Editorial: Off-road rage

Road rage stories are old hat in the news biz. But off-road rage? Now that’s news of the man-bites-dog variety.

Or maybe not.

The other day we ran a story in The Sun about a guy in Clay County who was arrested and accused of trying to ram an ATV with his truck. The suspect reportedly told police that “ATVs are always riding in the area and tearing up the area.”

A couple of days later came an e-mail from an organization called Responsible Trails America (www.responsibletrails.org) contending that a popular backlash is setting in against irresponsible ATV riders

“In our research, we’ve found a growing number of incidents around the country of people who are fed up with reckless ORV (off-road vehicle) riders trespassing on private property, damaging habitat, and ruining outdoor experience for others,” said RTA spokesman Brian Mahar in the e-mail. “…people are taking matters into their own hands, leading to injuries and even fatalities.”
So I clicked on the organization’s web site which listed more than 40 reports of apparent off-road rage from around the country.

Among the headlines:

• 
“Property owner kills ATV rider, then house burns to the ground”

• “Two arrested in Philadelphia ATV attack”
• 
“Man gets jail time for attacking ATV riders with a shovel”

• “Rider injured due to barbed wire hung across trail at neck level”

• “ORV trail sabotaged with roofing nails”

• “Man resists arrest, drags trooper with ATV”


And so it went.

I’m not sure if such reports are indeed indicative of growing anti-ATV vigilantism in America. Nor is RTA advocating that people take out their frustration on off-road riders. Rather, the group wanted The Sun to editorialize “on the need for greater law enforcement and stricter penalties against illegal off-roading to prevent people who are fed up from taking matters into their own hands.”

Sounds like a good idea to me. As if irresponsible ATV owners don’t cause enough damage (tearing up public lands, encroaching on private property, endangering kids who are too young to be riding in the first place and so on) now they’re starting to really tick people off.

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Source: http://under.blogs.gainesville.com/10189/off-road-rage/

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