Section 4513.11 | Animal-drawn or slow-moving vehicles, lamps, reflectors and emblems.
(A) All vehicles other than bicycles, including animal-drawn vehicles and vehicles referred to in division (G) of section 4513.02 of the Revised Code, not specifically required to be equipped with lamps or other lighting devices by sections 4513.03 to 4513.10 of the Revised Code, shall, at the times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, be equipped with at least one lamp displaying a white light visible from a distance of not less than one thousand feet to the front of the vehicle, and also shall be equipped with two lamps displaying red light visible from a distance of not less than one thousand feet to the rear of the vehicle, or as an alternative, one lamp displaying a red light visible from a distance of not less than one thousand feet to the rear and two red reflectors visible from all distances of six hundred feet to one hundred feet to the rear when illuminated by the lawful lower beams of headlamps.
Lamps and reflectors required or authorized by this section shall meet standards adopted by the director of public safety.
(B) All boat trailers, farm machinery, and other machinery, including all road construction machinery, upon a street or highway, except when being used in actual construction and maintenance work in an area guarded by a flagperson, or where flares are used, or when operating or traveling within the limits of a construction area designated by the director of transportation, a city engineer, or the county engineer of the several counties, when such construction area is marked in accordance with requirements of the director and the manual of uniform traffic control devices, as set forth in section 4511.09 of the Revised Code, which is designed for operation at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less shall be operated at a speed not exceeding twenty-five miles per hour, and shall display a triangular slow-moving vehicle emblem (SMV). The emblem shall be mounted so as to be visible from a distance of not less than five hundred feet to the rear. The director of public safety shall adopt standards and specifications for the design and position of mounting the SMV emblem. The standards and specifications for SMV emblems referred to in this section shall correlate with and, so far as possible, conform with those approved by the American society of agricultural engineers.
A unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour may be operated on a street or highway at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour provided it is operated in accordance with this section.
As used in this division, "machinery" does not include any vehicle designed to be drawn by an animal.
(C) The use of the SMV emblem shall be restricted to animal-drawn vehicles, and to the slow-moving vehicles specified in division (B) of this section operating or traveling within the limits of the highway. Its use on slow-moving vehicles being transported upon other types of vehicles or on any other type of vehicle or stationary object on the highway is prohibited.
(D)(1) No person shall sell, lease, rent, or operate any boat trailer, farm machinery, or other machinery defined as a slow-moving vehicle in division (B) of this section, except those units designed to be completely mounted on a primary power unit, which is manufactured or assembled on or after April 1, 1966, unless the vehicle is equipped with a slow-moving vehicle emblem mounting device as specified in division (B) of this section.
(2) No person shall sell, lease, rent, or operate on a street or highway any unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour unless the unit displays a slow-moving vehicle emblem as specified in division (B) of this section and a speed identification symbol that meets the specifications contained in the American society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S584 JAN2005, agricultural equipment: speed identification symbol (SIS).
(E) Any boat trailer, farm machinery, or other machinery defined as a slow-moving vehicle in division (B) of this section, in addition to the use of the slow-moving vehicle emblem, and any unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour, in addition to the display of a speed identification symbol, may be equipped with a red flashing light that shall be visible from a distance of not less than one thousand feet to the rear at all times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code. When a double-faced light is used, it shall display amber light to the front and red light to the rear.
In addition to the lights described in this division, farm machinery and motor vehicles escorting farm machinery may display a flashing, oscillating, or rotating amber light, as permitted by section 4513.17 of the Revised Code, and also may display simultaneously flashing turn signals or warning lights, as permitted by that section.
(F) Every animal-drawn vehicle upon a street or highway shall at all times be equipped in one of the following ways:
(1) With a slow-moving vehicle emblem complying with division (B) of this section;
(2) With alternate reflective material complying with rules adopted under this division;
(3) With both a slow-moving vehicle emblem and alternate reflective material as specified in this division.
The director of public safety, subject to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules establishing standards and specifications for the position of mounting of the alternate reflective material authorized by this division. The rules shall permit, as a minimum, the alternate reflective material to be black, gray, or silver in color. The alternate reflective material shall be mounted on the animal-drawn vehicle so as to be visible, at all times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, from a distance of not less than five hundred feet to the rear when illuminated by the lawful lower beams of headlamps.
(G) Every unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour shall display a slow-moving vehicle emblem and a speed identification symbol that meets the specifications contained in the American society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S584 JAN2005, agricultural equipment: speed identification symbol (SIS) when the unit is operated upon a street or highway, irrespective of the speed at which the unit is operated on the street or highway. The speed identification symbol shall indicate the maximum speed in miles per hour at which the unit of farm machinery is designed by its manufacturer to operate. The display of the speed identification symbol shall be in accordance with the standard prescribed in this division.
If an agricultural tractor that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour is being operated on a street or highway at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour and is towing, pulling, or otherwise drawing a unit of farm machinery, the unit of farm machinery shall display a slow-moving vehicle emblem and a speed identification symbol that is the same as the speed identification symbol that is displayed on the agricultural tractor.
(H) When an agricultural tractor that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour is being operated on a street or highway at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour, the operator shall possess some documentation published or provided by the manufacturer indicating the maximum speed in miles per hour at which the manufacturer designed the agricultural tractor to operate.
(I) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(J) As used in this section, "boat trailer" means any vehicle designed and used exclusively to transport a boat between a place of storage and a marina, or in and around a marina, when drawn or towed on a street or highway for a distance of no more than ten miles and at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less.
Available Versions of this Section
- October 16, 2009 – House Bill 1 - 128th General Assembly [ View October 16, 2009 Version ]
- August 31, 2022 – Amended by House Bill 30 - 134th General Assembly [ View August 31, 2022 Version ]