Dirt Bikes and ATVs
By Albert B. Kelly
We’re all familiar with fads. The dictionary definition tells us that a fad is “a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal; widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object's qualities; a craze”. Some fads are silly but harmless, like hula-hoops or pet rocks while others are just annoying like the ice bucket challenge or Pokémon Go. But some fads are dangerous.
I’m thinking now about youths and twenty-somethings zipping around on roads, whether individually or as part of a large posse, on dirt bikes and ATVs and I’m hoping it’s short-lived like other fads. This fad sort of makes you long for the good old days when the complaint was about pants hanging too low. But unlike pants, this fad of ATVs and dirt bikes is dangerous because it risks the safety of everyone on the road.
It’s not as if these riders, individually or posse-like, are observing the rules of the road and obeying traffic signals. These riders weave in and out of traffic, ride along the shoulder, pop wheelies while zipping down the yellow center line, and they’ll will stop traffic in all directions while their brethren move through an intersection.
All of this creates danger. For motorists the danger is in the form of accidents with other cars while swerving to avoid someone on a dirt bike or perhaps an accident because you’ve had to jam on the brakes. Along with the danger comes fear and by that, I mean fear that should you hit one of these riders (or they hit you), you will find yourself facing physical harm at the scene or a lawsuit of some type later on which brings us to the anger, the idea that these riders are illegal but we have to deal with the fallout.
Who knows at what point a fad moves into the realm of being a social statement? For all I know men growing their hair long started as a fad in the early 60’s before it became a way to stick it to the establishment. Today, maybe the whole illegal dirt bike posse thing is a fad that also doubles as a way to stick it to the man because they know, and we know, that police can’t chase them and I suppose this provides some with a perverse satisfaction.
But there are some things that could help and it starts with crafting some legislative framework. Locally, we are adopting an ordinance declaring and designating ATVs and dirt bikes operated on public roads in violation of existing laws an immediate threat to public health, safety, and welfare as contraband subject to forfeiture. This might seem like a completely empty gesture, but by declaring and designating ATVs and dirt bikes operated in this manner as contraband, it provides the framework for seizure or disposal.
The other legislative tool is an ordinance that prohibits gas stations from selling or dispensing gasoline or other types of fuel into the fuel tank of ATVs or dirt bikes illegally driven to the fueling station under its own power in violation of existing laws. The presumption is that an untagged ATV or a dirt bike driven to the station is done so in violation of the law and in such an instance, no service can be provided.
A final tool we’re working on is the installation of cameras in strategic places in the city. Cameras can capture certain details that will help identify individual riders, specific ATVs or bikes, and provide other details that can be used by law enforcement to combat this issue.
All of these tools are limited in scope and each has a very specific use and application. None of these is a silver bullet that will drastically impact the problem of illegal ATVs and dirt bikes on our roads, but we’ll keep after it. For those who want to ride legally and safely, we are looking to develop a framework for young people to ride responsibly, supporting those who want to be part of finding a solution. Not everyone who rides an ATV or dirt bike is problematic, the truth is that some young people just want to have fun and they have asked us to help them find a way to do it so that everyone can feel good about it. In the weeks ahead, we’ll work to get that done.