Deputies crack down on illegal use of ATVs

Justin Anderson

CHARLESTON W.Va. -- The Kanawha County Sheriff's Department is cracking down on people riding all-terrain vehicles on county roads, and they say the effort is paying off.

Over the last month and a half, deputies have impounded about 20 ATVs and issued about 40 citations, said Sgt. Jeff Meadows.

At least four riders have been arrested after deputies discovered other infractions, Meadows said.

Meadows and his partner, Sgt. Eric Drennan, have been out patrolling the roads in an unmarked vehicle.

Meadows said most of the patrols are concentrated in the eastern, more rural part of the county. But he said they've been going all over looking for ATVs on the roads.

Since 2004, ATVs have been banned from all public roads in unincorporated areas in the county.

Kanawha is one of about five counties that has enacted an ATV ordinance more stringent than the state law, which allows ATVs on roads as long as the road doesn't have lines on it. The majority of the other counties are in the Eastern Panhandle.

Meadows said the whole reason for the patrols is to cut down on the death toll among ATV riders. So far this year, at least 19 people have died statewide while riding ATVs. Last year, 45 people died on ATVs in West Virginia.

A lot of the deaths occurred while people were riding ATVs on paved roads without helmets.

Meadows said they patrol in an unmarked car so they don't spook riders. And they wait until the rider stops before approaching them.

"What they do, most of these people, they just take off wide open," Meadows said of using a marked car.

"The reason we're doing this patrol is to keep people from being killed. So we definitely don't want them running from us. It's a good deterrent because you never know when we're going to be out and what we're driving."

Meadows said occasionally riders run from the deputies once they realize who they are. The deputies don't give chase, Meadows said. Usually witnesses will tell the deputies who the rider was.

The majority of the problem seems to be in the Campbells Creek area, Meadows said.

The deputies went there on a patrol about three weeks ago and within two hours had cited seven riders. But Meadows said they've got problems with people riding ATVs on roads in areas like Cross Lanes, too.

Some people who get caught say they weren't aware of the county ordinance, Meadows said. Others admit they were.

Whether the patrols are working remains to be seen, Meadows said. In some areas, the riders are more cautious when they know the deputies have been around.

"But we have got the same people before," Meadows said.

Like last week, the deputies stopped the same boy they cited three weeks before, Meadows said.

The sheriff's department has been doing the patrols off and on since the ordinance passed, Meadows said. But this year has been much busier than previous ones, he said.

"As long as we're successful, we'll keep doing it," Meadows said.

Source: http://www.dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/200810020257

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