The sheet that I signed did say "DOT tires are in use on the vehicle" or something like that. My wife rides ours all over town and has never has any troubles; she even has some of her friends as riders on the back. I went as far as to install a license plate light on mine so it can be riden at night which can be a little hairy. We put DOT tires on at the begining of the summer, but up to that point the cops didn't say anything or bother us at all. For the most part if your not doing something stupid or run into a cop with a big head (younger), I think they are fairly reasonable. Use your best judgement.