
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — City Council members on Monday approved new regulations meant to crack down on the illegal driving of ATVs and dirt bikes on public streets.
The new rules prohibit such vehicles from being fueled at a gas station unless secured to a trailer or truck bed. The city will also require owners to register their ATVs and other non-highway vehicles.
The vehicles are also now specifically subject to being impounded from public or private property if one was being driven illegally.
The measure passed unanimously.
“I hope our streets are safer,” Mayor Tom McNamara said. “I hope they’re safer for pedestrians. I hope they’re safer for vehicles, and I hope that folks who own ATVs continue to enjoy them off-road and not on our streets.”
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There is no cost to register a vehicle. The city hopes to put its registry in place by Sept. 1, McNamara said.
Two weeks ago, City Council members abruptly delayed a vote on the measure after concerns were raised by an ATV and motorcycle advocacy group hours before the vote.
ABATE Illinois had contacted aldermen the day of the scheduled vote to raise concerns about some of the language in the proposed rules.
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Alderman Chad Tuneberg, a 3rd Ward Republican, said ABATE is sympathetic to the issues the city faces with ATVs illegally operating on city streets. He made the motion to delay the issue two weeks ago to allow the organization to talk with city legal staff.
“I just wanted to make sure that this is rock-solid because this situation is really trying on the community and it has to be taken care of,” Tuneberg said.
After the city’s legal staff discussed the proposal with ABATE, council members felt confident in moving the proposal forward unchanged.
“We ultimately had those discussions and found that we didn’t need to make any of the changes,” McNamara said.
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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.