2011 Visible ID Report

Visible identification solves one of the biggest obstacles to stopping illegal riding – identifying the rider. Many people we’ve heard from, especially law enforcement and private property owners, believe that the sense of anonymity on the trails fosters illegal riding. We define visible identification as a plate or large decal with a font that is at least 3 inches tall.

Visible identification helps the millions of people who live in rural areas, where law enforcement help can be more than an hour away. Groups of rural property owners have been able to utilize visible identification to catch illegal riders red-handed through photos and video.

The speed and agility of ORVs is a big part of what makes them great for recreation. But those features also create a big challenge for law enforcement officers trying to identify illegal riders. We have followed a growing number of stories of police chases that end with the officer, the rider or innocent bystanders getting hurt. Law enforcement can avoid these dangerous chases if the vehicle is marked with a visible identification.

We produced this report to detail the state-by-state visible identification laws. Some states have enacted laws to place identification stickers or plates on ORVs. Many states have not. Each state has different requirements for the size and location of the identification. Some forms of identification are more visible than others. There are a variety of different state-to-state reciprocity laws.

View the full report.

States that Require Visible Identification

We found that requiring visible identification on ORVs is a common solution at the state level to a growing national problem. Some form of identification is required to be affixed to the vehicle in 37 states. However, registration programs and state-to-state reciprocity vary widely. Of those states, 12 require plates or large decals (shaded darker below). This includes states like New Mexico, Nevada and New Jersey that are still developing rules to implement their respective visible identification law. We found that Connecticut and Massachusetts had the most visible forms of identification (3 inch numbers).

Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

States with no ORV registration or titling requirements

11 states require no ORV registration or titling of off-road vehicles.

Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

States with an ORV oversight board

20 states require a citizen or oversight board that oversees ORV identification and titling and/or how funds obtained from purchasing identification or titles are to be used.

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming

States where riders benefit from registration fees

In nearly half of states, riders directly benefit from registration fees directed back to their trails. In 22 states (blue map), riders contribute to law enforcement to prevent reckless riding from leading to trail closures. In 26 states (green map), riders contribute to trail maintenance to repair the damages caused by the minority of reckless riders. These funds are exclusively from registration, not from gas or sales tax.

States where riders contribute to law enforcement

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

States where riders contribute to trail maintenence

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

State report card

We graded each stated based on findings from our research. Five categories were weighted, with visible identification requirements and visibility of the identification weighted most heavily. Five states (AZ, NV, NM, PA, VT) received an A+ grade. Thirteen states received a grade of 0. Seventeen states received grades in the C range (70-79). View the state report card.

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State by State Momentum

Community Voices

“As a rancher who leases public lands for cattle, I’ve seen my share of cut fences and rangeland damaged by ORV use. I’ve also experienced ORV trespass onto my private lands. But I’ve had no way to identify the culprits when reporting trespass or illegal ORV use to local law enforcement. Congress should require that ORVs used on public lands have visible identification plates or decals. Doing so would remove the anonymity enjoyed by ORV riders who are bent on breaking the rules.”

- Ambers Thornburgh, second-generation rancher from Oregon who grazes cattle on his private land and adjacent lands leased from the Bureau of Land Management