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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcsouth/content/local_news/epaper/2005/12/03/s3c_bbATV_1203.html


LACK OF PLACE TO RIDE CAN SPOIL GIFT OF ATV

By Pilar Ulibarri de Rivera

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, December 03, 2005

BOYNTON BEACH — On Christmas morning, big red bows will be yanked from off-highway vehicles, creating a new batch of riders who one day could find themselves in the same place as Tony L. Harvey II: jail.

Harvey took to North Seacrest Boulevard on his dirt bike Thursday, just as police initiated Operation Quad Killer, an enforcement effort to combat nuisances that off-highway vehicle create on public roads.

"Illegal riding of off-highway vehicles continues to be a very dangerous community problem that needs a solution," said Jim Wilder, director of Southeast Florida Trail Riders. "Come January, you're going to see a lot more people riding down the highways on these things."

Florida ranks fourth in the nation in all-terrain vehicle sales, said Mike Mount, spokesman for the ATV Safety Institute, which vehicle manufacturers sponsor to provide education.

Wilder, 43, of Delray Beach, who created his nonprofit organization five years ago, also is a member of the state's Off-Highway Vehicle Advisory Committee. The committee was established after the state's T. Mark Schmidt Off-Highway Vehicle Safety and Recreation Act was signed into law in 2002 to promote the development of a recreational system for users of the vehicles.

"The committee's last quarterly report said only four counties in the state have more than 6,000 OHVs," Wilder said. "And Palm Beach is one of them."

Around Christmastime, calls from parents are inevitable, he said.

"They tell me they just dropped thousands of dollars on an ATV or dirt bike and want to know where their kids can go play with their presents," Wilder said. "In South Florida, for the most part, you have to drive four or five hours just to find a place."

The only place to ride in Boynton Beach is on private property with the owner's permission, said officer Joe DeGiulio, who headed the traffic division's operation Thursday.

"They are illegal on the road because they don't have turn signals, brake lights, side mirrors, because they are made with off-road purposes," DeGiulio said.

Harvey not only broke the law by driving on the road but also crossed medians, rode up on sidewalks and ran stop signs, all with his license suspended, DeGiulio said.

"I agree with the police," Wilder said. "People may think the police are trying to kill their fun, but they're actually saving their lives."

The state committee is trying to change the habit of riding on public roads, Wilder said. It recently awarded Miami-Dade County a $75,000 grant to evaluate areas proposed for riding the vehicles.

"Palm Beach hasn't even tried to do that," Wilder said. "And while there continues to be nowhere to ride legally, people will continue to ride illegally."