The RCMP is reminding operators of dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles and other off-road vehicles to drive safety and obey the province’s Off-Road Vehicles Act.

The reminder comes after a 31-year-old man was ticketed by Clarenville RCMP earlier this month for not wearing a helmet while operating a side-by-side ATV. Police stopped the ATV which was traveling through an intersection. In addition to not wearing a helmet, he was not wearing a seat belt, had no driver’s licence and no insurance on the vehicle. The operator was ticketed for the violations and the vehicle was impounded.

Operators are reminded that:

• All occupants of off-road vehicles are required to wear helmets, as well as seat belts where available. 
• Children who are required to use a child seat restraint system, such as a booster seat, under the Highway Traffic Act are required to follow that same legislation as a passenger of an off-road vehicle. 
• It is illegal to operate an ATV on a roadway, except to cross from one side to the other, and the operator must have registration, insurance, a driver’s licence and not less than one hundred and fifty metres of visibility to do so.  To access a trail, an ATV can be operated on the shoulder of a roadway for a maximum distance of 1 kilometre and at a maximum speed of 20 kilometres an hour, all while yielding to motor vehicle traffic.
• Operating an off-road vehicle while impaired is a criminal offence. Impaired operation of any motor vehicle is a choice that unnecessarily places the driver and all others who share the roadway at an increased level of risk of serious injury or death.