Since 4 November 2025, Turkish law requires ATV drivers to wear a helmet and protective goggles, and ATV passengers to wear a helmet — a change introduced by an amendment to the traffic regulation published in Resmî Gazete No. 33067.
Verified July 2026
Dateline: this article reflects the regulation as published on 4 November 2025 and confirmed current in July 2026. If you are booking an Antalya quad safari, this is the one legal change worth knowing about — and the good news is it changes almost nothing about how a reputable tour already runs.
What the new rule actually says
The change is an amendment to Article 150 of the Karayolları Trafik Yönetmeliği (Road Traffic Regulation), published in Resmî Gazete No. 33067 on 4 November 2025. In the General Directorate of Security's own wording, it makes a protective helmet and goggles mandatory for ATV drivers (defined as four-wheeled T3-category vehicles manufactured after 1 January 2001) and a helmet mandatory for ATV passengers. The same amendment introduced TS EN 13594 gloves for motorcyclists. You can read the primary source directly at the EGM press statement of 04.11.2025.
The legal basis behind it
The underlying duty to wear protective equipment is not new. It flows from Article 78 of the Karayolları Trafik Kanunu No. 2918 (Road Traffic Law), which requires certain drivers and passengers to use protective devices. The November 2025 amendment simply names ATVs explicitly and pins the helmet-and-goggles requirement to them, closing an old grey area where quads sat awkwardly between motorcycle and car rules.
What it means for your safari
In practice, very little changes for a well-run tour, because reputable operators already hand out helmets and goggles as standard. The provincial ATV-UTV safari rules that governorships apply under the national sportive-activities framework have long required helmets, goggles and knee pads as mandatory tour equipment. So the new national rule mostly formalises what serious operators were doing anyway. What it does mean: if an operator ever offers to let you ride bare-headed, that is now unambiguously illegal — walk away.
Does this apply on private tour tracks?
The regulation is road-traffic law, and its clearest bite is on public roads. On the private, governorship-designated parkur (track) areas where safaris run, the practical rule set comes from the provincial usul ve esaslar, which already mandate helmets and goggles. Either way the answer for a rider is identical: you wear a helmet, and as a driver you wear goggles too. There is no scenario on a legitimate Antalya safari where going without is acceptable.
Penalties, in plain terms
Protective-gear violations under KTK 2918 Article 78 carry administrative fines. We are not going to quote a shifting lira figure that will be out of date by next year; the point for a tourist is simpler — the gear is provided free, wearing it is mandatory, and skipping it is both dangerous and illegal.
The honest bottom line
This law is a reason to trust a properly run safari, not to fear one. Helmet, goggles for drivers, helmet for passengers — provided at the track, required by law, and exactly what you would want anyway on a dusty convoy. For how the rest of a tour is regulated, and why it is safer than it looks, see is a quad safari safe in Antalya, and for riding with children see quad safari with kids. To book a compliant operator, start at our quad safari page.
FAQ
When did the ATV helmet law take effect in Turkey?
The amendment making helmets and goggles mandatory for ATV drivers, and helmets mandatory for ATV passengers, was published in Resmî Gazete No. 33067 on 4 November 2025. It remains current as of July 2026 and applies nationwide under the Road Traffic Regulation.
Do passengers on a quad or buggy have to wear a helmet?
Yes. The 2025 amendment makes a helmet mandatory for ATV passengers, not only drivers. On a safari, everyone in the convoy wears the helmet the operator provides, whether they are driving their own machine or riding as a passenger.
Do I have to bring my own helmet?
No. Reputable Antalya operators provide helmets and goggles as standard, and provincial safari rules require them to. Bringing your own is unnecessary; what matters is that any operator who does not issue this gear is breaking the law, and you should not ride with them.
Is this law about ATVs the same as the rule for motorbikes?
They came in the same 4 November 2025 amendment but differ in detail. ATV drivers need a helmet plus goggles and ATV passengers need a helmet, while the motorcycle-specific part of the amendment added TS EN 13594 gloves. The shared principle is mandatory protective gear on both.