Iowa Woman Arrested for Driving a Tiny ATV

Riding on a kid-sized bicycle is a silly thing to do. It might even be fun, even if you fall down. But if you do it on the wrong type of kid-sized vehicle you might end up going to jail in Iowa.

According to NWestIowa.com, 29-year-old Samantha Jo Bauler was arrested last Thursday, Sept. 16, at around 9:00 pm. Ms. Bauler was riding a 1992 Coleman AT125-B, which is a 4-wheeler sized appropriately for a ten-year-old kid. She also had a male passenger on the little vehicle.

Had this joyride been taking place in her yard, no big deal. But the pair were headed south on North Virginia Street in George. Unlike South Dakota, ATVs and UTVs are generally not allowed on public roads in Iowa, although cities and counties may designate certain streets where they are allowed.

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A Lyon County deputy threw the book at Bauler. She was arrested and charged with operating an ATV with more persons than the vehicle was designed to carry, operating an ATV not equipped with required a headlight, taillight and/or brake, violation of required ATV registration and numbering, driving without required high-risk insurance, and failure to provide proof of vehicle liability insurance.

In South Dakota, you would not necessarily get off scot-free in this situation. ATVs are street legal in South Dakota, but they must meet a list of requirements to do so. It must have headlights and taillights, a horn, registered as a motorcycle with a license plate, and the driver must have a driver's license, among a bunch of other requirements.

LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.