Toad Brake Requirements

Towed Motor Vehicle Brake Requirements By State

This table documents statutory requirements pertaining to brakes on a motor vehicle in tow behind a motorhome or other vehicle in non-commercial applications.
Information was compiled from an analysis of each state's published statutes pertaining to motor vehicle brakes.
Note that this a layman's interpretation of the statutes, not expert opinion. It is presented for information only.
Comments regarding errors in this data are welcome. Email Link

Summary:

Five states; Alaska, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin, have a verified brake requirement based on the towed vehicle weight.
Most states have a general performance requirement based on stopping distance from 20 mph. Those apply to all vehicles or to combinations of vehicles.
Three states; Hawaii, North Dakota and District of Columbia, have statutes that are not available online and therefore are not tabulated.

State	Brakes Req'd	Weight (lbs)	Statutes / Section	Other Reqmts	Performance Reqm't	Links	Notes
Alabama	No	-	35-5-212	None	n/a	Alabama Statutes
Alaska	Yes	5,000	13 AAC 04.205	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Alaska Statutes
Arizona	No	-	28-952	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Arizona Statutes
Arkansas	No	-	27-37-501, 502	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	Arkansas Statutes	Enter Statutes number in Query field
California	No (Note 1)	-	26458 c 3	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	California Statutes
Colorado	No	-	42-4-223	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Colorado Statutes
Connecticut	No	-	14-80h	None	n/a	Connecticut Statutes
Delaware	No	-	4303	Performance	30 ft from 20 mph	Delaware Statutes
District of Columbia	Unknown	-	-	-	-	-	Not available online
Florida	Yes	3,000	316.261	None	n/a	Florida Statutes
Georgia	No	-	40-8-52	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Georgia Statutes
Hawaii	Unknown	-	-	-	-	-	Not available online
Idaho	No	-	49-933	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	Idaho Statutes
Illinois	No	-	625 ILCS 5/Ch. 12 Art. III	Performance	30 ft from 20 mph	Illinois Statutes
Indiana	No	-	IC 9-19-3	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	Indiana Statutes
Iowa	No	-	321.430	Performance	45 ft from 20 mph	Iowa Statutes
Kansas	No	-	8-1734	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Kansas Statutes
Kentucky	No	-	189.090	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Kentucky Statutes	PDF Document
Louisiana	No	-	RS 32:341	None	n/a	Louisiana Statutes
Maine	No	-	1902	Performance	30 ft from 20 mph	Maine Statutes
Maryland	No	-	22-301	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	Maryland Statutes
Massachusetts	No	-	Chapter 90: Section 7	None	n/a	Massachusetts Statutes
Michigan	No	-	257.705	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Michigan Statutes
Minnesota	No	-	169.67	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	Minnesota Statutes
Mississippi	No	-	63-7-51	Performance	30 ft from 20 mph	Mississippi Statutes
Missouri	No	-	307.170.3	None	n/a	Missouri Statutes
Montana	No	-	61-9-301 thru 321	Performance	35 ft from 20 mph	Montana Statutes
Nebraska	No	-	60-6,244	Performance	35 ft from 20 mph	Nebraska Statutes
Nevada	Yes	1,500	NRS 484.593, 9	None	n/a	Nevada Statutes
New Hampshire	No	-	226:27	Performance	30 ft from 20 mph	New Hampshire Statutes
New Jersey	No	-	39:3-67	Performance	45 ft from 20 mph	New Jersey Statutes	Enter "brakes" in search field
New Mexico	No	-	66-3-840	Performance	30 ft from 20 mph	New Mexico Statutes
New York	No	-	Article 9 375	None	n/a	N ew York Statutes	Type "Vehicle 375" in search box
North Carolina	Yes	4,000	20.124 f	None	n/a	North Carolina Statutes
North Dakota	Unknown	-	-	-	-	-	Not available online
Ohio	No	-	4315.20	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Ohio Statutes
Oklahoma	No	-	Title 47 Section 12-301	Performance	25 ft from 20 mph	Oklahoma Statutes
Oregon	No	-	815.125	Performance	35 ft from 20 mph	Oregon Statutes
Pennsylvania	No	-	Chapter 175	None	n/a	Pennsylvania Statutes
Rhode Island	No	-	31-23-4	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Rhode Island Statutes
South Carolina	No	-	56-5-4850 (h)	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	South Carolina Statutes
South Dakota	No	-	32-18-10	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	South Dakota Statutes
Tennessee	No	-	55-9-204, 205	Performance	30 ft from 20 mph	Tennessee Statutes	Click Folder, then Title 55, then Chapter 9
Texas	No	-	547.401	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	Texas Statutes	Scroll to Chapter 547, then to 547.401
Utah	No	-	41-6a-1623	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Utah Statutes
Vermont	No	-	Title 23 1307, 1308	Performance	30 ft from 20 mph	Vermont Statutes
Virginia	No	-	42.2-1066, 1067	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Virginia Statutes
Washington	No	-	46.37.340, 46.37.351	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Washington Statutes
West Virginia	No	-	17C-15-31	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	West Virginia Statutes
Wisconsin	Yes	Note 2	347.35, 347.36	Performance	50 ft from 20 mph	Wisconsin Statutes	Scroll to 347.35 and 347.36
Wyoming	No	-	31-5-950	Performance	40 ft from 20 mph	Wyoming Statutes

Note 1	California: Towed motor vehicles are exempt from weight-based brake requirements. Must comply with the performance requirement.
Note 2.	Wisconsin: 347.35 (3) (am) Brakes not required it toad weight is less than 40% of towing vehicle weight and the combined vehicles meet the performance requirement.

Links To Reference Sources

DMV.org Online Data Base

State Vehicle Statutes Summary

FindLaw Vehicle Statutes Database