Department of Horse Drawn Vehicles?

January 4, 2010 8:33 PM

How are horse-drawn carriages made street legal? Do they go through the DMV?

First off, I realize this varies state by state, but in my searching I haven't found anything for any state, so any information would be helpful.

I'm curious how horse-drawn carriages are made street legal, and if there are any requirements to meet.

posted by daboo to travel & transportation (14 answers total)

Which state are you looking at? They (horses, specifically) are actually never street-legal in Maryland, for instance.
posted by Electrius at 8:46 PM on January 4, 2010

Here's a Horse & Buggy driver's manual from the Pennsylvania DOT which spells out requirements for that state (obeying rules of the road, signaling, use of child safety seats, headlamps and four way flashing lights for nighttime err, buggying.)
posted by jamaro at 8:48 PM on January 4, 2010

I think here in Indiana they have non-motor vehicle plates, which they get through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
posted by ropeladder at 8:50 PM on January 4, 2010

Electrius: Good to know, I'm not looking at a particular state, just trying to find out requirements that exist. I am curious if Maryland would honor a horse drawn carriage registered in another state. The only states that I know of for sure allow carriages on roads are NY and PA.

jamaro: That manual looks excellent, and I'm reading it now, but I'm more interested in the legality of getting a carriage on the road in the first place.

ropeladder: investigating that now, thanks
posted by daboo at 9:01 PM on January 4, 2010

Don't know if that is handled at the state level in Maryland. I found this link which indicates that a operating a horse-drawn carriage in Baltimore MD requires a license to the driver issued by the Baltimore City Commissioner of Health as well as a city license tag on the buggy. More details here (scroll to pg 190 and read through Title 10, subtitle 9).
posted by jamaro at 9:26 PM on January 4, 2010

They (horses, specifically) are actually never street-legal in Maryland, for instance.

Arabbing is illegal? That makes the whole deal even weirder.
posted by mr_roboto at 9:28 PM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

There are horse-drawn carriages in downtown Seattle - is that the kind of thing you're thinking of, or more extended use?
posted by jacalata at 10:25 PM on January 4, 2010

jamaro, it's called driving. I suspect it's a far more ancient use of the word than applied to these newfangled automatic horseless carriages.
posted by wilful at 10:42 PM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Horses being ridden by riders are most certainly street legal (and you're supposed to yield to them) so I imagine that the horses themsleves are not the issue, it's the drivers that probably need to be licensed.
posted by fshgrl at 10:46 PM on January 4, 2010

In Missouri horse-drawn carriages are generally legal on roads and quite common in certain parts of the state. Some discussion here & more here.

Note the definition of "vehicle" here (301.010 (67)) which specifically excludes horse drawn vehicles from the definition.

That doesn't mean that horse drawn vehicles are banned or anything of the sort, but it does mean that the ordinary regulations pertaining to motor vehicles (registration, insurance, lights, etc etc etc) don't apply to horse-drawn vehicles in Missouri. Note the summary of a court case here which specifically calls this out.

However, people riding animal-drawn carts or riding animals are generally subject to the same traffic laws as everyone else. They have required lighting. They have to use the slow-vehicle emblem or take other similar visibility measures. They are considered as traffic (see 300.010(38)).
posted by flug at 11:51 PM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

BTW "animal-drawn vehicle" seemed to be the term to search for in the Missouri statutes.

Looks like that term is used in some other states' & countries' statutes as well.
posted by flug at 11:53 PM on January 4, 2010

In Ontario I am not aware of any laws regulating the carriages themselves except for signage and nightime lighting (our cars have daytime lights but I haven't seen that on buggies). The laws are practical ones to avoid accidents. Drivers are not liscenced and I have seen children as young as twelve going at least 30 k down a main street.
posted by saucysault at 4:16 AM on January 5, 2010

Sorry, by signage I should have clarified that all vehicle that cannot go over 40 k need a slow moving vehicle sign (red triangle) at the rear when used on a public road.
posted by saucysault at 4:21 AM on January 5, 2010

District of Columbia
posted by Pollomacho at 7:15 AM on January 5, 2010