Off-road vehicles leaving a nasty mark
Off-road vehicles leaving a nasty mark
By: Carol Holmes
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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1 response 0 comments Off-road vehicles leaving a nasty mark
by Carol Holmes
Tehachapi News Editor
Off-road motorcycle riders are not only breaking the law, they are marring the environment and destroying private property.
Sgt. Joe Giuffre of the Kern County Sheriff's Department Tehachapi Substation said his department worked diligently to keep people coming into the area to play in the snow from trespassing on private property, yet now, local people are using off-road motorcycles to trespass on property here.
Giuffre compares the ugly destruction of hillsides by off-road vehicles to the vandalism of the properly in the city by taggers. He said it all leaves an ugly mark.
“There is no where in the community that you can ride an off-road motorcycle,” said Deputy Dan Bowman. “If you are riding, you are trespassing or violating a number of vehicle code laws.”
Bowman said that in order for any vehicle to be driven on a road in this area, the person driving must be licensed and the vehicle must be street legal and must be registered.
He said that even if a road is private, the vehicle code still applies.
“If they are going to break the law, it leaves us with no choice but to enforce it,” Bowman said. “We don’t have options. We have to protect property and lives.”
He also said that persons driving off-road vehicles are often too young to have a driver’s license and don’t know how to operate a vehicle safely.
Moreover, Bowman said driving a vehicle without regard to basic safety can cause a person to be a “forever victim.”
Besides, breaking the law when driving an off-road vehicle can have expensive consequences. The vehicle can be impounded for 30 days and the storage charge can amount to $1,000. In addition, the person can be arrested.
Some areas hardest hit by illegal use of off-road vehicles, such as quads, include Oak Knolls, Alpine Forest, Old West Ranch, Sand Canyon, Mountain Meadows and Cummings Valley.
Bowman said that although Tehachapi has no areas for off-road motorcycles, there are still “plenty of wonderful places” to go. For example, he said off-roaders can ride in designated parts of Red Rock and Jawbone canyons and two areas in Lancaster.
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