New Jersey ATV Laws
In March 2026, a Springfield resident was riding an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on a public road in Union County when he crashed and his vehicle overturned. No other vehicles were involved in the collision. The ATV rider, a 31-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. ATV accidents like this one are less common in New Jersey than they are in many other states. It is not only because the weather in New Jersey is unsuitable for outdoor recreation for most of the year, nor is it because New Jersey’s DUI laws are so lax that if you want to have some vehicular fun after a boozy night, you can just drive your car. Rather, New Jersey law severely restricts where you can ride an ATV. As a result, ATVs rarely crash on public roads, unlike in some states that treat most of their land as a big ATV park. Wherever ATV accidents happen, people who get injured in ATV accidents in New Jersey have the right to seek compensation for their accident-related medical bills by filing insurance claims or lawsuits against the parties legally responsible for the accident. If you got injured in an ATV accident in New Jersey, contact an auto accident lawyer.
Where Is It Legal to Ride an ATV in New Jersey?
New Jersey’s laws regarding who can ride an ATV and where are more restrictive than the laws of many other states. You do not need a license to ride an ATV, but you must be at least 14 years old, and you must take a state-run ATV safety class before you can ride. It is illegal to ride ATVs on public roads, even if the roads have a low speed limit. Perhaps the biggest restriction is that there is a total prohibition against riding ATVs in state parks in New Jersey. This seems especially when you consider how much of the state is covered by parks and how, almost everywhere else, public parks and other public lands make up a large part of the ATV riding area.
In practice this means that there are only two places where you can legally ride an ATV in New Jersey. One of these is ATV parks. If you pay admission to the ATV park, it means that the park is assuming legal responsibility for any accidents on the premises in which you, a business invitee, get injured. The other place is private property where the author allows you to ride, such as your own backyard or the yard of neighbors that invite you to ride your ATV on their property. If you ride your ATV on someone else’s land without their permission, you are trespassing, and the landowner is not responsible for accidents that happen to trespassers.
Contact Monaco Law About Car Accidents
Contact Monaco Law PC in Marlton, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss your ATV accident case. Joseph Monaco is a New Jersey and Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer and wrongful death attorney serving Atlantic County, Bucks County, Burlington County, Cape May County, Camden County, Chester County, Cumberland County, Delaware County, Gloucester County, Mercer County, Middlesex County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Philadelphia, Ocean County, Salem County, Susquehanna County and all of New Jersey.
Sources:
nj.com/union/2026/03/nj-man-31-dies-in-atv-accident.html
nj.gov/mvc/vehicletopics/mopedatv.htm#atv
