Quadricycles!

When I was 15, my dad bought me a brand new Suzuki Quadsport ATV (that's me on it in the picture on the left). I had a great time riding it with my friends, who had various other off-road vehicles of their own. When I turned 16 and got my driver's license though, I wanted something to drive on the streets with. I had what I thought was a great idea. Why not make a street legal four wheeler (ATV)?

The benefits would be:

• It would be more stable than a motorcycle (wont' slip out from underneath you in turns).
• It would provide some protection (from the wheels and axles) in the case of a side impact, so your leg wouldn't get crushed.
• It would have much greater stopping ability, since it would have 3-4 disc brakes (my ATV had one rear disk, in the middle of the solid rear axle), and stopping traction from four wide tires, instead of just two skinny ones.
• It would have similar gas mileage to a motorcycle and the similar open air feeling (as close as you can get to flying without leaving the ground) as well.

The problem I ran into is that any vehicle that has more than three wheels must comply with all of the legal requirements of an automobile, including bumpers, windshields, seat belts, etc. I even spoke with my local politician about getting the laws changed, but of course he wasn't very sympathetic to my cause.

Well, in the last several years I have seen some concept vehicles of street ATVs such as this one, about the Peugeot Quirk. But then this morning I read this article about the Polaris Revolver concept, which was recently shown at the Detroit International Auto Show. The article mentions the following (below the picture):

<--Polaris Revolver




Many of the ATVs currently sold in Europe are homologated for on-road use as “quadricycles”. Virtually all of today’s rider active, street-legal, homologated quadricycles are off-road vehicles that have been adapted for on-road use.

Peugeot Quirk-->

So it's perfectly normal for people in Europe to be living my little street-legal ATV dream!

So, will it ever be legal here in the states? Well, I certainly won't be holding my breath waiting. But maybe if the companies that make the machines can lobby a bit. Maybe if enough people show interest. Polaris was showing off the Revolver in Detroit, after all. Perhaps I'll write a letter (or email) to Polaris and ask them if there is any hope for it's production and sale here in the U.S.. Maybe some day...