(Short side story) Progress Blog (A Little Mud on the Tires)

Four wheeling in the Mud.

People In Story

Chase Stone

When they were made

When the ATV first appeared in the United States in the early 1970's, it was promoted and sold as a recreational vehicle designed to provide "thrills" for the rider. This is still its primary use today. Shortly, however, sportsmen found that the ATV was a useful machine to move through areas not accessible with pick-up trucks, four-wheel drives, or other motorized vehicles.

Statistics

2005- 136,700 injuries were reported to the hospitals, there was 171.5 injuries per 10,000 wheelers.
2004- 767 people died is four wheeling accident, 1.1 deaths per 10,000 wheelers

Where People Ride

Litchfield
Waterboro
Limerick
Lyman
Rangely
Jackman

Where and when not to ride your ATV

One of the first questions I asked was "Where can I ride my ATV". The initial answer I was given was wrong. I was told "Just about any place" However, as I did some research on where "anyplace" was, and I soon discovered that there are many places where ATVs are not welcome.
The fact is, one of the biggest problems in the ATV community today is that too few of us don't research where it is legal and permissible to ride. Too many of us depend on word of mouth to find our riding venues with no consideration of the legality of the ride. Just a point of definition here. The term OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) also known in some areas as an ORV (Off Road Vehicle) applies to any vehicle that is not legally licensed to operate on standard public thoroughfares. This would include All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) Motorcycles, Mini Bikes, Dune Buggies, Go-Carts and any other motorized form of conveyance not legal for street use.This is a typical scenario of ATV irresponsibility and community disaster. A person may be riding down the road and see a couple ATV’ers out having fun and assume that these ATV’ers knew it was okay to ride there, so they pull the machine, out of the back of the pickup, and try the area out. They see no signs that tell them that ATV’s are welcome, they just go out there and ride. This illegal act is multiplied by yet another person who sees them out there riding in an area that is not posted as open to ATV’s and before long, word of mouth spreads about this great place to ride. The property owner will discover his property is being used without permission and spends the money to put up a sign. Some hot shot who thinks that there is some kind of imminent domain on ATV trails decides that the landowner has no right to close off a perfectly good ATV trail, so he illegally removes the sign and continues his sport in defiance of the law. The illegal riding is only one aspect. The noise made by the riders is a quite another. These illegal riding venues are typically near residential areas and it is not long before the police are called in to chase off the trespassers. The whole thing can spiral out of control until laws are passed restricting use of ATV’s in the community as a whole. Private property is not automatically open to ATV use. If property is posted as "no trespassing" it may be considered criminal trespass. The penalties private property owners can sue a guilty participant for the costs to restore any evidence of there having been ATV’s on their property, even if they were not the only ATV to ever use such property. That could get mighty costly. Think in terms of millions of dollars, potentially.
When is an open trail not open?
One of the single biggest objections that is raised against the use of motorized vehicles on public lands is the increased erosion that such use appears to have caused. In many cases the erosion is not near so much due to the use of the motorized vehicle, as it is due to the poor construction methods used when creating a logging or mining road in the first place. Too often when constructed, trails lack frequent and appropriate diversion channels or drainage pipes that would limit the road or trail from becoming a mountain run off stream bed. Never the less, damage that occurs during the use of such areas during muddy periods is obvious to anyone. This damage can be simply avoided by just doing something else during the wet and fragile periods of the spring and fall. When it rains, just pull over and wait for it to stop and dry out a bit. So it may delay your ride for an hour or so. It is better to be good stewards of our public lands, than to be an excuse to have them closed.

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures so far