Proposed legislation to allow ATVs to be driven on public roads received strong pushback from state government officials and other residents during a March 27 hearing by the legislature's Transportation Committee. The bill is sponsored by Senator Marianne Moore of Calais, who said she was asked by several ATV clubs to introduce the measure, as they seek to expand available trail systems and gain access to gas stations, restaurants and motels in towns.
      She noted as an example that ATV riders are not able to get from the trail in Perry to downtown Eastport without access to state roads, although they are allowed to ride up to 500 yards on a public way in order to cross a road. The bill would allow ATVs on public ways as long as the vehicle is registered and meets specified safety requirements and the operator is licensed and has insurance. It would prohibit ATVs on roads with a posted speed limit of more than 50 miles per hour.
      Mark Wigley of Eastport was among those expressing support for the measure, as he provided statistics on crashes and fatalities involving ATVs versus snowmobiles, motorcycles, watercraft, bicycles and pedestrians. He also cited potential economic benefits to towns from having ATV access into a municipality.
      Others, though, expressed strong opposition, including Nancy Lowry of Eastbrook, where ATVs ride past her home. She said they go by her house "at any time, 365 days/year, 24 hours/day. The road is posted with a 25 mph speed limit. But they speed constantly, ride recklessly, the noise is intolerable and the disregard for residences is rampant."
      Others opposing the bill were the Maine Department of Public Safety and the Maine State Police. Lt. Bruce Scott, commanding officer of the State Police Traffic Safety Unit, stated, "ATVs are designed and engineered for off road use only. They do not meet federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] crash testing or [Environmental Protection Agency] emission standards. The introduction of all terrain vehicles to public roadways where they will interact with much heavier and larger vehicles that have met crash testing standards is potentially dangerous." He also pointed out that the bill would result in crimes like operating under the influence or driving to endanger not being enforceable for ATV drivers. In addition, requiring the governing bodies to evaluate and then restrict roads that they believe are unsafe for ATV operation is a large undertaking. And because ATVS are not required to be inspected, it would be "a considerable challenge for the state police to enforce the standards created by the bill without inspecting the ATVs."
      Also opposing the measure was the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Aaron Cross of the Maine Warden Service stated that any violations or crashes involving ATVs operating on public roadways would become the responsibility of local municipalities and counties to enforce and investigate. This would place an additional burden on already overstretched law enforcement agencies. He added, "Without proper enforcement, there would likely be an increase in dangerous behaviors, including excessive speeding and operating under the influence. This poses a serious risk to public safety and could increase the potential for accidents and fatalities."
      Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and Cathie Curtis, deputy secretary for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), noted in their testimony that the state adheres to federal environmental and safety standards to make determinations about what vehicles are allowed on Maine roadways. "Embarking on a path of exceptions in Maine statute that may or may not be grounded in highway safety best practices is a dangerous endeavor," they stated in their testimony. "In a time in which crashes and motor vehicle related fatalities are on the rise, we strongly recommend against departures from these standards in terms of what is allowed on the road." They added that the bill would require a substantial increase in the workload for the BMV, registration forms and state and municipal computer systems would need to be updated, and new license plates to register ATVs would need to be created.
      Rebecca Graham of the Maine Municipal Association pointed out that the bill would force all municipalities in the state that do not want to allow ATVs on public ways to adopt an ordinance to exclude ATVs from their roadways. "This is a mandate, because it requires a community that otherwise has no reason to act to be forced to take action through the adoption of a local ordinance to prohibit their use, and only through a narrowly defined public safety reason, and with no limits on type, operation speeds, loud operation and general damage to roadways."
      Graham added, "Safety concerns aside, it is important for communities to have a voice in creating and maintaining access to trails. Even when they have been created with community-wide desire, unscrupulous operators can often change the tone and attitude for their use in the community. This requires municipalities to pivot to address neighborhood disputes from other vital municipal tasks and is the reason many communities have not designated public ways for ATV operation."