What about the trail bikes, also unlicenced and frequently not roadworthy? There was an accident on the corner of Ellis, Sintich and Cummings last weekend where a young man wiped out. Ambulance, Pineview Fire Dept, all the works. We have tried to get the police to intervene...no Tim Horton's out here so the bikes are whizzing up and down the roads continually. Incidentally, we are 300 meters from the City boundary, not way "out-in-the-sticks".

Is there a Houghtail road and a Houghtaling road?

Just came back from the U.S.and I know for a fact that in Montana,Idaho, and Wyoming,ATV's are licenced and insured.
Not sure about the other states.
And proper drivers licence also required.
It does seem a bit weird to see them driving in traffic all over town, but at least it attaches some responsibility to the drivers.
It really freaks you out the first time one pulls up beside you at a stop light!
They are not allowed on the interstate, but anywhere in town and rural areas is ok.
Friends told me they manage quite well in traffic,just the same as motorcycles, and provide very cheap tranportation around town.
There is also severe fines for driving all over the landscape and you never see this.
Unless of course it is private land.
Apparently kids are NOT allowed to drive them period,unless they are old enough to have a licence and the fines are quite severe as well.
And no insurance,they will seize the machine.
Seems we just need to get a little more proactive maybe, and gain some control over them?

While looking for info, as I was about to purchase a Prowler side by side "quad," I found one for sale in Texas on E-bay. It said licensed for Texas roads and showed stickers on it. So there is another state that allows it. With the snow we get around here I think being about to license them so we can legally go down the street to plow others would be a great idea.

Licence and require insurance and only allow qualified operators --- I have no problem with that.

Forget about the RCMP or ICBC being serious about controlling atvs and dirtbikes on roads with the present regulations.

West of town on our sideroad the atvs and dirtbanks own the road. A few years ago a dirtbike came out of a bush trail and skidded into the passenger door of my car as I was creeping along. He wasn't hurt but caused $2000.00 damage to my car. I gave him a ride home , took pictures of the scene, my brake skid marks and his skid marks, phoned the RCMP. RCMP didn't even go out to talk to the 15 yr old. ICBC's attitude was very upsetting --- I thought I was going to have to get a lawyer. In spite of what obviously happened they implied that I may have "driven sideways" and run into the bike. It was a "collision" so therefor I had to pay my deductible --- the parents of the biker repaid me, to their credit, but ICBC was still concerned that they may claim for injuries within 2yrs so they never even tried to recover the repair costs to my car.
Absolutely goofy. Unlicenced driver and machine runs into a licenced vehicle on a public road and ICBC run scared.
To this day I am still jumpy when other cars approach stop signs or lights aggressively on my right. When I see dirt bikes or atvs on the road I am very nervous.

We have drivers out there now on the road in trucks,cars and motorcycles that have no licence,insurance or using safey devices i.e-seatbelts.Why add another element to the mix? The purpose of ATV's is for off-road riding not screaming down city streets and I can see them driving over and around obstacles so they don't have to wait for lights,traffic etc.Traffic rules be damned!!Just read the weekend blitz reports from the RCMP and see how many people are still not wearing seatbelts,drive excessive speeds,drunk and drugged and have no insurance/expired or suspended licences.When that's under control let me know.

I think they are probably licenced all over the states, and we should look at doing that here too.
What would be wrong with bopping around town in a 2 seater?
Very cheap to run!
Look at all the gas it would save, and isn't that what the government wants us to do?
I also noticed those things really go like hell!
They keep up with the traffic no problem but they do put different tires on them than the low pressure type.
Only thing that bothers me is nobody wears a helmet down there,at least where we were.

"Prince George RCMP have been enforcing these violations and if caught can tow the uninsured ATV off the road and drivers can be issued fines for Driving without a Licence and Driving without insurance and Drive without Due Care and Attention."

How about saying that the RCMP WILL (instead of *can*) tow the uninsured ATV off the road and the RCMP WILL issue fines (instead of *can*) for Driving without a Licence and Driving without insurance and Drive without Due Care and Attention?

I get the impression that the RCMP is not sure about what to do next, the paragraph reads as if the RCMP MAY/CAN consider taking those actions rather than that the RCMP absolutely WILL act and not just issue empty potentially spineless threats!

There is only one legal way to cross the highway: Load the ATV on a trailer or in the back of a pickup truck and haul it to the other side of the highway.

BTW, not too long ago I had a very close call (near collision) with an ATV which was being driven at a very high speed on the sidewalk (!) from where it made a left turn unto a side street where I just happen to come along.

Palpitation time.

You want ATV's licenced and insured for use on our city streets thats fine.
Leave the offroad area of this sport alone.

Truly, I worry more about those 4-wheeled scooters that are getting more popular by the day, especially by seniors. Bad/no sidewalks means driving on the road. Officially being "pedestrians" they feel they have the right of way. I've seen some very bad choices lately.

Is this incident the same one that was posted here the other day?

http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/10237/1/fender+benders+on+all+sides+of+the+city?id=143&st=20

BOHEMIAN: "Bad/no sidewalks means driving on the road."

Right on. We have only one sidewalk in our area. It is unusable for people with *those 4-wheeled scooters*, for baby buggies and for older people who need a level sidewalk with no cracks and potholes.

Result: They are all forced to use the street instead.

Some safety!

It seems to me i remember moving up here for the freedom. Just because some fool drives his ATV into traffic it doesnt mean we need a bunch of 'proactive rules and regulations. There are already rules governing ATV use on public rds. All vehicles on public roads need insurance. We dont need licencing and registering for off road vehicles. Those who drive them illegally on the rds now will still do so even if it is a little more illegal.
I am really sick of the knee jerk regulationists proposing more laws, more red regs and more red tape as a solution to every incident and problem out there. After the next farm accident i suppose you folks will want my farm equipment to be registered and I will have to get the vehicle inspection guys around to the farm to check them out every year.
In other words, i agree with lostfaith, I just needed more of a rant. By the way, driving an ATV at road speeds is NOT like a motorbike. The latter is meant for high speeds, the former is not. I have ridden both types and i would NEVER ride a quad on paved roads at normal speeds (above 50 k or so)

I don't agree with licensing ATV's for road use, because I know I would run them over not seeing them.

I also feel there is no rightful reason to require an off road vehicle to be licensed. This is a free country and it should stay that way. If the Americans prefer to live in a bureaucratic dictatorship then so be it, but we don't have to follow that example.

If an ATV is on the road and doesn't have a license because it can't be licensed then that operator should pay the fine. BTW my dirt bike is licensed and insured for road use even though I only use it on the trails. I insured my bike not because I worry about driving on the road legally (they wouldn't catch me anyways), but rather because I worry I will have an incident in the trails and the other party will not have proper insurance if one of us was to be injured... but I think the cost of that insurance is ridiculous, which is why 95% of the other people out in the trails don't have their own insurance.

Eagle one, if you are able to license your motorcycle, then it is by definition not a dirt bike, but an on/off road motorcycle.
Icbc does not license or insure wheeled vehicles that do not meet regulations for road use. I do not believe we should get into licensing off road vehicles simply from a freedom perspective, but watch out, it is coming. Alberta has required licensing of off road bikes for 16 years that I know of, and as others are saying, so do many states. Atv's were never meant to travel on the roads anyway, regardless of their ability to keep up with traffic. Okay on the road in a small town maybe, but not for a city.
metalman.

If anyone is out there running over ATV's with their cars then maybe they should get their eyes checked.
What you say Eagle?

If ATVs ever get licensed (off road or not) maybe the owners should be able to transfer their licences free one day to motorized wheelchairs too. I have seen bikes and ATVs up and down my street in the summer. The riders have no sense of self preservation the way they ride. Same with skidoos in the winter. All I can do is wait til they grow up and move away. It doesn't work.

Lostfaith... you once said you drove truck for a living. You know as well as I do that a small car in a blind spot is often hard to see other then the shadow it sometimes leaves... often all you can see is the roof of a small car when it rides close to a transport truck just behind the cab.... An ATV speeding in and out of traffic eager to cut on the inside of a turning truck could easily be missed by a truck driver through his blind spots and it is the truck driver that would have to live with the consequences of killing a stupid 16-years old kid driving an off road vehicle in heavy traffic.

I do not support licensing of off road vehicles. It is a safety thing.