(a) All all-terrain vehicles shall be equipped with one or more headlights, a red rear light all in working order, and brakes in good mechanical condition and be equipped with an efficient muffler and such other equipment and devices as may be required to meet the noise level specifications of subsection (b) of this section, and if equipped with a windshield it shall be free from sharp or jagged edges. Lights shall be on during operation from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise.

(b) Subject to regulation by rule of the Commissioner, any all-terrain vehicles shall be equipped with a muffler system and such other equipment or devices which reduce maximum machine operating noise to a noise level of not more than 82 decibels on the A scale at 50 feet, in a normal operating environment.

(c) No person shall sell or offer to sell within the State of Vermont an all-terrain vehicle unless it complies with the sound requirements specified in subsection (b) of this section. No all-terrain vehicle shall be equipped in any manner which permits the operator to bypass the muffler system; no person shall sell or offer to sell at either wholesale or retail a replacement exhaust muffler system which will not meet or exceed the exhaust noise reduction capabilities of the all-terrain vehicle. In addition, any person selling or offering to sell an all-terrain vehicle or replacement muffler system, whether at wholesale or retail, shall include in the specifications, precise information concerning the designed maximum sound levels of the all-terrain vehicle or replacement muffler system.

(d) This section and section 3504 of this title shall not apply to any all-terrain vehicle entered into a racing contest sponsored by a racing or all-terrain vehicle organization or association during the period the all-terrain vehicle is actually participating in or practicing or preparing for a racing event at an area especially provided for the purpose.

(e) The provisions of section 1222 of this title shall not apply to any all-terrain vehicle registered pursuant to this chapter.

(f) Every all-terrain vehicle shall be equipped with a U.S. Forest Service qualified spark arrester. (Added 1983, No. 240 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1991, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)