A Bit More Movement on ATV Bill

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

A little more movement to report today in the bill moving through the General Assembly in Connecticut that would establish an all-terrain vehicle division within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to create and maintain ATV trails in the state.

It has now been voted out of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee with substitute language that would establish fines for motorcycles that lack noise emission control stickers. A fine of between $50 and $100 would be levied against first-time offenders. The fine would rise to $100 to $250 for subsequent offenses.

ATV owners desiring to ride on state land will be required to register their vehicles.

Under the bill, it would cost $20 to register a snowmobile and $40 to register an ATV. Half of the ATV registration fee would be deposited is an “all-terrain account” that the DEEP would use to create and maintain trails for ATV operators and to assist in the law enforcement of ATVs.

At the time of registration, ATV owners would also be assessed a $5 “land purchase fee” to establish trails.

RIDE-CT.com will keeps riders posted.

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The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is out with its 2012 Motorcycle Fatality Report. Not surprisingly, 44 percent of all motorcycle fatalities occurred on Saturday and Sunday when most recreational riding takes place. The most fatalities happened in July with July, August and April (when riders’ skills are rusting and drivers aren’t yet looking out for bikes) accounting for 58 percent of all deaths.

While the average age among the fatalities was 38, riders in their 20s accounted for the most fatalities by age, with riders in their 60s having the least number of deaths. Norfolk County (south of Boston) had the most deaths, followed by Hampden County (Springfield). Duke (Martha’s Vineyard), Nantucket and Hampshire counties had no fatalities.

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Cross an item off of RIDE-CT.com’s bucket list. OSSA owner Tim Sparks of Bantam, above left, and Bultaco-riding friend Steve Maughmer had their dirt bikes out at a quarry in Morris on Sunday. Knowing that I’d never ridden off-road, Sparks invited me to try his Spanish-made OSSA. What a hoot!

I’ll admit that I never got it out of first gear as I rode the torquey bike up a muddy, puddled-filled former railroad bed, but it was great fun nonetheless. A column in The Rep-Am will be forthcoming.