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ATV bill driven into study

Task force would examine allowing them on roads
San Juan County is one of several counties in the San Juan Mountains that have enacted off-highway vehicle ordinances that put them at odds with state law.

DENVER – A Colorado House committee on Thursday unanimously backed a measure that would study allowing off-highway vehicles on county roads.

House Bill 1329 serves as a compromise after the bill’s sponsor, Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, realized that without a study first, he wasn’t going to pass a bill this year that would have permitted all-terrain vehicles to travel county roads.

His earlier proposal would have generated nearly $6 million in revenue from registration fees, increasing the amount required to be refunded to taxpayers under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. That meant lawmakers would have had to cut important areas of the state budget, so the bill stalled.

But Brown is hopeful that with a study, the task force will pave the way for legislation as early as next year.

“We might get something done here,” Brown said. “I’m looking forward to bringing a bill next year.”

Stakeholders on the task force would include lawmakers, law enforcement, county commissioners, Parks and Wildlife officials, environmentalists, hunters and anglers and off-road experts.

But concerns were raised that the task force should also include children’s health officials. Dwayne Smith, injury-prevention manager at Children’s Hospital Colorado, pointed out that nationally, between 2001 and 2010, there were more than 361,000 ATV injuries involving children 15 years old and younger.

“It’s in the best interest of child health, public health and public safety to include a pediatric injury-prevention specialist on this task force,” Smith said.

Rep. Lori Saine, R-Firestone, rhetorically asked, “Should we start wrapping children in bubble wrap to make sure they don’t ever get injured?”

Rural lawmakers have been working on the issue for at least six years with no progress. Any bill that comes out of the process would likely limit drivers to dirt county roads, 16 years old and older and speeds up to 35 mph, at the guidance of Colorado State Patrol.

Efforts also would likely aim to preserve local control by allowing counties to prohibit use. Many rural counties, however, are looking for state legislation because they have enacted off-highway vehicle ordinances that put them at odds with state law, including the San Juan Mountains counties of Hinsdale, Ouray, San Juan and San Miguel.

Brown said he is willing to compromise, but he doesn’t want to weigh down the task force.

“We certainly want to take into account the welfare of children,” he said. “But we’d like to keep it to a manageable number of folks.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com

Apr 16, 2015
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