Once again, all-terrain vehicle regulation. Once again, the Legislature tries to do something about the high number of deaths and injuries involved with this popular mode of transportation. Will it go anywhere? Maybe this is the year, but just what the final product will look like is anybody's guess.
The joint House-Senate Judiciary Committee approved an ATV regulation package on Tuesday and the full Legislature is expected to take up the bill during its regular session, which begins next month.
The proposal would:
-- Ban ATVs on interstate and primary roads
-- Limit one person on an ATV unless it is designed for more than one person
-- Require prior permission from landowners before ATVs can be driven on private property
-- Require helmet use
-- Require kids to take a training course before operating an ATV
-- Allow county commissions to ban ATV use on certain roads
We can't see how these proposed regulations would impinge on anybody's fun, and they just might help save some lives.
If the Legislature would only approve some of these measures, it would be wonderful. Lawmakers have had their chances in the past couple of years to do something about ATVs, but time and again they come up empty.
This is a public safety issue and, to a great extent, a public health issue. The Legislature has an obligation to protect their constituents and to try and save lives.
