Gas powered scooters, also known as mopeds, are a fun and efficient way to get around town for those looking for an economical means of transportation. Unfortunately, many people are confused about the laws that govern these vehicles. In this post, we will provide a run down of the laws that govern mopeds in order to clear things up.

First, let’s take a look at what Nevada law says a moped is.

The definition of a moped, according to Nevada law:

Moped Definition

“Moped” means a vehicle which looks and handles essentially like a bicycle and is propelled by a small engine which produces not more than 2 gross brake horsepower and which has a displacement of not more than 50 cubic centimeters, and:

1. Is designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground but is not a tractor; and

2. Is capable of a maximum speed of not more than 30 miles per hour on a flat surface with not more than 1 percent grade in any direction when the motor is engaged.

Many moped owners have found that they can inexpensively increase the speed and power of their vehicle through aftermarket modifications or by simply removing the scooter’s governor. While this extra speed may be welcomed, it is also illegal when your scooter is able to travel more than 30 mph. If you do modify your scooter/moped, you have turned it into a motorcycle which requires all the endorsements, insurance and safety equipment. If you are pulled over by the police, you will be cited for motorcycle violations if your scooter is modified.

Moped Registration is Now Required

One of the joys of owning one of these inexpensive vehicles has always been the fact that a moped is not required to be registered. That all changes on January 1st 2017. Starting January 1st 2017, moped owners will be required to register their vehicle. Nevada DMV began accepting moped registrations on November 1st 2016.

Unlike motor vehicles and motorcycles that have to be registered every year, a moped only has to be registered one time. The fee for the one time moped registration is $33. This $33 comes with a special license plate to prove your moped is registered. When you sell your moped, you must surrender your plate to the Nevada DMV as these plates do not transfer to new owners nor to new mopeds, if you choose to buy another one.

Insurance Not Required

Although laws have changed with regards to registration, you are not required to purchase insurance. Although it is not required, keep in mind that if you are injured, you cause injury or if you cause damage to someone while operating your scooter, you will be on the hook for the damage or injury you cause.

Helmets Not Required

While helmets are always a good idea, they are not required by law for drivers or passengers of mopeds.

Drivers License Required

This one may come as a surprise to many but the fact is, a Class C drivers license or higher is required when operating a scooter / moped on Nevada roadways. You do not need a motorcycle license but you do need a minimum of a Class C. This means teens with no license and those with an a instruction permit cannot legally ride a moped on the roadways. Scooter salespersons have been known to tell customers that they do not need a license, so be aware.

Passengers Allowed

You are allowed to carry a passenger on your moped as long as your moped is built to carry that passenger. This means your passenger must have a seat and footrests. Also, they must ride behind the driver or astride if your moped happens to be equipped with a sidecar.

Fenders Required

Your moped must be equipped with fenders to keep from throwing rocks, dirt, water, etc from the rear.

We hope this post has been helpful to you and has eliminated some of the confusion (and perpetuating false rumors) about riding a moped in Nevada. Keep in mind that law enforcement does enforce these moped laws. In some cases, there are targeted enforcement campaigns directed solely at mopeds. Keep this in mind and follow the rules!

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Whether you have taken online driver’s ed or not, If you’re like most people, you get a little nervous when you see a police car. Almost everyone does.  It’s natural. No one likes tickets. This is especially true for new teen drivers. Now imagine that police car is behind you, red and blue lights flashing, demanding that you pull over. Your slightly nervous feeling can turn into pure panic. Your thoughts begin to race with dire predictions of the officer yelling at you, taking you out of the car and taking you to jail. “Did I bring my license? Is my insurance current? Was I speeding?” These are all common thoughts and fears. Almost everyone has the same fears as you do. I am here to give you a game plan on how to think and act when stopped by the police.

I know many police officers so I asked them about this. I asked what I, a citizen, should do and think when I get pulled over. What they told me put me completely at ease. I was told that 99.9% of the time, the police are pulling over a car for a minor traffic violation or administrative issue, like expired plates. They do not know who you are. They are not out looking for you. These are usually very short stops and sometimes end in a ticket. I was surprised to find out that, in many cases, police officers will simply give warnings on minor violations. If you have a good driving record, most officers find that simply being stopped is enough of a deterrent. Most of the time, your fears about going to jail and the like are completely in your head. The officer saw a violation and simply needs to talk to you about it. Whether or not you get a ticket depends on a number of factors.

There is a rule among officers that is pretty much universal: You are going to be treated as well as you treat the officer. Officers tell me that even though they say they had made the decision to write a ticket when they stopped you, this isn’t always true. How you behave on a traffic stop can get you a ticket or get you out of one. Here are some don’ts, as told to me by police officers:

1. Don’t lie
2. Don’t argue. Save arguing for court
3. Don’t get out of the car
4. Don’t threaten the officer
5. Don’t make suspicious movements as the officer stops and approaches you in the vehicle

Here are some do’s

1. Do be courteous when stopped. In fact, be charming. Smile. Greet them. They don’t expect that and it makes their day.
2. Do keep your hands visible and listen to what the officer says. Do exactly what he/she says.
3. Do pull over to the right when you see the lights come on behind you. Driving around after the lights come on makes police officers suspicious.

These seem like simple and obvious things, but you would be surprised how many people do not do these things on traffic stops. These people are guaranteed to get a ticket. Police officers have very dangerous jobs. Most police officers get killed or injured on traffic stops. Safety on traffic stops is drilled into them in training. Being confrontational and argumentative does not make them feel safe. It heightens their sense of danger and, lets face it, makes them not like you. You’ll get a ticket. I’m not saying it’s fair, but life isn’t fair. The fair is in August.

This post wouldn’t be complete without addressing the fact that there may be nothing you can do to avoid a ticket. Some officers are going to give you a ticket no matter how you act. Some police officers only write tickets and do nothing else. Some never write tickets and loathe doing it. Oftentimes, departments will push citations as a result of citizen complaints about local driving habits. In many cases, there is more going on than meets the eye.

Most of your aggravation and fear can be alleviated if you think about traffic stops as outlined above. It’s not personal. They don’t know you. It’s probably a very minor thing and if you treat the officer well, you may just get off with a warning. Even if you don’t, it’s just a piece of paper and you can go to court and fight it if you wish. There is no mystery, but it bears repeating: expect to be treated as you are treating the officer. They are just people and like being treated well, too. In most cases, all things considered, it may get you out of a ticket and alleviate those butterflies you associate with being stopped.

In this post, we will discuss how to prepare for the Nevada driving skills test, also known as the “road test.” This is where the rubber meets the road–literally. This is the final portion of the Nevada driver’s test which, if passed successfully, will earn you the coveted Nevada driver’s license. If you are a Nevada teen driver, by now you should have obtained your Nevada instruction permit, passed your 30-hour driver’s ed course and have spent 50-hours behind the wheel being supervised by your parent or another licensed driver over the age of 21.

Inspect the Vehicle Before the Night Before Your Nevada Driving Test

The night before your driving test, you should be extremely familiar with the vehicle you’re going to be driving during the road test. At minimum, you should spend the night before the test making sure that the car is street legal and without any issues that could prevent you from taking the driver’s test. This typically involves a pre-test inspection. Understand that the Nevada DMV examiner that will be grading you, will conduct their own vehicle inspection prior to you hitting the road. If the vehicle you’re driving is not up to legal standards or is deemed unsafe in any way, you will be sent home without proceeding with the test.

To conduct a good pre-test inspection, you should make sure that all the vehicle lights work, including the brake lights, head light, reverse lights, hazards and the turn signals. You should also make sure that the horn works on the vehicle as the DMV examiner will want to see that it is operational. If any of these are not operational, the test will not proceed.

You should also make sure that you are familiar with all the buttons, levers and instruments in the vehicle. This includes the AC controls, windshield wipers, turn signals, emergency / parking brake, headlight switch, etc. Not knowing these can not only frustrate you and create a downward spiral, but it also can be the means for an automatic failure.

Before arriving to the Nevada DMV for your driving test, you should make sure that your windows and windshield are clean. They should also be free from cracks. It is illegal to drive in Nevada with a cracked windshield, as this is considered an obstruction to your view. A cracked windshield will prevent you from taking the Nevada driver’s test.

Cracked, low or excessively worn tires is another reason that the examiner can use for NOT allowing you to take the driving test. Be sure that there is adequate air pressure and tire tread on the vehicle you plan to use. Also, you should ensure that there is no excessive cracking on the outside of the tires, which is a common occurrence in Nevada’s dry climate.

Understand the Vehicle Controls Before Heading to the DMV

Be sure that you know how to adjust the side and rear view mirrors of the vehicle you will be driving. These should be adjusted just before you hit the road on the driving test so that you can show the examiner that you are a safe driver who always adjusts their mirrors before hitting the road. If you fumble around at the last minute, you show the Nevada DMV examiner that you’re not really as prepared for a Nevada license as you want them to believe.

Gather Up Your Nevada DMV Forms the Night Before

Last but certainly not least: make sure you have all your required paperwork ready to go the night before and place it by the front door so you don’t forget it. I can’t tell you how many times our students became so nervous that they showed up for the driving test appointment without the required paperwork. Don’t let this happen to you! Not only will you be extremely embarrassed, you will not be able to proceed with your road test and will likely have to wait weeks before you can come back.

**Update** Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is again responding to traffic accidents

As you may have heard, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Metro) no longer responds to automobile accidents where no one was injured, with few exceptions. According to LVMPD, traffic fatalities have increased dramatically and they need to focus their efforts on traffic enforcement (writing tickets to traffic violators) which, in turn, reduces the amount of traffic accidents and traffic fatalities. NHP, North Las Vegas and Henderson police departments still respond to all automobile accidents that occur on the roadways of their respective jurisdictions. They do not, however, respond to accidents that occur on private property such as shopping centers, restaurants, etc.

Now, if you are involved in an accident in LVMPD’s jurisdiction but no one is injured, LVMPD may still respond if one of these things happen:

1. one or more of the vehicles is in the roadway, cannot be moved and is causing a traffic problem

2. one of the parties involved is being uncooperative and won’t exchange insurance/driver information, which is required by law.

Now that we know who will respond to your traffic accident in Las Vegas and surrounding jurisdictions, let’s take a look at what you should do should you become involved in an automobile accident.

What to Do if You are Involved in a Traffic Accident in Las Vegas

1. Attend to any injuries involved. Call 9-1-1 if someone is injured, making sure that you can give them the location of the emergency. Sometime people call 9-1-1 but don’t have a clue as to where they actually need help. Remember, if emergency personnel can’t get to you, they can’t be of any help.

2. As soon as possible, try to take photos of the scene. This could be beneficial later on should the at-fault driver change their story about who is really at fault in the accident.

3. Move all vehicles out of the roadway as soon as it is safe and practical to do so.

4. Get the names of the driver and passengers as well. Make note of how many people are in the vehicle. There have been many cases where there was only one driver actually in the other vehicle but later, several people filed a claim saying that they were injured in the automobile accident – even when they weren’t involved!

5. By law, you are required to exchange information (insurance and Nevada driver’s license) with anyone that you are involved in a vehicle accident, regardless as to who is at fault. Just because you think you are at fault, you are still entitled to the other driver’s information. To help you gather this information, we have included a handy Nevada Driver Info Exchange sheet (click the link and you can downloaded it instantly). We recommend you print out several of these and place a couple inside each vehicle in your home. These will help you get all the information you will need in the event the police do not respond to your accident.

6. Contact your insurance company as soon as you can to let them know the details of the accident. Remember, you are paying them to act as your agent in the case of an automobile accident. Let them know the details regardless as to whether or not you were at fault.

7. If the other driver was at fault in the accident, be sure to initiate a claim with their insurance company, providing them all the details from your Driver Exchange sheet.

Hopefully, you will never be involved in an automobile accident. However, should that time come, it is important to know as much as you can so as to protect yourself. Be sure to prepare yourself by printing out the Nevada driver exchange sheet, compliments of NV Drivers Ed, and keep it in your glove compartment just in case.