The real question is...Out of the 45 deaths how many of those were alcohol related.
Bill introduced to ban ATVs on paved roadways
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<h1>[b]Bill introduced to ban ATVs on paved roadways[/b]</h1>
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Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter</h3>
[url="http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_036223333.html"][b]Go here for the full story[/b][/url]
CHARLESTON — Removing all-terrain vehicles from all paved roads in West Virginia, except to cross or when a city or county wants an exception, is the sole focus of this year’s ATV safety bill.
Introduced Tuesday by Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler, D-Marshall, the proposal is the latest model to roll off the Legislature’s assembly line.
A year ago, safety advocates were dismayed when an ATV safety bill was left parked in the Senate Rules Committee over a dispute that centered on banning passengers from four-wheelers not made to accommodate them.
In the previous bill, language was inserted to bar counties and municipalities from allowing ATV riders, but this one addresses exceptions. The only exceptions now are counties that have comprehensive planning commissions, but the new bill would extend the discretion of allowing four-wheelers in all 55.
“It’s not like we’re recommending there be joyriding in the middle of the street,” emphasized Karen Coria, an official of the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, the prime supporter of ATV safety legislation.
“But there are going to be special circumstances where a municipality or a county may want to address having an ATV pathway, something they can enforce, something where there’s a safety environment where the public is aware of this.”
Coria pointed out at least six towns already allow ATVs within their limits, such as Gilbert, which permits them as part of its linkup with the Hatfield-McCoy Trail.
“And according to their folks, they haven’t had any incidents,” she said.
Last year, ATV accidents were blamed in 45 deaths, while the state recorded 54 fatalities in the previous year.
“It’s still too high,” Coria said of the annual death toll. “If getting them from the paved roads can have the effect of just one person not being killed, then it’s all worth it.”
Kessler was joined in sponsoring the bill by Sens. Jon Blair Hunter, D-Monongalia, Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, Evan Jenkins, D-Cabell, and John Unger, R-Berkeley.
Half of the accidents are known to occur on paved surfaces, Coria said.
Current law bans four-wheelers from roads with a centerline stripe or more than two lanes, but that doesn’t cover some 20,000 miles of unlined, paved, so-called “country roads.”
“This legislation would end joyriding on those roads,” Coria said.
“Existing law says you can drive from one trail to another, or one field to another, on the shoulder, not to exceed 10 miles at 25 miles per hour. That would still be in place.”
Nor does the bill attempt to revise the current law on headgear.
“All we’re trying to do this time is to create a safety enforcement on the road,” Coria said.
Actual story is here: [url="http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_036223333.html"][b][url]http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_036223333.html[/url][/b][/url]</p>
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Just in
From WV Metro News
From WV Metro News
Get the full story here: http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=23453
ATV Bill Rides Through First Committee
Fayette County Senator Shirley Love voted against the bill in Tuesday's committee meeting. He says 37 of the 45 fatal accidents last year involved drugs on alcohol. He says lawmakers can't legislative against ignorance.
The bill now goes to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration. An ATV bill died in the Senate last year because it didn't have the support of Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin. Coria says she hopes that has changed.
"I have brought the bill to the Senate President and I'm encouraged about his remarks about the bill and I think there's a good chance this bill would receive a positive vote from the Senate President," Coria said.
The bill keeps in place certain paved road exemptions that currently exist in state code, including riding as far as 10 miles on a paved road to get from trail to trail or field to field.
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<h1 class="style1">Manchin leaning toward ATV ban on paved roads</h1>
<span class="style1">By Mannix Porterfield
REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER
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<p class="style1">CHARLESTON — While he made no firm commitment on a proposed outright ban, Gov. Joe Manchin appeared understanding Friday of new Senate legislation aimed at barring all-terrain vehicles from every mile of West Virginia’s paved roads.
For the past few legislative sessions, the controversy has raged over how to deal with ATV safety in a state with a high death toll.
Existing law forbids riders on roads with a centerline stripe or more than two lanes and compels minors to wear safety helmets.</p>
<p class="style1">[url="http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_046223622.html"][b]Full Story [/b][/url]</p>
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</html>More bad news.
SOURCE
We are about to lose some rights that are vital to out sport! Now is the time to act! E-mail your representatives.
I found this very interesting.Ban of ATVs on paved roads rolls to Senate floor
By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald reporter
CHARLESTON — This year’s model of all-terrain vehicle safety, calling for a total ban on all paved roads, completed another turn in the assembly line Friday, gaining unanimous approval of the Senate Finance Committee.
That means a vote should come by the middle of next week in the full Senate on an issue that has perplexed lawmakers more than seven years — how to reduce the number of deaths and injuries.
Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, voted for it in committee, but insisted the state needs to start providing statistics on just how many arrests are made for violating the 2004 law.
That was a point Love sought to drive home — if a 4-year-old law barring ATVs from roads with a centerline stripe or more than two lanes isn’t being enforced, how will police feel any more led to make this one stick?
“I’d like to know how many arrests are made,†the senator told Mark Holmes of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program
Love also found himself in conflict with Karen Coria, a lobbyist for the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, over just how many of last year’s 45 deaths were linked to drugs and alcohol.
Using the state’s own tally sheet, Love said 16 were listed as alcohol-related while 21 involved drug abuse, and authorities weren’t certain about the remaining eight deaths.
SOURCE
We are about to lose some rights that are vital to out sport! Now is the time to act! E-mail your representatives.
More info on the SB 567
Here is an update to the ATV bill.
Here is an update to the ATV bill.
Here is the SOURCEATV paved road ban clears Senate
Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter
CHARLESTON — An all-terrain vehicle ban on every mile of paved road in West Virginia completed another key lap Tuesday, but senators had some fun with the long-debated safety measure before passing it unanimously.
In his introductory remarks, Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, alluded to it as “that infamous ATV bill.â€
Unlike existing law that forbids four-wheelers on paved roads with a centerline stripe or more than two lanes, this proposal is aimed at keeping them off all asphalt in West Virginia, including the 20,000 miles of unlined backroads.
Farmers, hunters and recreational riders can go up to 10 miles in reaching one farm or trail to another, provided they stay on the berm or, lacking one, as far to the right as possible.
Well actually it should not affect the H&M area at all. The law was written to allow the local municipalities to over ride the law. So those areas that depend on the H&M ATVers will still be able to cater to them. Too much money for the state to lose otherwise.
On another note the Bill was changed to allow riding on the berm of the road up to 10 miles not to exceed 25 MPH. If there is not a berm available then as far right as possible.
On another note the Bill was changed to allow riding on the berm of the road up to 10 miles not to exceed 25 MPH. If there is not a berm available then as far right as possible.
Maybe not wvabeer. But typically those law don't work and therefore they will need to make another law, and on and on.
ATV measure has flat in House
By Mannix Porterfield
REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER
CHARLESTON — Safety advocate Karen Coria isn’t throwing in the towel, but a proposed ban of all-terrain vehicles from all paved roads in West Virginia has taken a detour in the House of Delegates.
Rather than take it up in the full Roads and Transportation Committee, the House has dished it off to a subcommittee.
With the midnight Saturday deadline approaching, the bill could be in for a rough ride to make the finish line on Gov. Joe Manchin’s desk.
“I have dealt with subcommittees before on bills,†Coria said Monday.
“I will do everything I can to discuss and answer questions that the committee has that will move this bill forward.â€
A lobbyist for the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, Coria said she intends to keep after delegates to bring the Senate-approved bill to the floor for a vote.
“I don’t think it’s dead,†she said.
“I think there are some legitimate concerns that need to be discussed. There are some myths about how we approach the bill.â€
The House subcommittee is being headed by Delegate Dale Martin, D-Putnam, who is vice chairman of the House Government Organization Committee.
Coria indicated one misconception is that there would be 55 different sets of rules and regulations, since all county commissions would be given some authority.
Under the existing law, four-wheelers are banned on all roads with a centerline stripe or more than two lanes, and only counties with planning commissions may enter the picture.
That law was added to the books in the final year of Gov. Bob Wise’s administration.
“Six of those counties that have comprehensive plans did go ahead and prohibit them from paved roads,†she said.
“No one has called me to say ‘yippee yi yay, we want ATVs all over our roads, driving recklessly.’â€
Coria has been seeking to bar ATVs from all paved roads, since existing law allows them now on some 20,000 miles of unlined, hard roads across the state.
Last year, the state recorded 45 deaths, and more than one-third involved either alcohol or drug usage, official records show.
Statistics maintained by the Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis Center and Bureau for Public Health show that as of 2005 an estimated 450,000 four-wheelers are owned by West Virginians.
The study found that nearly 1,600 new ones are purchased in the state annually but only about one-third have met a legal obligation to have them registered.
“The lack of definitive information on how many ATVs there are in the state and their location makes it difficult to establish ATV use profiles and to calculate exposure-based death and injury rates,†the study said.
FULL STORY
it may have died but we should not become complacent.
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