Ohio

ORV Visible Identification

Off-road vehicles must be registered through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. purpose vehicles (APVs) are required to have a license plate and registration sticker. Off-highway motorcycles and snowmobiles are only required to display numbered decals.

Public Road Access

All-purpose vehicles are permitted to cross highways. APVs are also permitted to operate on roadways designated as open for APV use by counties and townships. If no specific authority was granted, APVs may operate alongside streets for the purpose of reaching an authorized area. 

Community Voices Demand Action in Ohio

Ohioans are increasingly voicing their concerns about a growing contingent of reckless riders who break the law, damage public and private land, injure themselves and others, and ruin hunting, fishing and hiking experiences for the rest of us.

• "ATVs have an abysmal record in Ohio's public forests. Although permits are required and rules say riders must stay on trails, observe safety rules and avoid damage to the land, riders routinely go off-trail, ripping up hillsides and hastening erosion. They blast through creeks, fouling the water. Loud ATV engines scare off wildlife and disturb hikers and birders. ATV riders also have a history of ignoring private-property signs and riding onto adjoining private forests, continuing the damage there...Many riders are law-abiding, but the bad actors have done harm that might be irreparable." -- The Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board, "Watch the woods", The Columbus Dispatch (4/3/09)

• "This is a problem the sheriff's office, myself and the juvenile prosecutor has been dealing with for years, and it's not something we've disregarded. It's more of a matter of time to catch them, number one, and number two, having the manpower to do that." -- Bob Skelton, Coshocton City Law Director, " Joyriding in the red sea targeted by area lawmen", Coshocton Tribune (4/19/10)

• "They are starting to ride on the hill and we need to stop this. It's causing ruts and killing the vegetation...That can get expensive." -- Tom Hitchcock, St. Marys Safety-Service Director, "ATVs causing issues", The Evening Leader (3/3/09)

• "Trespassing has been a problem, especially ATVs tearing up the property." -- Jeff Rennie, spokesman for America Electric Power, "Thrill of hunt expands; Deer season to get boost with added 10,000 acres in southern Ohio", Cleveland Plain Dealer (11/22/08)

• "I'd like to see one strike and you're out. If they run over your beans, you should be able to take their ATV." -- Dwight Beery, farmer, "Ross County farmers want to toughen ATV legislation", Chillicothe Gazette (6/16/10)

• "The lack of common-sense state law to encourage the safe use of all-terrain vehicles is hard to justify...Manufacturers make a number of safety recommendations...But many ATV riders ignore those recommendations. Free training offered by industry groups and organizations such as Ohio State University's Extension office attracts relatively few takers...Just as state law requires training to drive a car and mandates the use of seat belts, it should require training for anyone riding an ATV and, at minimum, mandate that children riding ATVs wear helmets…ignoring the most elemental protection for Ohio's children is folly." -- Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board, "Common sense; Growing injury toll from ATVs shows lawmakers should require basic safety", The Columbus Dispatch (10/8/08)

•  “We needed to step things up so residents don’t feel threatened and our parks aren’t torn up. -- Christine Matacic, Trustee, Liberty Township, "ATVs not welcome in Liberty Township parks", Cincinnati Enquirer (4/21/10)
  

• "We've had steadily increasing numbers of [court cases involving ORV misuse]. It's a real problem." -- Judge Mark Repp, Tiffin Municipal Court Judge, "ATV misues rising", The Adviser-Tribune (5/5/08)

• “There’s also evidence that they are riding over in Foundation Park and the dike ways along the Kokosing and different areas. They wear out the grass, the trails get eroded and it does damage to the dike way.” -- Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis, "ATV riding illegal in Kokosing dikes", Mount Vernon News (10/2/10)

• "You can be in the house with the windows closed and not be able to hear the TV... Though residents called deputies, there was no law being broken... We really had no recourse to be able to stop this." -- Paula Goetz, of Rose Petal, "ATV riders subject to fines", The Cincinnati Enquirer (9/19/07)

• "It was determined that there are some real problems throughout Boone County as it relates to ATV usage." -- Tim Williams, Assistant County Administrator, "ATV noise fines proposed", The Cincinnati Enquirer (8/22/07)

Recent ORV-Related Media Coverage