Motorcycles and the ignition interlock

An interlock restriction is written for cars, and most interlock statutes never say the word motorcycle. Of the nine states this site covers, two do, and they say opposite things: California keeps a restricted rider off a motorcycle altogether, and South Carolina leaves motorcycles out of the device requirement. Every other state statute read for this page restricts the person to “a motor vehicle” with a device, and most of them define a motorcycle as a motor vehicle. Outside those statutes, Kentucky’s law and the licensing agencies of Utah and New Jersey name motorcycles as needing a device, and Washington will not add a motorcycle endorsement to an interlock license.

What each state’s interlock law says

The second column is the short answer. The third is what the text actually says, and the last is where it says it. Law read October 5, 2026.

California: off the motorcycle until a device is certified

California deals with motorcycles in the definitions of its two interlock sections. Section 23575.3, which governs the interlock restriction that follows a DUI conviction, says in subdivision (o)(5) that “vehicle” does not include a motorcycle until the state certifies an ignition interlock device that can be installed on a motorcycle. The next sentence closes the gap that would otherwise open: a person subject to an ignition interlock device restriction shall not operate a motorcycle for the duration of the restriction period.

Section 13353.6, which deals with the interlock for a driver whose privilege was suspended administratively under section 13353.2, repeats both sentences in subdivision (g)(5). So a California rider cannot satisfy either restriction by putting a device on a car and riding the motorcycle instead. The restriction period is a period without the motorcycle.

The wording also explains the search behind this page. The exclusion lasts “until the state certifies” a device that can be installed on a motorcycle. The statute does not record whether that has happened; that is a certification question for the state.

South Carolina: the exemption, and the license that does not mention it

South Carolina writes the exemption into the requirement itself. Section 56-5-2941(A)(1) has the Department of Motor Vehicles require a person convicted of DUI, DUAC, felony DUI and related offenses — or holding a temporary alcohol license — to have a device installed on any motor vehicle the person drives, “except a moped or motorcycle”. Subsection (A)(3) uses the same words for drivers who enter the Ignition Interlock Device Program instead of serving out a suspension. According to the code’s own amendment note, mopeds were added to the exception by 2017 Act No. 89, effective November 19, 2018.

The license side reads differently. Section 56-1-400(B) says that when a person is permitted to operate a motor vehicle only with a device installed, the license must conspicuously identify the person as one who only may drive a motor vehicle with a device installed. That subsection does not repeat the motorcycle exception. A rider in South Carolina should know that the device statute leaves motorcycles out while the license restriction is written in general terms.

Everywhere else: the word is “motor vehicle”

The other seven states read here do not mention motorcycles in their interlock laws. They restrict the person to a motor vehicle with a device:

• Texas — Transportation Code section 521.246(a) restricts the person to the operation of a motor vehicle equipped with a device, and 521.2465(a) issues a $10 special restricted license that authorizes operation of only such a vehicle.
• Arizona — section 28-3319(D) requires any motor vehicle the person operates to be equipped, and 28-1461 requires proof of a device in each motor vehicle the person operates.
• Washington — RCW 46.20.720(1) lets the person drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning device, and RCW 46.20.740(2) makes it a gross misdemeanor to operate one that is not.
• Florida — section 316.1937(1) lets the court order that the person not operate a motor vehicle unless it is equipped, and 322.2715(1) puts a device on all vehicles the person individually or jointly leases or owns and routinely operates.
• Colorado — section 42-2-132.5(10)(a) makes it a class 1 traffic misdemeanor for a person restricted to an equipped motor vehicle to operate any other.
• Minnesota — section 171.306, subdivision 4(b) requires the license to carry a restriction against driving any motor vehicle not equipped with a certified device, and subdivision 3(d) has the participant pay for a device on every motor vehicle the participant operates or intends to operate.
• Virginia — section 18.2-270.1 bars operating a motor vehicle without a device and, from a second offense, requires one on each motor vehicle, as defined in section 46.2-100, that the person owns or has registered.

Definitions decide the next step, and each definition section applies only to the part of the code it names. In five of these states, a definition that covers the interlock statute calls a motorcycle a motor vehicle: Arizona’s section 28-101 (for title 28), Washington’s RCW 46.04.330 (for title 46, under RCW 46.04.010), Colorado’s section 42-1-102 (for articles 1 to 4 of title 42), Florida’s sections 316.003 and 322.01 (for each chapter), and Virginia’s section 46.2-100, which section 18.2-270.1 names itself. In those five, the interlock restriction’s own terms reach a motorcycle, and the statute contains no exception for one.

Texas and Minnesota are less direct. Texas defines a motorcycle as a motor vehicle in section 541.201, but that section defines terms for the rules-of-the-road subtitle, not for chapter 521, where the interlock restriction sits. Minnesota does the same in section 169.011, written for chapter 169, while its interlock program is in chapter 171. This page did not find a motorcycle definition in the interlock chapters themselves, and does not claim one.

What none of them says is whether a device can actually be installed on a motorcycle. That is a question about certified equipment, and the statutes leave certification to an agency.

Minnesota reaches off the road

Minnesota is the only state here whose interlock statute follows the person off the highway. Section 171.306, subdivision 3a lets a participant in the ignition interlock program operate an off-road recreational vehicle or a motorboat only if it is equipped with an approved device. The interlock section does not define “off-road recreational vehicle”. The definition in the DWI chapter, section 169A.03, subdivision 16, includes an off-highway motorcycle, alongside off-road vehicles, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles — which is as close as Minnesota’s statutes come to naming a motorcycle in this context.

Other states whose official sources name motorcycles

The nine states above are the ones this site covers. Searching beyond them, these official sources name motorcycles directly. A statute binds; an agency FAQ describes how the agency applies the law and can change without the statute changing. Read October 13, 2026.

Read together with California and Washington, where an official source names a motorcycle it does one of three things: requires a device on it, keeps the restricted rider off it, or — Washington’s licensing agency — withholds a new motorcycle endorsement while the interlock license lasts. South Carolina’s statute is the one exemption found. None of these sources says a device can be fitted to a motorcycle.

What this page does not tell you

Georgia. The reproductions of the Georgia code this site reads from refused the request on October 5, 2026 and again on October 13, 2026, and the Department of Driver Services’ interlock FAQ does not mention motorcycles, so Georgia is left out rather than guessed at.

The other thirty-six states. The table above lists only the official sources found that name motorcycles. A state’s absence means this page has not found such a source, not that its law is silent.

Whether a certified motorcycle device exists in your state. Each state certifies devices through an agency, and its list can change without the statute changing. The California text above makes the motorcycle exclusion last until such a device is certified, without saying whether one has been.

What a device costs. This page reads the statutes only for what they say about motorcycles, and does not cover device prices or fees.

For how long each state’s interlock lasts and who must install one, see ignition interlock requirements by state.

Common questions