Connecticut

Sarah Wilson

PLYMOUTH - Use of all terrain vehicles in town is a land use issue with two distinct sides, but little common ground.

The public, which included a majority of ATV enthusiasts, expressed their concerns this week to the new six-member ATV Committee.

Last month, a 13-year-old Wilton boy riding an all-terrain vehicle on private property died of neck injuries sustained from hitting a rope strung across the trail between some trees.

Police are investigating and have declined to say whether the boy was trespassing. But the incident has the earmarks of a shocking and brutal instance of anti-ATV vigilantism.

Incredibly, ATV riders are not strangers to such acts in Connecticut. They tell of coming across wire stretched across trails at neck level; also Internet sites where bloggers offer tips on building booby traps from boards, spikes and broken glass.

These tactics are indefensible.

Such conflicts are worsened by laws in Connecticut that effectively deny tens of thousands of ATVers legitimate places to ride, yet fail to hold them accountable for trespassing.

As a result, all-terrain vehicles rank among the top threats to preserved lands in Connecticut, tearing up wildlife habitat, damaging hiking trails and worsening erosion of stream banks. Short of catching trespassers red-handed, however, property owners have little recourse.

The interests of ATV riders and property owners are being poorly served. Connecticut lawmakers must enact rigorous reforms that will hold ATVers accountable and provide legitimate areas for riding.

Source: http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-atv.artjul17,0,1569849.story

Amanda Pinto

When 13-year-old Nicholas Parisot died aboard his off-road motorbike in June, ATV enthusiast Dan Salomone was sickened and saddened, but not shocked.

Nicholas, of Wilton, was killed when he struck a rope tied between trees across a private trail where he was riding, Wilton Police Capt. Michael Lombardo said. Nicholas died of neck injuries.

Rachael Scarborough King

GUILFORD — Police issued four tickets for trespassing over the weekend during a crackdown on all-terrain vehicle use, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Hutchinson said Monday.

Working with state Department of Environmental Protection enforcement officers, police issued four tickets to two men and two juveniles riding ATVs in an area near Lane’s Pond Road in North Guilford. The DEP provided air support allowing police to find the people illegally riding on private property, Hutchinson said.

He added that the Police Department often hears concerns from residents about people riding on town or private land.

“We get these complaints all the time,” he said. “Essentially, they destroy the property and cause a lot of noise.”

The goal of issuing the tickets over the weekend was to let people know that “illegal ATV operation is something we look at,” Hutchinson said.

The department plans to conduct similar enforcement operations in the future, but a schedule has not been set.

Tickets for illegal ATV use can cover a range of infractions, including trespassing, Hutchinson said.

“Sometimes what happens is if the ATVs aren’t registered properly … there’s a multitude of charges that could apply,” he said.

Hutchinson said the fact that there are not many spots for recreational ATV use in the area leads to riders on other people’s land, often parcels owned by the town or the Connecticut Water Co.

“The problem is there’s just no real good places for people to ride,” he said.

“If you know people who have ATVs, they get frustrated … but that doesn’t make it OK to go on other people’s property.”

Source: http://rachaelsking.blogspot.com/2008/04/police-dep-track-down-ticket-four-on.html