Can children ride as passengers on motorcycles in NC? Details on state laws + age limits
In North Carolina, you have to be at least 16 to legally drive a motorcycle in the state. But are there any age limits for children who are riding along as passengers?
According to the North Carolina DMV website, motorcyclists need a motorcycle learner permit or a motorcycle endorsement on your provisional, regular or commercial driver license. Those that are 16-18 must also have signed parental consent and pass a motorcycle safety course.
But what about children riding along as passengers? Are there any minimum age requirements to ride on a motorcycle?
Is it illegal for children to ride on motorcycles?
Though some states have specific laws in place for young passengers on motorcyclists, North Carolina is not one of them.
“North Carolina law does not impose a minimum age for motorcycle passengers,” Jeff Wetly, a public law and government professor at UNC School of Government, said in a recent blog post.
“Kids need to be in car seats, and you can’t put a car seat on a motorcycle, so doesn’t that effectively prevent them from riding as motorcycle passengers? No. The car seat law is G.S. 20-137.1, and it exempts ‘vehicles which are not required by federal law or regulation to be equipped with seat belts,’ such as motorcycles,” Wetly wrote.
But as Wetly explains, state law requires that each passenger on a motorcycle wear a safety helmet and that there aren’t too many riders on board.
“A motorcycle can’t carry more than ‘the number of persons which it was designed to carry,’” Wetley said in his post. “Neither the statute nor the cases interpreting it address how to determine the number of passengers a motorcycle is designed to carry, but it seems to me that the design of the seat and the availability of passenger footpegs would be important indicators.”
This story was originally published May 31, 2024 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Can children ride as passengers on motorcycles in NC? Details on state laws + age limits."
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