Published: November 21, 2008 02:10 pm      

Where’s the legislation? Legislators must approve ATV safety laws

Despite the West Virginia Legislature’s ostrich-in-the-sand approach to the passage of bills relating to ATV safety, there is — finally — some good news to report regarding all-terrain vehicles. For the second year in a row, the number of ATV fatalities in the Mountain State has declined.

Thirty people have died this year in ATV-related deaths, according to an Associated Press report, citing West Virginia University researcher Jim Helmkamp.

Helmkamp, who tracks ATV accidents in the state, says safety awareness messages may now be getting through to riders.

We can only hope, and pray, this is true.

For too many years, the number of ATV-related deaths in West Virginia has been notoriously high. Fifty-four deaths were reported in 2006 and, last year, 43 fatalities were reported by November 2007.

Despite this high death toll, state lawmakers have been resistant to passing meaningful all-terrain vehicle safety legislation.

During the 2008 legislative session, a bill that would have banned ATVs from all paved roads — with the stipulation that counties could override the ban and regulate the use of the vehicles within their borders — died in the House of Delegates.

Surprise, surprise. This was, after all, an election year.

The legislation was by no means rigid or strong enough to potentially have a dramatic affect on the number of ATV deaths and injuries, but it was a step in the right direction. A step members of the House of Delegates opted not to take — even though 60 percent of the ATV-related deaths in 2007 occurred on paved surfaces.

Existing law only allows the 10 counties with a planning commission to deal with ATVs. The current law also only bans all-terrain vehicles from roads with a centerline stripe or more than two lanes.

We are beginning to question whether lawmakers will ever enact meaningful ATV safety legislation — laws and regulations that could potentially save the lives of our state’s children, fathers, brothers, mothers and others who utilize all-terrain vehicles for recreation.

Mark Holmes, program coordinator for the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, said he believes people have become more aware of the need for safety due to media reports that have kept the issue in the public eye.

While this is encouraging, it is also somewhat sad that the media — through its role as the communicator of new and issues — must take on the task of helping save lives since state lawmakers consistently refuse to buck up and take on a hot-button issue.