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ROGER L. HARTMAN, District Attorney Buffalo County
You have related to me that your county is having problems with the operation of motor-driven cycles on public ways and private property by pre-licensing age juveniles. You have pointed out that the first sentence of sec.
343.05 (1), Stats., provides that no person shall operate a motor vehicle upon a highway without a driver's license. The last sentence of this section provides that no person shall operate a motor-driven cycle without a driver's license which has been specifically indorsed for motor-driven cycle operation. You note that the last sentence does not contain the words "upon a highway," and ask whether the requirement of a driver's license with a motor-driven cycle indorsement is applicable to off-highway operation of such a vehicle. The answer is "no."A driver's license is required only for the operation of a motor vehicle upon the highway. Section
340.01 (35), Stats., defines motor vehicle as a self-propelled vehicle. Similarly, sec.340.01 (33), Stats., defines motor-driven cycle as a motor vehicle. Thus the words "motor vehicle" clearly include a motor-driven cycle. The authority to operate a motor-driven cycle is not a separate license in itself. It is only a cycle indorsement upon the regular license. Since a person does not need a regular driver's license for off-highway operation of a motor vehicle, he does not need a cycle indorsed driver's license for off-highway operation of a motordriven cycle. It seems clear that the words "upon a highway" in *Page 80 the first sentence of sec.343.05 (1), Stats., apply to the whole section.Since highway is defined by sec.
340.01 (22), Stats., to include the entire width between the right-of-way lines, any operation of a motor-driven cycle on the off roadway portion of the right-of-way or on an alley would require a driver s license with a motor-driven cycle indorsement. Also the cycle would have to be registered as required by sec.341.04 , Stats.The law relating to criminal trespass to land, sec.
943.13 , Stats., is applicable in the case of the operation of a motor-driven cycle on the private property or others without consent of the owners.BCL:AOH
Document Info
Citation Numbers: 64 Op. Att'y Gen. 79
Judges: BRONSON C. La FOLLETTE, Attorney General
Filed Date: 8/13/1975
Precedential Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016