By Jean Cole
Bill Clark is sitting in his living room watching ESPN when he hears the telltale buzz of a four-wheeler zipping through his yard on Meadowview Street in Athens.
He springs from his chair and out the door, but the culprit is already gone.
Once again, he is exasperated by an all-terrain vehicle driver zipping through his yard.
“I don’t care about people having fun; they don’t need to endanger my kids,” Clark said. I also don’t want my yard torn up. I work hard and pay my bills. I realize the police can’t increase patrols for something like this because they would be taking police off more dangerous crimes, but we need to do something. I think the best way would be to make it not fun anymore.”
He would like to see the city raise the fines for ATV drivers who run amok.
“If the fine is $20, make if $500, then it won’t be fun anymore, ” Clark said.
It is true that ATVs can be dangerous to children.
Over the past eight years, ATV accidents have killed six Alabama children, ages 18 months to 14 years, and severely injured another 211, State Health Department Officer Donald Williamson said Thursday. Health officials say, based on reports from coroners and hospitals, the problem is getting worse.
Although most of the deaths and injuries happen to those riding ATVs, Clark is also worried about the safety of his children and the other children in his neighborhood when ATVs riders illegally drive in the city streets and private yards. He also believes some ATV drivers are using the versatile, off-road vehicles to run drugs because they can easily evade police.
“I was driving home one night and was turning left into the neighborhood when an ATV driver came flying down the road and had to veer around me,” Clark said. “I couldn’t see him because they have no lights and I couldn’t hear him because my windows were rolled up.”
Alabama is among only three states that have no laws specifically regulating the use of ATVs.
“The state code does not recognize an ATV as a vehicle,” said Athens Police Chief Wayne Harper. That means ATVs cannot legally be driven on streets.
Nevertheless, some ATV riders do it. An 34-year-old Athens man, Cornelius Lamont Anderson, was killed April 12 when the ATV he was driving left the road, struck a sign and threw him into a tree.
Although there are no laws specifically addressing ATVs, Athens police use existing state laws to cite drivers for failing to have license plates, failing to have turn indicators, no driver’s license, driving without insurance, speeding and reckless driving, the chief said.
“We get a lot of complaints on this, so it’s one we want to work on,” Harper said.
Although the City Council could pass an ordinance specifically banning ATVs in the city and set a fine for violating it, Harper believes existing laws and fines are probably enough.
The fine for most traffic violations is $20 to $25 and the $120 court cost per charge helps drive home the point of the law.
“Most of them can be charged with more than one ticket,” he said.
As for trespassing on private property, Harper said that, by law, the first violation results in a warning. After that, the property owner must ask the city magistrate for a warrant to arrest someone for trespassing. Or, if a police officer sees an ATV driver trespassing and knows that the person has already been warned, the officer can make an arrest.
Athens police receive roughly six complaints a week about ATVs, mainly on weekends and especially in the summer. When officers issue citations, it is usually for an equipment violation, Harper said. In Clark’s case, the officer who responded to a complaint about an ATV rider on his property was cited for an equipment violation.
Harper believes better supervision by parents, at the behest of neighbors, would help address the problem.
“Parents should make sure they are supervising them pretty close because we are going to be watching them,” Harper said.
Health Department officials issued stronger advice for parents of ATV riders in announcing Thursday they were launching a statewide educational campaign.
The 18- by 24-inch posters show a wheelchair under the caption: “This could be your next 4-wheeler.”
A 200-percent increase over the past 10 years in ATV traumas seen at Children’s Hospital of Alabama prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics and medical and safety experts at Children’s Hospital to strongly recommend that no child under age 16 ride or drive an ATV, according to the press release announcing the campaign.
The press release also points out the lack of laws regarding ATVs.
“Despite the alarming increases in ATV deaths and life-altering injuries, government regulation continues to be all but absent.”
Clark believes stricter laws would help property owners, like him, who are tired of ATV riders crossing their property as well as the young people riding them.
