Mayor Cal Huntley says he hopes the city won’t have to resort to confiscating off-road vehicles following yet another warning from council about reckless ATVers and dirt bikers.
The comment came after Coun. Bill Hanson delivered a pointed message to off-roaders who last week sped down his back lane.
“To the children riding their dirt bikes down Channing Drive, please stop,” he said at council’s Tuesday, June 6 meeting. “I probably have, I’m going to say, 10 to 15 quads, snowmobiles and dirt bikes have come up my back lane going into the bush. And they’re respectful and they go slow and 99 per cent of them are awesome.
“But yesterday there was five dirt bikes and two quads going an excessive speed down Channing Drive. We have children, small children, three- and four-year-olds that live on that lane, and they were up. And it scared me. I wish I could take them out with a paint gun, because it would blow them off their bike, but that’s not allowed. It’s just crazy.”
When Coun. Karen MacKinnon told Hanson he would be quoted on that statement, he replied, “I don’t care.”
Hanson said he had learned of another community that was considering a strict policy to deal with off-roaders who drive outside of designated areas: fines on the first and second offences, and confiscation of the machine on the third offence.
Coun. Colleen McKee reacted by saying, “That’s not a bad idea.” Hanson agreed: “It’s not a bad idea.”
Huntley then offered his thoughts.
“We can reiterate that we’ve designated areas to try and accommodate properly safetied and properly operated quads and dirt bikes and skidoos to get out of the community,” he said. “But it is a privilege and if there’s too much abuse of that privilege, then that will disappear. And we’ve reiterated that on occasion and I guess it’s time to do it again right now.
“That’s an interesting premise with regards to just taking the vehicle and totally impounding it and not giving it back, where you can come and bid on it at an auction to get it back. Let’s hope we don’t have to go there and this works as fair warning to start following the rules – otherwise the rules will change.”
In 2009, the city adopted a bylaw that allows off-road vehicles to travel in Flin Flon provided they obey designated routes and use the shortest path to take them outside of city limits and back.
Since then, council members have several times raised the spectre of the routes being abolished unless off-roaders operate their machines in a safe and legal manner.
In 2015, following a rash of complaints from the public, council gave off-roaders one year to prove they could drive responsibly or risk losing the freedom to ride in municipal limits. The year came and went without changes to the law.
