Off Road Vehicle Legislation Update

For those of you who read the Off Road Vehicle article in this newspaper on January 14th, we have some good news to report from Trenton. On one of his last days in office, outgoing Governor Corzine signed into law the Off Road Vehicle (ORV) Legislation. If you are one of the many that called the Governors’ office to voice your support for this set of much needed regulations, “Thank you”.

Following are some of the positive features of the new law as we understand it;

• ORV’s must be registered and display license plates.
• ORV’s must be insured like automobiles.
• The penalties for riding on public lands, and private lands without permission have been increased.
• Fines for a first offense will range from $250 to $500, second offense, $500 to $1,000, and subsequent offenses at least $1,000.
• Damage to natural resources on public lands that require restoration, such as areas of rare plants, would bring fines of five times the cost of restoration.
• If the accused rider is younger than 17, the registered owner will be held liable.

Senator Robert Gordon, D - Bergin, primary sponsor of the senate bill, said “The penalties provision in the bill will assist DEP in strengthening enforcement and paying for natural resources damages caused by illegal off road vehicle riding”.

On the negative side, one feature of the law stands out: None of the above mentioned provisions of the new law will go into effect until the State establishes, on state land, a riding facility for the legal ORV enthusiasts. It could take a long time to find a suitable location for such a facility, when the interests of the environmental community and affected neighbors are considered.