SD13 - All-Terrain Vehicles
Executive Summary: The 1988 Session of the General Assembly considered three pieces of legislation dealing with all-terrain vehicles (ATV's). Two bills imposed limits on ATV operations and sales, and one resolution called for a study of the general issue of ATV regulation. The resolution calling for the study was approved. A substitute for the Senate bill, recommended by a subcommittee of the Senate Transportation Committee, was carried over, pending the results of the study. The House bill, once the study resolution was approved, was stricken from the calendar of the House Committee on Roads and Internal Navigation at the request of the measure's patron. This report is the result of the study. Since their introduction in the 1970's, ATV's have been a source of controversy. There were complaints that they were noisy, that they damaged wetlands and other property on which they were operated, and that they were unsafe. The issue of ATV safety was particularly brought to public attention in late 1987, when, under pressure from the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Justice Department, ATV distributors entered into a consent decree with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to cease marketing new three-wheeled ATV's and place various conditions on the sales of ATV's. The Joint Subcommittee conducting the study early on discovered that it was difficult to get reliable statistical information concerning ATV's in Virginia. There is no precise data on the number of ATV's owned by Virginians, the proportion of ATV's used for industrial or agricultural purposes rather than personal recreation, the ages of ATV riders, or the number or severity of ATV accidents. What data was presented to the Joint Subcommittee proved sufficient to convince the group that (i) there are a substantial number of ATV's in use in Virginia, (ii) many ATV's are being used in agriculture, (iii) some ATV's are being driven by very young children, (iv) many persons, particularly children, are being injured, sometimes severely, in ATV accidents, and (iv) parents find it difficult to control their children's access to ATV's. Based on the information it gathered, the Joint Subcommittee considered legislation to address the ATV safety question, taking the Senate Transportation Subcommittee's proposed substitute for Senate Bill No. 54 as its starting point. The resulting draft legislation (see Appendix I) prohibits ATV operation on public highways or other public property without authorization; limits operation of ATV's to persons over the age of twelve; requires ATV riders to wear helmets; prohibits the riding of ATV's on another person's property without written permission; and prohibits operating an ATV with any passenger other than the driver. The draft also imposes several requirements on ATV dealers. It would require dealers to affix to ATV's that they sell permanent decals or stickers which clearly and completely set out the limits placed on ATV operations by individuals. It would also prohibit the sale of any all-terrain vehicle powered by a gasoline engine of seventy cubic centimeters displacement or less. An ATV used either (i) on Tangier Island, (ii) in farming anywhere in Virginia, and (iii) by members of the household of the owner or lessee of private property on which the ATV is operated .would be exempt from all the bill's requirements. |
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