Robin
Moderator
March 22, 2006
In cities and towns throughout Connecticut, all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts steer with virtual impunity through gaping loopholes in state law, regulation and enforcement. They have created a path of death, injury, crushed habitat, rutted hiking trails and frustrated property owners.
In November, 17-year-old Brendan Horan of Newington was killed when an ATV he was riding crashed through a gate near some quarries in East Berlin. Last May, an East Haddam woman was killed and her husband injured when their ATV plunged off a 100-foot cliff near their home. The previous spring, an East Hartford man was killed and his teenage passenger injured when, after speeding up and down Hartford's Wawarme Avenue, their ATV collided with an oncoming car.
A December report by the Council on Environmental Quality, a state agency charged with monitoring environmental trends, cited illegal encroachments by all-terrain vehicles as among the greatest threats to preserved lands around Connecticut. Eroded hiking trails, churned-up stream banks and destroyed wildlife habitat are evidence that illegal use of all-terrain vehicles is rampant.
The situation has grown intolerable. Yet current laws are so weak they encourage ATVers to run right over them (and they often do).
Under state law, ATV owners are prohibited from driving on public roads or publicly owned lands. They can drive on private property if they own or lease the land. Otherwise, they have to obtain the owner's permission and register their vehicles.
Yet the decision whether to register is basically left up to the ATV owner. Given there are an estimated 70,000 ATVs in Connecticut, it's a safe bet the state's registration requirement is widely flouted.
Catching violators is an uphill climb. ATVs can travel at speeds of 60 mph or more. In most cases, by the time law enforcement officials respond, the Huns have long left town. The state Department of Environmental Protection's enforcement division, meanwhile, is understaffed; state and local police departments are mired by limitations of manpower and equipment.
Still, there are occasional victories. On Sunday, a joint effort by state and local police from Madison to Middlefield yielded 21 arrests for operating ATVs on land owned by the state and the South Central Regional Water Authority. Another police crackdown this month in Killingly, Brooklyn and Thompson netted nine arrests. In both instances, police were responding to numerous complaints from neighbors.
The situation in Connecticut demands an effective law. Fortunately, the General Assembly is considering legislation (House Bill 5806) that would address shortcomings in current laws.
The bill would require mandatory registration for all ATVs. Revenues from the $75 registration fee (people who use their ATVs for farming or forestry would be exempt as they should be) would go into a fund to help pay for strengthened law enforcement and to redress environmental damage caused by recreational ATV use.
The bill would also impose a $250 fine for unregistered ATVs - something guaranteed to get the attention and respect of ATVers. The bill would also empower the DEP to seek bonding to buy two properties for the creation of parks for ATV use.
Prospects for this legislation appear uncertain. For all the problems ATVers have created, they have opposed meaningful solutions. It's too bad; considering the scale of the problem and the lack of reasonable laws and regulations, the state will be left with few practical alternatives short of a statewide ban.
In cities and towns throughout Connecticut, all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts steer with virtual impunity through gaping loopholes in state law, regulation and enforcement. They have created a path of death, injury, crushed habitat, rutted hiking trails and frustrated property owners.
In November, 17-year-old Brendan Horan of Newington was killed when an ATV he was riding crashed through a gate near some quarries in East Berlin. Last May, an East Haddam woman was killed and her husband injured when their ATV plunged off a 100-foot cliff near their home. The previous spring, an East Hartford man was killed and his teenage passenger injured when, after speeding up and down Hartford's Wawarme Avenue, their ATV collided with an oncoming car.
A December report by the Council on Environmental Quality, a state agency charged with monitoring environmental trends, cited illegal encroachments by all-terrain vehicles as among the greatest threats to preserved lands around Connecticut. Eroded hiking trails, churned-up stream banks and destroyed wildlife habitat are evidence that illegal use of all-terrain vehicles is rampant.
The situation has grown intolerable. Yet current laws are so weak they encourage ATVers to run right over them (and they often do).
Under state law, ATV owners are prohibited from driving on public roads or publicly owned lands. They can drive on private property if they own or lease the land. Otherwise, they have to obtain the owner's permission and register their vehicles.
Yet the decision whether to register is basically left up to the ATV owner. Given there are an estimated 70,000 ATVs in Connecticut, it's a safe bet the state's registration requirement is widely flouted.
Catching violators is an uphill climb. ATVs can travel at speeds of 60 mph or more. In most cases, by the time law enforcement officials respond, the Huns have long left town. The state Department of Environmental Protection's enforcement division, meanwhile, is understaffed; state and local police departments are mired by limitations of manpower and equipment.
Still, there are occasional victories. On Sunday, a joint effort by state and local police from Madison to Middlefield yielded 21 arrests for operating ATVs on land owned by the state and the South Central Regional Water Authority. Another police crackdown this month in Killingly, Brooklyn and Thompson netted nine arrests. In both instances, police were responding to numerous complaints from neighbors.
The situation in Connecticut demands an effective law. Fortunately, the General Assembly is considering legislation (House Bill 5806) that would address shortcomings in current laws.
The bill would require mandatory registration for all ATVs. Revenues from the $75 registration fee (people who use their ATVs for farming or forestry would be exempt as they should be) would go into a fund to help pay for strengthened law enforcement and to redress environmental damage caused by recreational ATV use.
The bill would also impose a $250 fine for unregistered ATVs - something guaranteed to get the attention and respect of ATVers. The bill would also empower the DEP to seek bonding to buy two properties for the creation of parks for ATV use.
Prospects for this legislation appear uncertain. For all the problems ATVers have created, they have opposed meaningful solutions. It's too bad; considering the scale of the problem and the lack of reasonable laws and regulations, the state will be left with few practical alternatives short of a statewide ban.
I always stop to help people! Damn.....
