There are Ways to Vastly Improve Yorktown’s Proposed ATV/E-bike Law

By Steve Richman and Peter Dolan

In response to a horrific ATV accident last August, the Yorktown Town Board has scheduled a public hearing on a new ATV/e-bike law on Mar. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the proposed law is so poorly written it’s unworkable and unenforceable. What use is a law that can’t be enforced?

To its credit, the board acted relatively quickly after the accident and released a draft ATV/e-bike law in October.

But the draft law was heavily criticized as unworkable by residents who are familiar with ATVs and e-bikes, including members of the Yorktown Trail Town Committee (YTTC) and New York-New Jersey Trail Conference (NY-NJTC) whose volunteers help build and maintain many of Yorktown’s trails.

But the town’s revised draft that will be the subject of the Mar. 19 hearing retains much of the same unworkable text. (A copy of the proposed law is available on the town’s website under “Pending legislation” on the town clerk’s page.) A key problem is that some of the definitions are dubious, such as “unregistered self-propelled vehicles” and “limited-use off-road vehicles,” because they:

• Lump ATVs and e-bikes together despite their many differences. ATVs are used off-road in town parks and on trails while e-bikes are used primarily on town roads, although mountain bikes that can be e-bikes can safely be used on town trails.
• Are based, incorrectly, on “registration” and “licensing” instead of where the vehicles are used. By focusing only on “unregistered” vehicles, the law doesn’t prohibit “registered” self-propelled vehicles (ATVs) from being used in town parks and trails. New York Vehicle & Traffic law requires all ATVs to be registered, thus the draft law, as written, does not cover their usage. Also, the definition of “unregistered” includes e-bikes, although e-bikes can’t be registered.
• Conflict with state vehicle and traffic law. Unlike ATVs, which cannot be operated on public roads, state law allows e-bikes to be operated on roads and streets. And many localities are encouraging e-bike usage as alternative transportation in addition to potential health benefits.

In January, a working group of knowledgeable YTTC and NY-NJTC members submitted a suggested revised ATV/e-bike law to the Town Board and suggested that the board create an ad hoc committee composed of involved parties to draft a more effective law before scheduling a public hearing.

The suggested law differed from the town’s flawed version in three major respects:

1. To more effectively address the ATV problem on the town’s trails, it recommends a new definition of off-road vehicles and linked its definition to state vehicle and traffic law that has different definitions and regulations for different types of self-propelled vehicles.
2. It prohibits off-road vehicles from all public and town-owned property.
3. It includes a totally separate section for regulating e-bikes. And instead of the town’s proposed law that would have permitted e-bikes only where posted signs permitted their use, the YTTC/NY-NJTC version permitted their use in all places except where signs specifically prohibit them.

We never heard back from town officials.

Continuing to allow ATV use on town property presents a multitude of serious problems for residents as well as for the town.

For residents who enjoy the town’s parks and trails, fast moving ATVs present a constant – and serious – safety problem. For residents who live near those parks and trails, ATVs are an unwelcome invasion of their peaceful quality of life.

For the town, allowing ATV use in town parks and on trails and town roads presents an ongoing potentially expensive liability problem as well as the costly damage to town property.

It’s up to you. If you want an enforceable ATV law, attend the Mar. 19 hearing. Tell the Town Board to reject the proposal local law, go back to the drawing board and return with a revised law that works and makes sense. Make your voice heard.

Steve Richman is a member of the Yorktown Trail Town Committee and Westchester Cycle Club and Peter Dolan represents the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference.

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