British Columbia "Restricted" (ATV) License Plates

Q:	"Why did the ATV cross the road?"
A:	"Because it was properly registered as a vehicle of unusual size, weight or operating characteristics under the Motor Vehicle Act; it was being used for transportation on a limited access island and was of a type designed not to be ridden astride; and it was being operated within 100 metres of the worksite where the vehicle was being used for the utility purpose for which it was designed!"

Although I laugh so hard that I am brought to tears everytime I hear that punchline, I can appreciate that it is probably not the funniest iteration of the "Why did the chicken cross the road" riddle ever told - unless you enjoy pure bureaucratese.

Nevertheless, it does serve to highlight the peculiar nature of the Restricted license plate.

On the one hand, the Act is fairly specific in stating that a person must not dive a golf cart, a snowmobile or a utility vehicle (also known as an All Terrain Vehicle) on a public road - but then proceeds to outline a number of incredibly odd exemptions that would allow such vehicles to be driven on a public road.

Take Section 24.04 as an example, it states that "a person may drive or operate a golf cart on a highway within the parking lot of a golf course, or for the purpose of carrying golfers and their equipment from one part of a golf course to another part of the same golf course."

While we suspect that the drafters of the legislation may have misplaced a comma, assuming that they didn't it strikes us as odd that the Act would even make provision for the use of a golf cart on a public road, only on the proviso that the road bisected a parking lot found within the golf course itself ... I challenge any reading this to provide an example of where this occurs!

According to ICBC, vehicles that meet the exemptions provided for under the Act must be registered, licensed and insured to cross a public road.

To meet this requirement, the Corporation issues plates in the "AT-0000" range, and while available records seem to indicate that these plates may have been around since the mid-1980s, this remains unclear.

1985 - 2013: Restricted (ATV)

1986

1987

1988

Issuing Statistics

1985:

AT-0000 to AT-2999

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2004

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Only adding the peculiarity of the Restricted plate was the creation of a new serial format - "00000-X" - around 2001 or 2002 (a serial that should have been reserved for the Industrial Vehicle base).

It is thought that the purpose of the plate was to continue the series following the exhaustion of the "AT" prefix. However, in the years since it first appeared on the Corporation's "Licence Plate Identification Guide", the "X" suffix plate has never been spotted on the road and remains a 'ghost plate'.

Interestingly, the "Guide" had previously referred to the "AT" plates as being for "Restricted ATV", but following the introduction of the "X" plates simply referred to both as being "Restricted".

Restricted ('X' Suffix)

Issuing Statistics

????:

unknown

2009 - Change may be coming

On November 10, 2009, it was announced by the Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, Kevin Krueger, that new rules for Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) registration would be implemented over the course of the next two years.

According to Krueger, "we’ve heard much from ORV groups, the public, and other stakeholders, including the chief coroner and the Union of BC Municipalities on this topic. There is a broad consensus that it is time for ORV regulations; we have a common vision and a solid blueprint for action.”

Of interest to plate spotters is that, under the new framework, all ORV riders using Crown land will require one-time registration with a licence plate for their machines. Moreover, all ORVs will require registration and licensing at time of sale and re-sale.

While it remains unclear if responsibility for licencing these ORV's will fall to ICBC, it is expected that the necessary legislative changes will be enacted sometime in the next two years. Stay tuned ...

The Archives of the Unknown

The use of the plates shown above appears to be fairly self-evident, however, it remains unclear as to whether these plates were ever actually used, or are simply a series of prototypes produced for the MVB in the early 1970s.
Available records make no reference to such plates and the two shown abaove are the only examples this writer is familiar with.

Very little is also known about these decals, which also purport to be for use on ATV's.