TPC Trikes - FAQs - Aren't 3-Wheelers Banned?

Q. Aren't 3-Wheelers banned?

A. There is a general misconception that 3-wheelers are banned. Even many 3-wheeler owners believe they are banned from future production. Many tabloid news shows tried to eliminate them by misleading hype and inaccurate facts. The media frenzy got the CPSC involved.

The CPSC in its report admitted that there was NO INHERENT design flaw with 3-wheelers. They further concluded that most accidents were due to operator error and predominantly by children on adult-sized machines.

In April of 1988, the five “Big” manufacturers agreed to the CONSENT DECREE ACT.

The Consent Decree Act expired in April 27, 1998. However, it only applied to manufacturers involved in the case. Those manufacturers included Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Polaris. No other manufacturer was bound by the Consent Decree Act until Arctic Cat joined on Sept 27, 1996.

On September 9, 1998, the ATV Action Plan was introduced. It basically extended the former Consent Decree Act on a Voluntary basis.

Yamaha, Kawasaki, American Suzuki, Polaris and Arctic Cat have voluntary agreed to participate. However, Arctic Cat has only agreed for 5 years. Also, any company can withdraw from the agreement with a 60-day notice.

Neither the Consent Decree Act nor the ATV Action Plan has ever applied to any other manufacturer.

In August of '08, the CPSC submitted proposition bill H.R. 4040. A bill primarily concerned with lead paint in children's toys. However, hidden in the multitude of pages of this bill, was a little known paragraph, effectively banning production 3-wheelers indefinitely. However, this bill which has since been passed into law, only concerns production-based 3-wheelers. Specifically it states "importation and distribution of new three wheeled ATV's. It does not include prototypes, conversions, or custom one-off 3-wheelers.

The bill also states that this is a temporary ban until industry standards can be set.