Click-It Or Ticket. Wisconsin Will Now Require Seatbelts In UTVs

Long gone are the days when side-by-sides/UTVs were purely the agricultural equipment of yesteryear. Most are now packing more horsepower and torque than your average Honda Civic, but with fewer safety systems, less weight, and are far more tippy than the econobox out of Japan.

And as a result, a lot of people are injured by them each and every year due to negligence or just bad driving. 

Seatbelts, however, are offered in every single new UTV around and, despite what ChatGPT, Reddit, or countless forums would have you believe, they do reduce the risk of injury in the event of an accident. But not every state requires UTV drivers and passengers to buckle up just as they're required with a regular car. Wisconsin is changing that as, effective June 2026, every operator and passenger of a UTV will be legally required to click-it or ticket. 

Good.

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The new law's enforcement will be handled by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which says that seatbelts will be required by all passengers and operators starting June 1st, 2026. That's today, as I write this. 

According to the state's DNR, "The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources urges ATV and UTV riders to review recent law changes that take effect June 1. Numerous law changes and updates pertaining to ATV and UTV operation are detailed in the 2026 ATV/UTV regulations. Updates include: Operators and passengers are all required to wear a seatbelt in a UTV, intentionally causing damage with an ATV or UTV can cost you more than a fine – up to three times the cost to repair the damage, ATV or UTV operators may not tow objects bearing any person on a trail or route. Towing persons on ice is limited to 10 mph, and UTVs now have window tint restrictions."

Honestly, more states should adopt such laws, as seatbelts have been proven time and time again to save lives. I get there's still an old guard of folks who think flying through the air is safer, but I'm here to tell you that's baloney. The research is there to prove you wrong. And with the prevalence and lackluster training that goes into using a side-by-side, seatbelts could seriously reduce the number of injuries across the board, because everyone still treats them as toys or the aforementioned old farm equipment they use to be, not the go-fast, take-names stuff we have now. 

"Over 90% of the issues happen with people not wearing their helmets and seat belts, so there's a lot of folks that I truly believe would be alive today if they had worn a seat belt," Wisconsin DNR Off-Highway Administrator Jake Holsclaw told the local Fox 11 News outlet, adding, "So, the hope is that this will just keep people safe, hopefully save some more lives."

So buckle up, folks!

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