Letter: Inadequate ATV regulation is perilous

While I applaud the development of formal designated all-terrain vehicle trail systems in Northern New York counties, the wholesale opening of village, town and county roads plus a lack of either codified usage regulations or police enforcement is creating dangerous and deadly situations, which are obvious to all highway travelers. ATVs have become the vehicles of choice for those unable to have a driver's license, and forbidden state highways are routinely traveled.

However, in Lewis County, the county Legislature has entered the depths of an Alice in Wonderland world. Miles of roads have been opened to allow connections not only among off-road trails (as allowed by state law only for short distances) but also to create connections among previously opened roads and business districts (clearly not legal).

Now we learn that the county ATV trail permits are not required for ATV use on the opened roads, which supposedly are to be used only to link the off-road trails. If the opened roads are not limited to the permitted trail riders, exactly whom does the Legislature intend to allow?

Obviously only folks with permits and who are using the trail system should be on any public road or right-of-way.

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