Kentucky May License Humvees

For sale: One owner, low mileage, no combat damage.

Classified ads selling surplus U.S. military Humvees are commonplace on the Internet since the Pentagon started auctioning the camo-covered, husky, troop-transporting High Mobility Multi­purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) to civilians in 2014.

Just because a civilian can legally buy a Humvee, however, doesn’t mean that person can legally drive it down a street in Kentucky. The Interim Joint Committee on Transportation met yesterday to debate the public policy issues of changing the law to allow Humvees on public roads.

Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation Commissioner John-Mark Hack testified that there had been recent inquiries from Humvee owners in Bourbon, Marion and Monroe counties about registering the demilitarized vehicles for road use. There is already an exception carved out for law enforcement.

Hack said reasons to be cautious about registering Humvees for road use include the fact that the military configuration of Humvees does not meet current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. He added that the original manufacturer is also not certifying the vehicles as road worthy.

Surrounding states that do not register Humvees for road use include Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Virginia and West Virginia, Hack said. Tennessee does allow the registration and titling of Humvees on the condition that the original manufacturer’s identification number is replaced with a Tennessee vehicle identification number (VIN).

Kentucky Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing Assistant Director Godwin Onodu said Tennessee also requires some additional safety inspections by the state highway patrol.

Some lawmakers asked why anyone would want a Reagan-era, gas-guzzling Humvee that is hard to get repaired.

“It worries me that we are trying to get vehicles on the road that maybe cause problems for other vehicles,” said Committee Co-Chair Hubert Collins, D-Wittensville. “I think that we should keep that in mind if the application is made for them to be on the road.”

Humvee owner Louie Emmons, of Bourbon County, testified in support of allowing the vehicles on Kentucky roads.

“My dad served in Korea,” said Emmons, who purchased his Humvee for $6,750 at a government auction. “My uncle served in Vietnam. My two brothers served in Vietnam and one of them didn’t come back. I grew up in the ‘80s and these vehicles were very appealing to the sense of my patriotism.”

He said he wanted to own a part of history, adding it’s no different from a collector buying a military Jeep. While the military scrapped most Jeeps, Humvees are being sold to the highest bidder. Reports say most of the Humvees being sold are models from the ‘80s that likely have never been driven in the sands of the Middle East. Many have low miles.

Emmons called it ironic that Kentucky already licenses the heavier, civilian version of the Humvee, known as the Hummer H1. He also said a Humvee is narrower than most dually trucks on the road.

Co-chair Sen. Ernie Harris, R-Prospect, said he wouldn’t object to licensing a Humvee for the road, adding he sure wish he had one of the much beloved military Jeeps. He said the lack of modern safety features on a vintage military Jeep wouldn’t dissuade him from owning one.

“I see no problem in having a Humvee come up behind me, even if it is an off-road one, because I would rather tangle with a Humvee than a fully-loaded rock truck with bad brakes or a semi,” he said.

(Robert Weber, of Kentucky’s Legislative Research Commission, contributed to this article.)