| Making heads or tails of the ATV bill just passed by the House of Delegates may be difficult, except with serious study.
The pursuit of police officers onto private property, according to constitutional law experts, is redundant and vague, and could be used as an invasion of private land rights, search and seizure.
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The Charleston Gazette
Weaker ATV bill on way in Senate
Transportation panel expected to dilute legislation further
Friday January 17, 2003
By Phil Kabler
STAFF WRITER
An all-terrain vehicle bill likely to emerge from the Senate Transportation Committee is weaker than versions proposed by the governor or passed by the House, critics said Thursday.
"This is a legalization bill â there are no safety provisions in it," Sen. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, said Thursday of the version of the bill expected to advance from the committee next week.
Sen. Mike Oliverio, D-Monongalia, said the Senate's version of the bill effectively applies only to ATV riders trespassing on private property.
Oliverio is lead sponsor of a bill (SB128) that would have imposed more stringent safety requirements.
The version of the ATV bill (HB2121) passed by the House 96-2 Thursday excluded safety measures sought by Gov. Bob Wise, including prohibiting riders under 18 from having passengers on an ATV.
The Senate Transportation Committee is expected to weaken the bill even further. A draft version of the committee's bill exempts anyone operating ATVs on their own property or on private property with the owner's permission from any safety requirements.
It also exempts any farm or commercial use of ATVs.
Police officers could enforce the law on private property only if they were in "hot pursuit" of a violator.
The Senate bill would require riders under 18 to wear helmets, except on private property, and to have certification of completion of a rider safety training course â to be offered free of charge by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
Riders 18 and older would have to have either a valid driver's license or a training certificate.
Rowe said, as written, the bill would allow drivers who have their licenses suspended for drunk driving to use their ATVs instead for transportation.
The proposed Senate bill has comparatively liberal provisions for operating ATVs on public roads.
ATVs could run on paved public roads without center lines, unless prohibited by county or city ordinance. ATVs also could operate on the berms of most highways in order to get from one trail, field, or operating area to another.
Still to be resolved is how far ATVs should be allowed on public roads to get from one point to another. Transportation Committee Chairman Mike Ross, D-Randolph, Thursday suggested a 25-mile limit, the same as farm-use vehicles.
Sen. Andy McKenzie, R-Ohio, also was critical of the Senate draft.
"I really don't understand what this bill does," he said. "It doesn't do anything. There's an exemption for everything."
Sam Love, lobbyist for the West Virginia Motorcycle and ATV Association, said the Senate bill is less restrictive than the House version, but said the association's goal this year is to get some kind of ATV law on the books in West Virginia.
"What I would hope is, we get some legislation on the books this year, even if it's not as restrictive as you or I might like," he said.
Ross said he had hoped to advance the bill out of committee Thursday, but said he is willing to wait while a subcommittee works out details .
"It's a very important bill. The worst thing we could do is let it out of here too fast," he said.
If it advances, it will be the first ATV bill to advance out of Senate Transportation Committee under Ross' tenure as chairman.
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