* Editor's note: A previous version of this report indicated that the law was adopted. Instead, the law is proposed.
With statistics citing speed, inexperience and lack of helmets as factors involving ATV (all terrain vehicle) accidents and injuries, the New York State Legislature is considering significant ATV law changes to tighten controls, even as some municipalities in Delaware County have passed laws allowing ATVs to operate on roads and streets. In 2026, universal registration, requiring liability insurance for off-property use, and banning ATVs from snowmobile trails, are all enforceable for the vehicles, which cannot weigh more than 1,000 pounds or be more than 70 inches wide. Everyone riding must wear a USDOT-approved helmet.
According to the state DMV website, an ATV is any self-propelled vehicle with two or more wheels that is manufactured for sale to be used primarily off-highway or in off-road competitions. This does not include vehicles manufactured for off-highway use and designed exclusively for travel on snow or ice when supported by one or more skis, belts or cleats but does include off-road motorcycles.
An ATV must be registered if it is operated anywhere in New York, including on the owner’s property. The law requires liability insurance for all ATVs unless they are operated exclusively on private property. A driver’s license is not required to operate an ATV in New York, but several restrictions apply to operators under the age of 16, including but not limited to adult supervision. According to Delaware County Sheriff Craig DuMond, changes in ATV and changes for UTVs (utility terrain vehicle) including among others, expansion of the legal definition of an ATV that now includes UTVs, with updated weight (up to 2,000 pounds) and width (up to 80 inches) limits for registration are being sought, but the legislature has not been willing to act on those changes. The laws are impactful in Delaware County where at least three communities including the towns of Stamford and Colchester and the village of Walton have passed laws allowing ATV operators on town roads. Other communities such as the towns of Middletown and Roxbury have so far declined to pass laws, confining riders to private property.
The use of ATVs has been cause for concern in the county. In Hamden, a 13 year-old girl died and an 11 year-old boy was injured in an ATV crash off Fuller Hollow Road in 2024. In September 2025, four people were airlifted to hospitals after a UTV with six people on board crashed into a tree in a remote part of Delaware County near Walton. None of the passengers were wearing helmets. In August 2020, a 15-year-old from the Bronx died after losing control of an ATV on Iroquois Trail Road in Walton.
Not all concerns are rider safety. In Stamford, dairy farmer Bill Eklund has complained to the town council that ATV/UTV riders are abusing town law which allows riders on town-owned roads, by trespassing on and damaging private property.
“Since law has been passed, some of these riders think they can go anywhere and everywhere,” Eklund said in June. “They have opened my pasture gates and are not shutting them and my cows and heifers are now getting out - along with damage they’re doing to our crops by running through middle of fields.”
The sheriff’s department, New York State Police, DEC and DEP police have all been called, according to Murphy but by the time police arrive, the riders are gone. The farmers have also installed surveillance cameras but the riders wear face shielding helmets and are unable to be identified. “They ignore gates, posted signs, and ride all hours of day. I really feel the towns have opened themselves up to major liability by passing these laws and having the roads damaged,” Murphy continued.
In the town of Walton, Jennifer Fay has petitioned the town to allow ATVs on designated town roads. Speaking on behalf of the Delco ATV Club she said connecting designated trails by allowing some use of town roads would be good for tourism and bring income to the community. Council members were not opposed to the concept but insisted that before any action is taken, there must be detailed mapping to show exactly what roads would be accessible and how they would connect to the referenced trails.
DuMond said an archaic law surfaced for ATVs on town roads. “Some towns just thought, and rightfully so, that this is a good way to bring in some tourism dollars; get people more involved. So they passed these laws,” said DuMond.
But, he added, there are two things the laws do not permit.
“The law does not permit an ATV to just ride up and down a town road,” he noted. “It permits the rider to drive on a town road just to get to a trailhead.”
According to DuMond, there aren’t very many established ATV trails in Delaware County, and people are just riding up and down the road, which technically is not legal. DuMond also clarified a second issue saying, “This law only applies to ATVs and doesn’t apply to UTVs or side by sides. So everyone assumes that UTVs are included and they’re really not.” DuMond said the whole issue really needs to be addressed by the state legislature and the law needs to be fixed. As to other concerns, DuMond said, “We don’t have a lot of problems in Delaware County. We get occasional complaints, you know, trespassing, driving too fast or dangerously or whatever.”
He noted those issues are addressed as they come up. “We’ve had some complaints regarding gates and crops being damaged. But it’s seldom,” he added, saying deputies have so many things to police that “we don’t really police this aggressively.”
