08-17-2016 Rubin_Kubota VehicleDISTRIBUTED AT MEETING
Kelly Jim
From: Len Rubin <Igrubin @bellsouth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 4:36 PM
To: Kelly Jim
Cc: Moree Brian; Jenkins Richard
Subject: Sanitation Collection Vehicle (Kubota)
Jim:
reviewed the specifications that Brian provided with respect to the Kubota vehicles. These vehicles fall
within the statutory definition of a "low speed vehicle" (defined as any four wheeled vehicle whose top speed
is greater than 20 miles per hour but not greater than 25 miles per hour). Low speed vehicles are subject to
the following restrictions set forth in Section 316.2122, Florida Statutes.
• May be operated only on streets where the posted speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less (this does
not prohibit a low -speed vehicle from crossing a road or street at an intersection where the road or
street has a posted speed limit of more than 35 miles per hour).
• A low speed vehicle must be equipped with headlamps, stop lamps, turn signal lamps, tail lamps,
reflex reflectors, parking brakes, a rearview mirror, a windshield and seatbelts and have a vehicle
identification number.
• A low speed vehicle must be registered and insured in accordance with Section 320.02, Florida
Statutes, and titled pursuant to Chapter 319, Florida Statutes.
• Any person operating a low speed vehicle must have in his or her possession a valid driver license.
• A county, a municipality or FDOT may prohibit the operation of low speed vehicles on any road under
its jurisdiction if the governing body determines that such prohibition is necessary in the interest of
safety.
Section 320.0847, Florida Statutes, specifically provides that the Department Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles shall issue a license plate to the owner of any vehicle registered as a low speed vehicle upon payment
of the appropriate license taxes and fees. Therefore, assuming that the Kubota vehicles can be equipped as
specified above, they may be _registered, titled and operated on public streets in accordance with the
conditions set forth above.
The only potential issue is that low speed _vehicles, by definition, must meet the safetv reauirements set forth
in Section 571.500 of the Code of Federal Regulations. While the safety requirements are essentially the same
as those set forth above, the CFR definition of a low speed vehicle includes a provision that the Gross Vehicle
Weight Rating (GVWR) must be less than 3.000 pounds. GVWR is the value specified by the manufacturer as
the loaded weight of a single vehicle. However. Waste Removal Equipment, who will be performing the
modifications, indicates that the empty weight of the modified vehicle with a steel tub is 2.900 pounds. I
cannot verify what the GVWR of the vehicle will be once completely modified to meet all of the Village's
specifications as well as each of the safety requirements set forth above.
Even if the Kubota vehicles do not technically qualify as a low -speed vehicles, as I indicated previously, Section
316.2126, Florida Statutes, does authorize a municipality to utilize a "utility vehicle" (defined as a motor
vehicle designed and manufactured for general maintenance, security and landscaping purposes but not
including a vehicle designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property on a street or
highway, a golf cart or an all- terrain vehicle) upon any state, county and municipal roads located within the
corporate limits of the municipality. The safety equipment required for utility vehicles is essentially the same
as that required for low speed vehicles. However, the limitations on the operation of utility vehicles is
somewhat different:
• Utility vehicles may only be operated on state roads that have a posted speed limit of 30 miles per
hour or less.
• Utility vehicles may cross a portion of the State Highway System which has a posted speed limit of 45
miles per hour or less only at an intersection with official traffic control device.
• Utility vehicles may operate on sidewalks adjacent to state highways only if such vehicles yield to
pedestrians and the sidewalks are at least five feet wide.
There does not appear to be any weight restriction on vehicles utilized as utility vehicles.
Let me know if you have any additional questions.
Leonard G. Rubin, Esquire
Board Certified City County and Local
Government Attorney
Leonard G. Rubin, P.A.
701 Northpoint Parkway, Suite 209
West Palm Beach, Florida 33407
Telephone: (561) 721 -1683
Facsimile: (561) 686 -8764
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