Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Legal Services

TO:	Toni Ramirez Wheeler, Director of Legal Services
FROM:	Scott J. Miller, Staff Attorney
Date:	June 26, 2009
RE:	Ordinance 8431 – Operation of Workplace Utility Vehicles on City Streets

Don Steeples, the Senior Vice Provost at the University of Kansas, has requested on behalf of the University that an ordinance be drafted that allows for the operation of workplace utility vehicles on the streets of Lawrence.  The City of Lawrence has authority to pass such an ordinance by operation of House Bill 2152, which was signed by the governor with an effective date of July 1, 2009. 

A worksite utility vehicle is:

any motor vehicle which is not less than 48 inches in width, has an overall length, including the bumper, of not more than 135 inches, has an unladen weight, including fuel and fluids, of more than 800 pounds and is equipped with four or more low pressure tires, a steering wheel and bench or bucket type seating allowing at least two people to sit side-by-side, and may be equipped with a bed or cargo box for hauling materials.

The term does not, however, include micro utility trucks.  Micro utility trucks have metal cabs, may be longer and have a higher design speed.

Many companies, such as John Deere, Kubota and Bobcat, manufacture these utility vehicles.  While not truly designed for on-road use, like many pieces of construction and work equipment their usefulness is enhanced when they may be driven on roads for short distances.  City departments, including the Fire and Medical Department and Parks and Recreation also use these vehicles.

Ordinance 8431 would authorize the use of these vehicles on City streets subject to several requirements and qualifications.  The vehicles would only be legally operated on the street by licensed drivers, and operation would only be during the day unless the vehicle is equipped with lights in the same manner as a legal motorcycle would be.  The vehicles would not be able to be operated on any federal or state highway or any City street with a posted speed limit greater than 30 miles per hour except as would be necessary to cross those types of roads.  The design speed of many of the vehicles of this kind is 20 miles per hour so the ordinance requires that the vehicles be equipped with a slow moving vehicle emblem.  The ordinance also explicitly extends the requirement for liability insurance to this vehicle type.   

These protections, taken as a whole, are likely to mitigate much of the risk involved in allowing this vehicle type on the street.  None of the City departments that I contacted, including the Police Department, objected to the idea of letting these types of vehicles drive on roads and alleys.  If I can be of any other help on this issue, please let me know.