WV Lawmakers made their ride
#1
11-19-2003, 03:51 PM
WV Lawmakers made their ride
Article
2nd article
I'd still like to know who the heck this guy isn and who this association is: Sam Love, director of the West Virginia Motorcycle and ATV Association
2nd article
I'd still like to know who the heck this guy isn and who this association is: Sam Love, director of the West Virginia Motorcycle and ATV Association
#2
11-20-2003, 09:53 AM
WV Lawmakers made their ride
First Article
JULIAN - A muddy, rutted, twisting, hill-hugging 4-mile stretch of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail offered a group of legislators astride all-terrain vehicles Tuesday a brisk perspective of these machines and the perennial debate over regulating them.
"I still haven't decided (what I think)," a grinning Delegate Lidella Hrutkay, D-Logan, said as she eased herself off her ATV afterward. "I'm tired. Does that count?"
Wearing helmets and boots and riding solo - all required by trail rules - the dozen or so lawmakers and staff from the joint Government Organization subcommittee tackled the trail at differing speeds and degrees of daring.
The legislators and their entourage rode midsize ATVs, with 400 to 500 cubic centimeter engines. Local outfitters provided the ATVs as well as a brief safety and instruction course for each rider. Trail guides shadowed the pack and offered tips along the way.
With just enough mud to keep things interesting, some riders throttled out, whipping around curves and down dips. Others took each turn and incline gingerly.
All completed the trail circuit without mishap.
Delegate Cindy Frich, R-Monongalia, had not been on an ATV until her father gave her a riding lesson over the weekend.
"I thought this was fun," she said. "I'd like to come back some time."
Frich said she also now appreciates the power of the machines and the physics involved when riding one.
Subcommittee Co-Chairman Earnie Kuhn, D-Boone, said that was a goal of the interim meeting field trip.
"I think some people don't understand what these machines can and can't do," Kuhn said.
Kuhn is one of the estimated 150,000 West Virginians who ride or own ATVs. So is Delegate Greg Butcher, D-Logan, who brought his own machine and helmet. Delegate Kenneth Tucker, D-Marshall, had also ridden before but not on the trail system.
"This was real nice," he said.
Delegate Dale Martin, D-Putnam, said he also enjoyed the ride, his first in a while. He continues to believe that helmets are a good idea, especially for children.
"The main thing is, we want to keep them off the roads," Martin said. "ATVs and autos, they just don't mix."
The interim joint Judiciary Committee apparently agrees. While the subcommittee members enjoyed the trail, these lawmakers advanced two bills meant to be the latest stab at regulating ATVs.
One would require helmets for riders and passengers under 18. It would only allow a young rider to carry a passenger on an ATV built for one. It would bar night riding without adult supervision. It would phase in safety training and certification requirements to limit child riders to machines of proportional size.
The other bill would ban ATVs from "any paved road, paved public road or paved highway." Riders could cross paved roads under certain conditions and ride on them for up to a mile when traveling from trail to trail.
West Virginia remains one of six states without ATV rules, and the Legislature has failed to adopt any for seven straight years. Matt Ballard, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails Authority, told the visiting lawmakers that the helmet, solo rider and other regulations apply to all 400 miles of the eight-county trail system.
"Because of them, our safety record is very good," Ballard said. "We've had no fatalities, which has been a hot topic in West Virginia as you know."
Figures released Tuesday by researchers at West Virginia University's Center for Rural Emergency Medicine said the state has had 24 ATV deaths so far this year.
That's an increase from the year-to-date totals at this time in 2001 and 2002, researchers said. Only two of the 2003 victims were known to be wearing a helmet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Article
CHARLESTON - Frustrated by a seven-year failure to regulate all-terrain vehicles while deaths have soared, lawmakers gave tentative approval Tuesday to a pair of safety measures.
Two of the Legislature's leading safety advocates hailed them as "acceptable," but an industry leader predicted rough riding when the 2004 session opens in January.
"I think this will be a big step toward preventing a lot of deaths and serious injuries we've suffered in West Virginia over the last 20 years," Delegate Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, co-chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee A, said afterward.
One measure, dubbed the "adult" version, bars four-wheelers from any paved roads, except for 1 mile going from one trail to another. Another exemption lets farm workers travel up to 25 miles as close to the edge as possible of a hard surface in reaching fields.
A separate bill, targeting children, mandates anyone under 18 must strap on approved helmets and undergo certified training courses. Parents or guardians allowing violations for a number of provisions can be fined from $50 to $500 or ordered to do community service from 10 to 200 hours, depending on the number of offenses.
One of the Legislature's stronger voices for safety, Sen. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, hailed the child bill as "great," and said it enjoys strong support across the Legislature.
"I'm hoping that bill will pass in toto," he said. "Of course, child safety encourages adult safety as well."
Sam Love, director of the West Virginia Motorcycle and ATV Association, said the general safety bill suffered major damage by letting counties exercise the option of prohibiting them.
Just before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary sent the bills out, Delegate John Overington, R-Berkeley, amended the general one so counties not only could allow ATVs in parades or special events, but prohibit their use.
Originally, the exception included the phrase "or for specified purposes" after special events.
Overington feared this would give counties more leeway than intended, possibly putting ATVs on paved roads. While the joint committee met, a House Government Organization subcommittee tested four-wheelers in a visit to Hatfield-McCoy Trail. That panel might write its own version.
"This is going to be like Sunday hunting," Love said, recalling an earlier fight over county referendums.
"You're going to have 55 different sets of rules around the state, which I think is going to be unacceptable to riders."
Love said the 1-mile exception in crossing paved roads to reach trails is impractical.
"I think five or 10 miles would be acceptable," he said.
"If you go 2 miles, you'd have to load it on a pick-up truck and unload it again to be legal."
Love warned a ban on passengers, unless specified by manufacturers, and limited use in general that essentially keeps them on unpaved roads would trigger a backlash. An earlier version would have denied ATV riders access to gravel or dirt roads owned by the state.
"You're going to see a lot of riders in this state be upset with this," he said.
But Palumbo pointed to the state's high death rate and to manufacturers' specifications that ATVs aren't intended for paved surfaces.
"Anyone who manufactures an ATV will tell you that they're not safe to be operated on paved roads," he said.
Rowe agreed, and characterized the bill as a compromise, considering a more stringent proposal advanced in late summer.
"What it does is, it tries to draw a line as well as possible to keep folks off of paved roads where they really shouldn't be," the Charleston attorney said.
- E-mail: mporterfield@register-herald.com
JULIAN - A muddy, rutted, twisting, hill-hugging 4-mile stretch of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail offered a group of legislators astride all-terrain vehicles Tuesday a brisk perspective of these machines and the perennial debate over regulating them.
"I still haven't decided (what I think)," a grinning Delegate Lidella Hrutkay, D-Logan, said as she eased herself off her ATV afterward. "I'm tired. Does that count?"
Wearing helmets and boots and riding solo - all required by trail rules - the dozen or so lawmakers and staff from the joint Government Organization subcommittee tackled the trail at differing speeds and degrees of daring.
The legislators and their entourage rode midsize ATVs, with 400 to 500 cubic centimeter engines. Local outfitters provided the ATVs as well as a brief safety and instruction course for each rider. Trail guides shadowed the pack and offered tips along the way.
With just enough mud to keep things interesting, some riders throttled out, whipping around curves and down dips. Others took each turn and incline gingerly.
All completed the trail circuit without mishap.
Delegate Cindy Frich, R-Monongalia, had not been on an ATV until her father gave her a riding lesson over the weekend.
"I thought this was fun," she said. "I'd like to come back some time."
Frich said she also now appreciates the power of the machines and the physics involved when riding one.
Subcommittee Co-Chairman Earnie Kuhn, D-Boone, said that was a goal of the interim meeting field trip.
"I think some people don't understand what these machines can and can't do," Kuhn said.
Kuhn is one of the estimated 150,000 West Virginians who ride or own ATVs. So is Delegate Greg Butcher, D-Logan, who brought his own machine and helmet. Delegate Kenneth Tucker, D-Marshall, had also ridden before but not on the trail system.
"This was real nice," he said.
Delegate Dale Martin, D-Putnam, said he also enjoyed the ride, his first in a while. He continues to believe that helmets are a good idea, especially for children.
"The main thing is, we want to keep them off the roads," Martin said. "ATVs and autos, they just don't mix."
The interim joint Judiciary Committee apparently agrees. While the subcommittee members enjoyed the trail, these lawmakers advanced two bills meant to be the latest stab at regulating ATVs.
One would require helmets for riders and passengers under 18. It would only allow a young rider to carry a passenger on an ATV built for one. It would bar night riding without adult supervision. It would phase in safety training and certification requirements to limit child riders to machines of proportional size.
The other bill would ban ATVs from "any paved road, paved public road or paved highway." Riders could cross paved roads under certain conditions and ride on them for up to a mile when traveling from trail to trail.
West Virginia remains one of six states without ATV rules, and the Legislature has failed to adopt any for seven straight years. Matt Ballard, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails Authority, told the visiting lawmakers that the helmet, solo rider and other regulations apply to all 400 miles of the eight-county trail system.
"Because of them, our safety record is very good," Ballard said. "We've had no fatalities, which has been a hot topic in West Virginia as you know."
Figures released Tuesday by researchers at West Virginia University's Center for Rural Emergency Medicine said the state has had 24 ATV deaths so far this year.
That's an increase from the year-to-date totals at this time in 2001 and 2002, researchers said. Only two of the 2003 victims were known to be wearing a helmet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Article
CHARLESTON - Frustrated by a seven-year failure to regulate all-terrain vehicles while deaths have soared, lawmakers gave tentative approval Tuesday to a pair of safety measures.
Two of the Legislature's leading safety advocates hailed them as "acceptable," but an industry leader predicted rough riding when the 2004 session opens in January.
"I think this will be a big step toward preventing a lot of deaths and serious injuries we've suffered in West Virginia over the last 20 years," Delegate Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, co-chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee A, said afterward.
One measure, dubbed the "adult" version, bars four-wheelers from any paved roads, except for 1 mile going from one trail to another. Another exemption lets farm workers travel up to 25 miles as close to the edge as possible of a hard surface in reaching fields.
A separate bill, targeting children, mandates anyone under 18 must strap on approved helmets and undergo certified training courses. Parents or guardians allowing violations for a number of provisions can be fined from $50 to $500 or ordered to do community service from 10 to 200 hours, depending on the number of offenses.
One of the Legislature's stronger voices for safety, Sen. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, hailed the child bill as "great," and said it enjoys strong support across the Legislature.
"I'm hoping that bill will pass in toto," he said. "Of course, child safety encourages adult safety as well."
Sam Love, director of the West Virginia Motorcycle and ATV Association, said the general safety bill suffered major damage by letting counties exercise the option of prohibiting them.
Just before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary sent the bills out, Delegate John Overington, R-Berkeley, amended the general one so counties not only could allow ATVs in parades or special events, but prohibit their use.
Originally, the exception included the phrase "or for specified purposes" after special events.
Overington feared this would give counties more leeway than intended, possibly putting ATVs on paved roads. While the joint committee met, a House Government Organization subcommittee tested four-wheelers in a visit to Hatfield-McCoy Trail. That panel might write its own version.
"This is going to be like Sunday hunting," Love said, recalling an earlier fight over county referendums.
"You're going to have 55 different sets of rules around the state, which I think is going to be unacceptable to riders."
Love said the 1-mile exception in crossing paved roads to reach trails is impractical.
"I think five or 10 miles would be acceptable," he said.
"If you go 2 miles, you'd have to load it on a pick-up truck and unload it again to be legal."
Love warned a ban on passengers, unless specified by manufacturers, and limited use in general that essentially keeps them on unpaved roads would trigger a backlash. An earlier version would have denied ATV riders access to gravel or dirt roads owned by the state.
"You're going to see a lot of riders in this state be upset with this," he said.
But Palumbo pointed to the state's high death rate and to manufacturers' specifications that ATVs aren't intended for paved surfaces.
"Anyone who manufactures an ATV will tell you that they're not safe to be operated on paved roads," he said.
Rowe agreed, and characterized the bill as a compromise, considering a more stringent proposal advanced in late summer.
"What it does is, it tries to draw a line as well as possible to keep folks off of paved roads where they really shouldn't be," the Charleston attorney said.
- E-mail: mporterfield@register-herald.com
#3
11-20-2003, 12:19 PM
#4
12-07-2003, 01:09 PM
WV Lawmakers made their ride
Actually that was taking Federal dollars away if they didn't pass the law...just like the .10 verses .o8 on drinking and driving we are currently about to lose Federal dollars over. Just can't figure out why we are always the last to see the light or get the federal dollars we need because we have a problem in passing laws. Guess we don't need them dollars...not!
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