zigafoose wrote:
West Virginia has already banned all side by side style ATV from ANY AND ALL paved road in the state.
Talking with my friend who owners the local Honda/Yamaha dealership it has drastically cut down the sales of their Rhinos.
Now WV has passed a new one that bans all other ATV from the roadways it does leave open to each county an option to overrule it and allows limited use of berms.
In the counties I ride someday's we can rack up 150 miles or more but this requires some riding on paved undivided roads which had previously been allowed.It also raises a problem if one county elects to override the bill and another does not because we made ride in an area covering two sometimes 3 counties.
THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!
Here is what the Charleston WV Newspaper reported on the new bill
you can follow the link or read be
Linky
February 27, 2008
Tougher ATV bill passes Senate
Law would ban vehicles from paved roads
Legislation intended to discourage all-terrain vehicles from operating on paved roads passed the Senate Tuesday on a 33-0 vote.
By Phil Kabler
Staff writer
Legislation intended to discourage all-terrain vehicles from operating on paved roads passed the Senate Tuesday on a 33-0 vote.
The bill (SB567) would technically ban ATVs on paved roads, except to cross roadways.
However, ATV riders could still operate their machines for up to 10 miles on the berm of paved roads, or on the far right side of the lane on roads without berms.
"It just sort of prevents you from joyriding down an asphalt road," Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, said of the bill, which now goes to the House.
"There aren't as many joyriders as there once were, if you look at the obituaries," Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, commented.
The bill also continues the exemption from ATV laws for ATVs being used for farming, oil and gas drilling, surveying and other commercial operations.
Still, Senate Transportation Chairman John Unger, D-Berkeley, said the legislation is an improvement over current law.
"According to those concerned about safety with ATVs, they say it is a step forward," Unger said. "The intent is to get these vehicles off these paved roads."
The legislation was sought by ATV safety advocates to address consequences of the state's 2004 ATV law, which legitimized the operation of ATVs on any paved roads without center-lines. That goes against ATV manufacturers' warning against operating the vehicles on pavement.
Since the 2004 law was passed, fatal ATV accidents have increased in West Virginia, with a total of 134 deaths since 2004 - including a record 54 in 2006. Nearly two-thirds of the fatalities recorded between 2005 and 2007 occurred on paved roads, according to a study commissioned by the Manchin administration.
Karen Coria, an ATV safety lobbyist, called the vote in the Senate - traditionally the toughest obstacle for ATV laws - a "very positive step."
"I'm convinced - and statistics will certainly show - by passing this legislation, it will result in fewer deaths, and certainly fewer accidents."
An important aspect of the bill, she said, is that counties and municipalities can enact tougher ordinances - or make exceptions to the law, as towns along the popular Hatfield-McCoy Trail have done to accommodate ATV tourism.
"The single most important thing that could be done for safety, according to the report,
Is this new law going to effect the Hatfield McCoy system? Seems like the state is cutting it's own throut, with this. That system brings a lot of revenue to an otherwise deppressed area.
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