Bill Requiring ATV Registration in CT Moves Forward

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

A bill that would require the registration of all ATVs – meaning quads, snowmobiles and dirt bikes – is moving forward in the Connecticut General Assembly with a full bill having been drafted and referred to the Joint Committee on Transportation this week following a public hearing on Feb. 15.

As originally proposed by state Rep. DebraLee Hovey, a Republican whose district includes Monroe and Newtown, the bill required the registration of any “self-propelled vehicle designed to travel over unimproved terrain” that is “unsuitable for operation on public highways.” It required registration even if an ATV was to be used solely by an owner on their own property.

As drafted, the full bill establishes an “All-Terrain Vehicle Division” within the Department of Energy and Environmental  Protection and the creation of an all-terrain account. The cost of registering a snowmobile would be $20 and the cost for any other ATV would be $40. Fifty percent of those fees would go into the all-terrain account and the DEEP would be required to “create and maintain all-terrain vehicle trails.”

At the time of registration, owners of ATVs would also be asked to pay a $5 “land purchase fee” to enable the DEEP “to purchase land specifically for use by all-terrain vehicles”  before obtaining a license plate.

If the bill passes, it would take effect on Oct. 1.

There are many unanswered questions regarding the bill. How many additional people will it take to staff an ATV division within DEEP and at what cost? Will registration income be sufficient to cover it? What’s the timetable for buying land to build ATV trails? How many trails would be necessary to meet rider demand?

Legislators need to recall that a bill passed in 1986 – a whopping 27 years ago – similarly required that the then-Department of Environmental Protection “shall make available” land for off-road riding. To date, no land has been set aside.

And what’s the benefit to ATV owners who don’t plan to use public lands but simply want to ride on their own property? It’s a sure bet that they’ll voice opposition to having to register their vehicles. They’ll view it simply as a tax. And, speaking of which, if all ATVs must be registered and carry a license plate, won’t this also force owners to pay property taxes as well?

—

More to read:

– The “New York Daily News” is finally catching up on the story from last month that Harley-Davidson is no longer allowing factory workers to listen to music. The story’s here.

– –

Video of the day: It happened on Friday A woman rider in India gets run over by a truck, but the rider escapes unharmed: