I believe they had over 1,400 pre-registrations. My understanding is that they only licensed about 800 Mutant vehicles at the event. So they were limiting it. I was given a Day license without any problems, but gave me a conditional night license, that I would do better lighting next year. Basically they were saying that I wouldn't get a license next year unless I did a better lighting job. I was also told that because of the large number of people doing Mutant vehicles that they raise the bar every year of what they will register. So they want them to be better every year.

In '07 the BM DMV had some 1400 pre-approval applications of which about half got the go-ahead to bring their vehicles to the playa. Of the 800 or so who actually did I believe about 600 of them received on-site permits (some combination of day and night).

The problem is that there are too many people who want to bring vehicles and not enough space for them all to safely operate (so we are to understand, anyway). One of the things the BM DMV is trying to do is get rid of "art cars" (ordinary cars with shit glued on, for example) in favor of "mutant vehicles" (which, ideally, don't look like cars at all). A good metric is that if you can't tell what kind of base vehicle your mutant vehicle is built on you're moving in the right direction.

I also suspect that they prefer vehicles that can take passengers rather than two-seaters because they have more of a participatory nature.

Last year I built, brought and piloted my Interstellar Pleasure Barge: interstellarpleasurebarge.jarrin.net/
If you want to know more about my experiences send me a msg here.

It's not just an art car, it needs to be Radically Altered, Mutant. You shouldn't be able to tell what the beginning structure was.
If you go through all the registration proceedings, getting licensed on the Playa is easier. It does not guarantee you'll get licensed (but you get a better reception from the Hotties).
There are always unregistered vehicles driving around on the playa, there were plenty of police giving out $150 tickets this year for that.

Who decided that we needed a Police force to enforce our own rules?

The Blacklight Mushroom Scooter, made it to Burningman. Like many of us artists, you never know whether or not you're going to make it to burningman, let alone whether or not you can afford to drive there with your kitchen sink with you too. So, the scooter got there, drove to the DMV, which closed at 9:30, and couldn't get his license. Later, the cops pulled him over, because they couldn't see his sticker... Made him STRIP off his Costume and do a sobriety test, then and there. Then gave him a ticket.

I'm considering getting corporate sponsorship, radically altering a vehicle into say a can of Coke and gift cokes on the playa. It the Patriotic Way, isn't it?

Make your vehicle human powered, and batteries for the lights.
Then the DMV is not an issue.

47,000 people attended in 2007 and the DMV registered roughly 500 Mutant Vehicles to operate. Less than 400 static pieces of art were displayed on the open playa.

As cities evolve, so does transportation. Unlike most cities,Black Rock City’s survival depends on participants rejecting the prevailing car culture of the default world and embracing alternative transportation. Public safety concerns are reason enough for Burning Man to be a pedestrian/bicycle city. When the event first moved out to the playa in 1990, there were no rules about vehicles. By 1996,with still only 8,000 participants, the dust problems and hazards of casual and recreational driving had become extreme. In 1997, casual driving was designed out of Black Rock City transportation. 1997 was critical in the evolution of the event not only because it was “the first year that you could bike around without worrying about getting hit by a car, ”but also because it was then that bike culture truly emerged.

tribes.tribe.net/bmmv/phot...82f1337a35

Many folks planning to make the sojourn to Black Rock are asking lots of questions and seeking clarification around the myriad issues that make coming to the event both challenging and rewarding. One of the most repeated requests for clarification has to do with issues related to mutant vehicles and the current policies regarding registration and approval of them.

In response to the growing number of safety problems of vehicles being operated in an unsafe manner during the event and the complaints generated as a result, the driving regulations are strictly enforced. Note that these regulations do not reflect a mandate imposed by LEOs (law enforcement organizations). Nor do they represent collaboration with LEOs by the Black Rock Rangers. The decision to place a greater emphasis on long standing regulations is in response to the innumerable complaints expressed by participants both during the event as well as input submitted throughout the year around issues of safety. We're appealing to a higher instinct here folks. Simply put the rules for driving on the playa have not changed. The amount of emphasis being placed on those regulations has. It is about taking responsibility for ourselves when we need to.

In their purest form mutant vehicles serve as a form of mobile interaction with a great number of participants and contribute dramatically to the surreal experience which many of us experience each year during the event. They are "A thread that binds Black Rock City together. They are 'visual sculpture on wheels': radically, stunningly beautiful... and are core to the culture and community of Burning Man."

Click on "Next" in the album linked below to learn more about the DMV and Mutant Vehicles:

tribes.tribe.net/bmmv/phot...2e725f39ed