M-185 Was Billed as the Only Highway in America With No Car Accidents.

For decades the travel press billed M-185 as the only state highway in the country that had never seen an automobile accident. The claim died on a single call in 2005, when the Mackinac Island fire truck clipped the open door of the island’s ambulance. Both were responding to the same emergency, and the Town Crier reported the damage as minor.

That also settles the question that comes up every time this road gets mentioned. Motor vehicles are banned on M-185. Emergency vehicles are not. The island runs a fire truck, an ambulance and police vehicles, and they are on the road when they need to be.

The road, and the rule that came first

M-185 loops Mackinac Island in Mackinac County. MDOT calls it the only state highway in the nation where motor vehicles are banned. Traffic moves on foot, on horse, by carriage or by bicycle.

The ban predates the road. The village council prohibited horseless carriages on July 6, 1898, after carriage drivers petitioned it, fearing the machines would spook their horses. The fear was well placed. In 1900 a summer resident’s Locomobile scared horses and wrecked carriages, and the state park commission banned automobiles inside the park the next year. The state built the shoreline road between 1900 and 1910. It became M-185 in 1933, when park officials asked the state highway commissioner to take it over because their budget could not cover the upkeep.

The length nearly everyone gets wrong

Travel coverage almost universally gives M-185 as 8.2 miles. MDOT’s own route figure is 8.004 miles. The 8.2 number circulates through tourism material, not the highway record.

There is a speed limit now, and it applies to your bicycle

Public Act 76 of 2024 set a 15 mph limit on M-185 and 10 mph inside the downtown business district. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed it on July 8, 2024. State Senator John Damoose of Harbor Springs sponsored it.

It covers every bicycle, not only electric ones, and violations are civil infractions. The bill came out of testimony that Class 1 and 2 e-bike motors reach 20 mph while Class 3 motors reach 28, speeds that carry real risk on a road shared with horses and pedestrians.

Then came the tenth fire

Mackinac Island City Council approved a revised e-bike ordinance on April 1, 2026. It took effect April 29.

The revision followed what Fire Chief Jason St. Onge identified as the tenth known e-bike fire on the island, on April 25, 2026, in a building on Cadotte near Second Street. A battery explosion in summer 2022 caused a residential structure fire and sent responding firefighters to the hospital.

E-bikes remain banned for general use. The exception covers riders with a qualifying mobility disability, and only for Class 1 e-bikes and Class 1 or 2 e-trikes. Ordinance 639 asks for credible assurance of the disability, which can be a state-issued disability placard or card, other state proof, or a statement from a medical provider.

What you need before you ride

Every bicycle on the island requires a city license sticker. The fee is $3.50.

Both pedal bikes and e-cycles can be registered by mail or in person at the police department on Market Street. Mailed applications need the form, a $3.50 check and a self-addressed stamped envelope, and the department asks for a month to process them. Forms without the cycle’s serial number are rejected. Visitors seeking a temporary e-bike permit are directed to apply at least 14 days before arriving.

The police department says it is impounding non-compliant e-cycles and ticketing their owners and riders. The ordinance makes any violation a civil infraction, carrying a fine set by the city’s schedule.

Cars have been on it anyway

The 1898 ordinance has held for 128 years, but not without exceptions. A car was permitted in 1979 for the filming of Somewhere in Time. A 1901 steam-powered car toured the island in 1998 to mark the ban’s centennial. Vice President Mike Pence arrived with an eight-vehicle motorcade in 2019.

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Sources, credits, and reporting details

Sources & accountability

How this story was reported

Editorial methodAggregation

Last verifiedAug. 10, 2026

Corrections statusNo material correction note is recorded on this article.

Verification note: Rules, fees and permit process rechecked against the City of Mackinac Island, the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau and the Michigan Legislature on 2026-08-10. Three factual corrections were made to the body on that date: e-cycles may be registered by mail, credible assurance of a mobility disability is not restricted to a medical examiner, and the no-accident claim is attributed to the travel press rather than the state.

Primary sources

1. Senate Bill 682 analysis as enacted (Public Act 76 of 2024) — Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency

   Published Jan. 10, 2025. Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: The 15 mph limit on M-185, the 10 mph business-district limit, the civil-infraction penalty, and that the limit covers all bicycles rather than e-bikes only.

2. Senate Bill 682 of 2023-2024, bill status and journal record — Michigan Legislature

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: Sponsor John Damoose, and the signing date: APPROVED BY GOVERNOR 07/08/2024 09:44 AM, assigned PA 76 of 2024 with immediate effect.

   Several news outlets report the signing as July 6, 2024. The legislature journal record is authoritative and the article follows it.

3. Senate Bill 682 analysis as passed by the Senate — Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency

   Published Apr. 18, 2024. Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: Class 1 and 2 e-bike motors reach 20 mph while Class 3 motors reach 28 mph, from the committee testimony the article refers to.

4. Road & Highway Facts — Michigan Department of Transportation

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: M-185 on Mackinac Island is the only state highway in the nation where motor vehicles are banned.

   michigan.gov refuses automated fetchers; read in a browser.

5. Roads & Highways v26 centerline data, route M-185 — Michigan Department of Transportation

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: M-185 measures 8.0038 miles: PR 3490758 at 3.7427 miles plus PR 3490759 at 4.2611 miles.

   Open ArcGIS service behind MDOT Next Generation PR Finder. Geometry length in the same response agrees at 12,880.9 m.

6. Ordinance No. 639, amendment to Chapter 66 "Transportation" — City of Mackinac Island

   Published Apr. 1, 2026. Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: Adopted April 1, 2026 and effective April 29, 2026. Section 66-167(b) permits only Class 1 e-bikes and Class 1 or 2 e-trikes; (g) requires temporary-permit materials at least 14 days before visiting; (h) accepts a state placard, state proof of disability, or a medical provider statement as credible assurance.

   Image-only scan with no text layer; pages must be read as images. Local copy retained with the article assets.

7. Police Department forms and documents: cycle licensing — City of Mackinac Island

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: The $3.50 licence fee, that pedal bikes and e-cycles alike may be registered by mail or in person, the 7374 Market Street address, the e-bikes@mipd.org application route, and that the department is impounding non-compliant e-cycles and ticketing owners and riders.

   cityofmi.org refuses automated fetchers; read in a browser.

Additional reporting

1. Mackinac Island City Council expands electronic bicycle rules — CBS News Detroit

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: Fire Chief Jason St. Onge identifying the tenth known e-bike fire on April 25, 2026 in a building on Cadotte near Second Street, and the summer 2022 battery explosion that caused a residential structure fire and hospitalised responding firefighters.

2. Electric bicycle frequently asked questions — Mackinac Island Police Department

   Published May. 19, 2023. Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: That non-compliant e-bikes are subject to impoundment, and that a Class II e-bike can be brought into compliance by permanently removing the throttle.

   Predates Ordinance 639. Its $110/$210/$500 fine schedule may be superseded by the city schedule the 2026 ordinance refers to.

3. E-bikes on Mackinac Island — Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: The mobility-disability exception, the qualifying conditions, and the 14-day advance application window.

4. Bicycle License Registration Now Open — Mackinac Island Town Crier

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: City bicycle licenses cost $3.50 each, with registration forms available at the police department on Market Street.

5. 10 historic (and sometimes illegal) exceptions to Mackinac Island car-free custom — Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: The 1979 Somewhere in Time filming permit, the 1998 steam-car centennial run, and the eight-vehicle vice-presidential motorcade in 2019.

6. Mackinac Island Bans Automobiles — Northern Michigan History

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

   Supports: The Mackinac Island Village Council banned horseless carriages on July 6, 1898, and the State Park Commission banned automobiles inside the park in 1901 after a 1900 Locomobile scared horses and wrecked carriages.

7. Cause of Ferry Injuries Under Investigation — Mackinac Island Town Crier

   Published May. 20, 2005.

   Supports: The May 13, 2005 collision at the head of the Shepler ferry dock, in which the island fire truck damaged the door of the island ambulance while both responded to a ferry call.

   Print article; no public link exists. It is the only contemporaneous record of the collision, and every online account traces back to this citation.

8. Horsing Around on Mackinac Island — Toronto Star

   Published Jun. 3, 2000.

   Supports: The pre-2005 claim that M-185 was the only state highway that never had an automobile accident.

   Print travel feature, p. L18; no public link. Identified as the origin of the no-accident claim, which is a travel-press line rather than a statement by the State of Michigan.

9. New Road at Island Is Unique — Associated Press, in The State Journal (Lansing)

   Published Jun. 28, 1961.

   Supports: Lake Shore Road was built between 1900 and 1910 by the state, and became M-185 in 1933 when park officials asked the state highway commissioner to absorb its maintenance.

   Print article, p. 29; no public link.

10. What is 8.2? — Destination Mackinac

    Accessed Aug. 10, 2026.

    Supports: The 8.2-mile figure that circulates in travel and local retail material, against the 8.0038 miles in MDOT own route data.

Photo and media credits

1. Mackinac Island Main Street — Mnanian

   Featured image record. Accessed Aug. 10, 2026. CC BY-SA 4.0.

   Featured image. Cropped from the Commons original; full crop record in the article asset folder.

2. Horse-drawn vehicles on Main Street, Mackinac Island, 1890 — Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026. Public domain.

   LOC catalog LCCN 97508422. Cropped to the plate inset.

3. M-185 from Arch Rock — Michael Barera

   Accessed Aug. 10, 2026. CC BY-SA 4.0.

   Cropped from the Commons original.

Corrections policy | Report a correction or missing credit

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