Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-3-2 (2026)

Vehicles subject to registration

✓ current as of July 2026

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Every motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer, pole trailer, motorized camper, tent trailer, travel trailer, pick-up coach, and pick-up camper, owned by a resident of this state when operated or drawn upon a highway within this state for a period of thirty (30) days, shall be subject to the registration provisions of chapters 3 — 9 of this title except:

(1) Any vehicle operated upon a highway in conformance with the provisions of the chapters relating to manufacturers, transporters, dealers, lien holders, or nonresidents;

(2) Any vehicle that is operated upon a highway only for the purpose of crossing the highway but not along the highway from one property to another;

(3) Any farm vehicle, whether or not of a type otherwise subject to registration under this chapter, that is only incidentally operated upon a highway. For purposes of this title, the phrase “incidentally operated upon a highway” shall mean the operation upon a highway of a slow-moving motor vehicle that is designed and used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing machines, and other implements of husbandry, between agricultural operations owned or managed by the owner of the motor vehicle. Unless the incidental operation is only for purposes of crossing the highway but not traveling along it, the farm vehicle engaged in the incidental operation shall display a “Slow Moving Vehicle” emblem in a manner that complies with requirements established by the division of motor vehicles;

(4) Any special mobile equipment as defined in § 31-1-9;

(5) Any vehicle that is propelled exclusively by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, though not operated upon rails;

(6) Any low-speed motor vehicle or low-speed vehicle as defined in § 31-1-3.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1993–2004 · leading case: Seibert v. Clark, 619 A.2d 1108 (R.I. 1993).

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Seibert v. Clark, 619 A.2d 1108 (R.I. 1993). “General Laws 1956 (1982 Reenactment) §§ 31-3-2 and 31-3-33. The visual-identification device used by resident motor carriers was the registration plate that was required to be displayed prominently in a specified manner.”

In Re Barbera, 285 B.R. 355 (Bankr. D.R.I. 2002). · cites it 4× “” R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-3-2. Fourth, different government agencies have been designated to regulate the various modes of transportation, for example: the Division of Motor Vehicles, an entity within the Department of Administration, is responsible for administering Title 31, Motor…”

LePage v. Babcock, 839 A.2d 1226 (R.I. 2004). “General Laws 1956 § 31-3-2, which specifies which vehicles are subject *1231 to registration, also points out the distinction that the Legislature has drawn between motor vehicles and trailers in that it separately identifies motor vehicles and trailers in its enumeration of…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.