The subject of off-road vehicles traversing the streets of Shawano has been a bone of contention for nearly a year, but now more restrictions seem on the verge of happening.
One reason the city has waited on enacting more stringent requirements is because Shawano County was also looking at changing its rules for all-terrain vehicles and utility-terrain vehicles. The county’s new regulations have cleared the first hurdle and are expected to reach the Shawano County Board of Supervisors when they meet Aug. 27.
The Shawano Common Council got a glimpse of what the county is doing when it met Aug. 13, and now, instead of carbon-copying what the county is doing, it wants to go a little further.
“Over time, as communities have adopted ordinances, there’s been some things they’ve identified as maybe being things they want to reconsider,” City Administrator Eddie Sheppard said.
The county’s proposed ordinance would require drivers 16 and older to have a valid driver’s license, while state law allows ages 12 and older to drive ATVs and ages 16 and older to drive UTVs. This would only apply to such vehicles traveling on city streets and not when they’re on trails.
Council members are looking to take things a step further, however, and require the vehicles to have, at minimum, liability insurance in the event of a collision or other type of crash.
“Having some type of insurance — at a minimum, liability or something like that — is something we should have,” Alderman Jim Hauer said.
The city of New London currently requires off-road vehicles to have insurance, according to Shawano City Attorney Keith Steckbauer.
“A lot of communities have this, and as I have told you before, there is a division whether we can regulate this or not,” Steckbauer said. “If you look at the statute, the first sentence says: ‘Counties and municipalities can regulate ATVs,’ and the paragraph underneath that says you can regulate it provided it’s in strict conformity with the statute and only where the statute says.”
The ordinance would still allow drivers between the ages of 12-15 to operate the vehicles, but they must be accompanied by a parent or a guardian 18 or older designated by the parents to do so, according to Hauer. Those accompanying the minor must also have a valid driver’s license, he said. Also a requirement for drivers 18 and under is wearing safety head gear, Hauer said.
Steckbauer questioned whether the insurance would be effective if a young teen driver is operating an off-road vehicle with a sibling who is over 18.
“There’s a lot of people that may listen to their 18-year-old sibling. There’s a lot of us who may not have listened to their 18-year-old sibling telling us we should do something different,” Steckbauer said, adding that New London’s ordinance requires helmets for all drivers, regardless of age.
Steckbauer added that something needed to be done, especially since there have been 26 fatalities involving ATVs and UTVs this year in the state so far.
Hauer said that the ordinance would also ban open intoxicants from being in the vehicle, something law enforcement has had to contend with a number of times.
The changes in city regulations are expected to go back to the field committee for fine-tuning and could be approved by the council in September.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
