Title 39, Motor Vehicles

Approvals of lighting devices or other safety equipment, components, or assemblies remain valid unless revoked under section 39-21-31 or unless the department requires them to be renewed by regulation.

When the department has reason to believe that an approved lighting device or other safety equipment, component, or assembly being sold commercially does not comply with the requirements of this chapter, the department may, after giving thirty days' previous notice to the person …

1. Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle, when operated upon a highway must be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold such vehicle, including two separate means of applying the brakes, each of which means must be…

All brakes must be maintained in good working order and must be so adjusted as to operate as equally as practicable with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle.

1. An operator of a commercial motor vehicle may not use an engine compression brake device that creates a noise disturbance in a zone posted as prohibiting the use of an engine compression brake device. 2. Subsection 1 does not apply to the use of an engine compression brake dev…

1. While being operated upon a highway, every motor vehicle must be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than two hundred feet [60.96 meters], but no horn or other warning device may e…

1. Every motor vehicle must at all times be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise and annoying smoke, and no person may use a muffler cutout, bypass, or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a highway. 2. Th…

On and after January 1, 1964, every motor vehicle, operated singly or when towing any other vehicle, must be equipped with a mirror so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for a distance of at least two hundred feet [60.96 meters] to the rear of such motor ve…

1. A motor vehicle must be equipped with a windshield. An individual may not drive any motor vehicle with any sign, poster, or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, side wings, or side or rear windows which obstructs the driver's clear view of the highway or an…

A windshield may not be shattered or in such a defective condition that the windshield materially impairs or obstructs the driver's clear view.

1. Every solid rubber tire on a vehicle must have rubber on its entire traction surface at least one inch [2.54 centimeters] thick above the edge of the flange of the entire periphery. 2. No person may operate or move on any highway any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer havi…

1. No person may sell any new motor vehicle, nor may any new motor vehicle be registered, unless it is equipped with safety glazing material of a type approved by the department wherever glazing material is used in doors, windows, and windshields. The foregoing provisions shall a…

1. Every passenger car manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1965, must be equipped with lapbelt assemblies for use in the driver's and one other front seating position. 2. All motor vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1968, must be equipped with any lapbelt or shoulder b…

1. If a child, under eight years of age, is present in a motor vehicle, that motor vehicle must be equipped with at least one child restraint system for the child. However, a child under the age of eight who is at least fifty-seven inches [1.45 meters] tall is not required to use…

Deleted by R.M. December 5, 1989.

A driver may not operate upon a highway a motor vehicle designed for carrying fewer than eleven passengers, which was originally manufactured with safety belts unless each occupant is wearing a properly adjusted and fastened safety belt. This section does not apply to a child in …

1. No person may operate any motor truck, passenger bus, or truck tractor, or any motor vehicle towing a housetrailer, upon any highway outside the corporate limits of municipalities at any time from a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise unless there is carried i…

1. Whenever any truck, bus, truck tractor, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer eighty inches [20.32 decimeters] or more in overall width or thirty feet [91.44 decimeters] or more in overall length is stopped upon a roadway or adjacent shoulder, the driver shall immediately actu…

Any person operating any vehicle transporting any explosive or hazardous material as a cargo or part of a cargo upon a highway shall comply with this section. 1. The vehicle must be equipped with at least one fire extinguisher, filled and ready for immediate use, and placed at a …

No vehicle may be driven or moved on any highway unless it is so constructed or loaded as to prevent its contents from dropping, sifting, leaking, or otherwise escaping therefrom, except that sand may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substance ma…

The drawbar or other coupling device between vehicles, one of which is towing or drawing the other on a highway, must include safety chains connecting the vehicles. The drawbar or other coupling device, and the safety chains, must be of a design, strength, and construction so as …

1. The term "air-conditioning equipment", as used or referred to in this section, means mechanical vapor compression refrigeration equipment which is used to cool the driver's or passenger compartment of any motor vehicle. 2. Air-conditioning equipment must be manufactured, insta…

1. An individual who operates a registered motor vehicle on a highway may not modify that vehicle unless the modification meets the following requirements: a. Any modifying equipment must meet any other requirement applicable to a vehicle under chapter 39-21. b. If tires placed o…

1. It is unlawful for any person to drive or move, or for the owner to cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved, on any highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles which the actor knows does not contain those parts or is not at all times equipped with lamps and other eq…

All implements of husbandry, as defined in section 39-01-01, and machinery, including all road construction machinery, designed for operation at a speed of twenty-five miles [40.23 kilometers] an hour or less, must display either a triangular slow-moving vehicle emblem or a rotat…

A person may not willfully, as defined in section 12.1-02-02, alter a motor vehicle odometer or other mileage recorder, hour meter on tachometer, or other hour recorder, or offer for sale or sell a motor vehicle knowing the odometer or other mileage recorder has been altered, for…

The provisions of this chapter or chapter 37-12-02 of the North Dakota Administrative Code relating to bumpers, tires, and fenders do not apply to street rod, collector, or special interest motor vehicles. However, a street rod, collector, or special interest vehicle must have al…

1. For a motor vehicle manufactured after July 31, 2005, variable load suspension or retractable axles, or both, raised or lowered by air, hydraulic, or other pressure must have the lock or pressure regulator valve, or both, positioned outside the cab and inaccessible from the dr…

A single unit vehicle or any vehicle in combination may not be equipped with more than four axles unless the additional axles are steerable, castering, or pivoting axles.

1. As used in this section: a. "Airbag" means an inflatable occupant restraint system device in a motor vehicle which is part of a supplemental restraint system. b. "Counterfeit supplemental restraint system component" means a replacement supplemental restraint system component t…

The director may deny an application for a dealer's license or suspend, revoke, or cancel a dealer's license after it has been granted for making any material misstatement by an applicant in the application for the license; willfully failing to comply with the provisions of this …

Before the issuance of a motor vehicle dealer's license, as provided by law, the applicant for the license shall furnish a continuous surety bond executed by the applicant as principal and executed by a surety company, licensed and qualified to do business within the state of Nor…

Fees from registration of dealers and fees collected from dealers found in violation of this chapter must be deposited with the state treasurer, credited to the dealer enforcement fund, and used exclusively for enforcement of this chapter.

A person who submits a bid to the state, any of its agencies, or any of its political subdivisions to sell any type of motor vehicle is not required to submit a bidder's bond or a certified or cashier's check if that person is already bonded pursuant to section 39-22-05. If the b…

A licensed dealer may establish secondary motor vehicle lots in the conduct of the dealer's business within five miles [8.05 kilometers] of the dealer's established place of business. Secondary lots must be identified as a part of the licensed dealer's operation with a sign displ…

A motor vehicle dealer may not sell a motor vehicle on Sunday. A violation of this section is a class B misdemeanor.

In addition to other powers provided by law, the director has the following powers and duties which must be exercised in conformity with this chapter: 1. To cancel, revoke, or suspend a dealer's license as provided for in section 39-22-04. 2. To prescribe rules and regulations no…

The director or any duly authorized representative may inspect the pertinent books, letters, records, and contracts of any licensed motor vehicle dealer or any other person relating to any complaint made against such dealer or person and held to be in violation of any of the prov…

The director and any duly authorized representative are responsible for the administration of this chapter. This chapter does not apply to house car dealers, manufacturers, and distributors.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter for which another penalty is not specifically provided is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

1. A person may not engage in the business of buying, selling, or exchanging of motor vehicles without possessing a current motor vehicle dealer license. A person may not advertise or otherwise hold out to the public as engaging in the buying, selling, or exchanging of motor vehi…

1. A dealer license may not be issued until the applicant furnishes proof satisfactory to the director that the applicant has, does, and will continue to maintain in North Dakota an established place of business adjacent to the primary motor vehicle display lot maintained by the …

1. In an application for a new motor vehicle dealer license, the applicant shall furnish proof satisfactory to the director that the applicant has a bona fide contract or franchise in effect with a manufacturer or distributor of the new motor vehicle or motor vehicles in which th…

1. Additional dealer number plates must be issued to the dealer upon payment of a fee of twenty dollars each. A dealer number plate may be used on any vehicle owned by the dealership and used in the direct functions of demonstrating, buying, or selling vehicles. Dealer plates may…

A dealer license issued under this chapter expires on December thirty-first of each year. A licensed dealer may apply for renewal of the dealer's license on forms prescribed by the department and payment of the dealer license and dealer plate fees required by this chapter. The de…

Before the issuance of a motor vehicle dealer license, the applicant must provide proof to the department of a continuous policy of liability insurance for the business operation of the applicant which includes general, business automobile, and sales, repair, or service operation…