Children riding in certain off-highway vehicles will soon be required to wear seat belts and helmets, after two new regulations go into effect Jan. 1.

Helmets are already required for children younger than 18 on two classes of off-highway vehicles — Class I, which covers quads, and Class III, which includes dirt bikes and motorcycles — said John Lane, ATV safety education coordinator with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

“The change in that law added Class IIs to the list,” Lane said.

Class II includes dune buggies and side-by-sides — vehicles similar to an oversized quad or golf cart, but with larger tires and a more powerful engine, a roof or roll bar, steering wheel and seats arranged so the passenger is next to the driver.

There are exceptions, however, he said. If children are in a registered Class II vehicle that has a roof or roll bar, like a street-legal Jeep or 4×4, and driving off-road, they don’t have to wear helmets.

The exception was designed, in part, so people switching from driving on a road to driving off-road won’t fumble to put a helmet on kids in the vehicle. It was also designed to make it easier for hunters, who often drive street-legal vehicles on small, poorly maintained routes.

The second new rule states that children younger than 16 have to wear safety restraints if they’re riding off-road in a vehicle that is required to have them.

“If you have your child in the back or a passenger seat, they have to be wearing the proper restraints,” he said. “The law was silent on this before. I could turn off-road, get onto a very poorly maintained dirt road, reach back there and unbuckle my child.”

This mainly applies to people driving trucks, Jeeps or similar vehicles off-road, Lane said, as well as side-by-sides.

The rule only applies to vehicles that are required by the manufacturer to have restraints, Lane said.

“They should already be there, you just have to buckle them up,” he said.

Restraints aren’t required in quads or motorcycles.

And the rules also don’t apply on private property, Lane added.

“All of those laws regarding ATVs don’t have any effect on private property, only on lands open to the public,” he said, which includes federal, state and county land.

Violations of the new laws would be Class D traffic violations, similar to getting a ticket for not wearing a seat belt while driving on a road, which can result in a $142 fine.

Patti Pyland, with Deschutes County 4-Wheelers, said most people wear at least a lap belt already when they drive off-road and added that they should, no matter what their age.

“Everybody ought to wear seat belts,” Pyland said.

Find out more

For more information about ATV rules in Oregon, visit www .oregonOHV.org, call the state’s hot line at 877-772-3359 or e-mail atv.info@state.or.us.