wheeled all-terrain vehicle in a park, on the ocean beach within the dunes protection area as defined in Section 19.03.050, which prohibits motorized vehicles of all types at all times, except for public vehicles operated in the performance of official duties, utility vehicles when engaged in servicing utility facilities, and vehicles responding to an emergency.
C. A person may operate a wheeled all-terrain vehicle upon any city street while being used under the authority or direction of an appropriate agency that engages in emergency management, as defined in RCW 46.09.310, or search and rescue, as defined in RCW 38.52.010, or a law enforcement agency, as defined in RCW 16.52.011, within the scope of the agency’s official duties.
(Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1002 (part), 2017; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.040 Equipment requirements of a wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
A wheeled all-terrain vehicle operated on a city street must comply with the following equipment requirements:
A. Headlights meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.030 and 46.37.040 and used at all times when the vehicle is in motion;
B. One tail lamp meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.525 and used at all times when the vehicle is in motion upon a city street; however, a utility-type vehicle, as described under RCW 46.09.310, must have two tail lamps meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.070(1) and to be used at all times when the vehicle is in motion upon a city street;
C. A stop lamp meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.200;
D. Reflectors meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.060;
E. During hours of darkness, as defined in RCW 46.04.200, turn signals meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.200;
F. Outside of hours of darkness, the operator must comply with RCW 46.37.200;
G. A mirror attached to either the right or left handlebar, which must be located to give the operator a complete view of the city street for a distance of at least two hundred feet to the rear of the vehicle; however, a utility-type vehicle, as described under RCW 46.09.310(19), must have two mirrors meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.400;
H. A windshield meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.430, unless the operator wears glasses, goggles, or a face shield while operating the vehicle, of a type conforming to rules adopted by the Washington State Patrol;
I. A horn or warning device meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.380;
J. Brakes in working order;
K. A spark arrester and muffling device meeting the requirements of RCW 46.09.470; and
L. For utility-type vehicles, as described under RCW 46.09.310(19), seat belts meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.510.
(Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.050 Registration and insurance requirements of a wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
A. A wheeled all-terrain vehicle operated on a city street must comply with all the registration requirements of Chapter 46.09 RCW.
B. Wheeled all-terrain vehicle operators will carry the Washington State minimum required liability insurance as found in RCW 46.29.090 for vehicles registered under Chapter 46.16A RCW.
(Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.060 Duty to obey traffic control devices and rules of the road.
Unless a police officer directs otherwise, a person operating a wheeled all-terrain vehicle must obey all rules of the road that apply to vehicle or pedestrian traffic and must obey the instructions of official traffic control signals, signs and other control devices applicable to vehicles. A person operating a wheeled all-terrain vehicle upon a city street is subject to all of the duties that Chapter 46.61 RCW et seq. imposes on an operator of a vehicle, except as to those provisions thereof which by their nature can have no application. Wheeled all-terrain vehicles must be operated with all four wheels of the wheeled all-terrain vehicle on the roadway; no shoulder driving is permitted, except for slowing to allow vehicle traffic to pass. (Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.070 Towing.
Wheeled all-terrain vehicle operators shall abide by the manufacturer’s guidelines or specifications when towing approved devices. It will be unlawful for any wheeled all-terrain vehicle to pull any sled, toboggan, trailer or other device except by means of a rigid tow bar connecting the same to such device. No person shall be pulled in any fashion by a wheeled all-terrain vehicle. (Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.080 Prohibited uses.
A. No person may operate or ride a wheeled all-terrain vehicle in a negligent or unsafe manner, but must operate it with reasonable regard for his or her own safety and for the safety of others.
B. No person may operate a wheeled all-terrain vehicle side-by-side in a single lane of traffic and must have enough space between each wheeled all-terrain vehicle for a full-sized vehicle to pass each wheeled all-terrain vehicle safely.
C. No person shall operate a wheeled all-terrain vehicle for the transportation of commodities, merchandise, produce, freight, animals, or passengers for hire.
(Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.090 Violation—Penalties.
Violation of any section of this chapter by any person shall be punishable by a fine of up to one thousand dollars per violation. The parent or legal guardian of a minor who knowingly allows the minor to operate a wheeled all-terrain vehicle in violation of this chapter shall be punished by a fine of up to one thousand dollars per violation. Violations of this chapter shall be classified as traffic infractions, except as otherwise provided. Traffic infractions are noncriminal offenses. (Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1002 (part), 2017: Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)
10.32.100 Severability.
Each separate provision of this chapter is independent of all other provisions. If any provision of the chapter, or any part thereof, is declared invalid, all other provisions, or parts thereof, remain valid and enforceable. (Ord. 1105 § 1, 2023; Ord. 1001 § 1 (part), 2017)