With hunting season right around the corner, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department is getting reports of more and more all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) on the highway.
Chief Deputy Marc Miley said his department has been getting more calls about the off-road vehicles riding along roadways. However, Miley said it’s not an uncommon sight and while it is illegal, issuing the ATV driver a citation is at the discretion of each deputy.
“We live in the South,” Miley said. “You’re going to have ATVs on the highway, especially as hunting season approaches, but it’s up to the deputy to decide if he wants to issue a citation or not.”
A public notice released by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries titled Public Notice Number W13 3174 states “No ATV/ORV allowed on any public road open to licensed motorized vehicles or on power line/pipeline rights-of-ways.”
Archery season opens Oct. 1 in the Delta and Hill Zone and begins Oct. 15 in the Coastal Zone of Mississippi. As hunters hurry to ready their campgrounds, seeing ATVs on the highway could become an increasingly common sight.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a report in late 2011 that showed ATV deaths were down in 2010 with 317 ATV related deaths occurring in 2010. There were 659 in 2009, 707 in 2008 and 804 in 2007.
The CPSC also cited 322 ATV-related deaths in the state of Mississippi from 1982-2010. Those numbers are subject to rise as data is still being collected from 2007-2010. The commission warns ATV operators to take precautions before getting on the highway.
“ATVs – because of how they’re made – are difficult to control on paved roads,” the statement reads. “Collisions with cars and other vehicles also can be deadly. Many fatalities involving ATVs occur on paved roads.”
Age and inexperience can also play a role in ATV fatalities with the CPSC warning, “Children are involved in about one-third of all ATV-related deaths and injuries treated at hospital emergency room. Most of these deaths and injuries occur when a child is driving or riding on an adult ATV. Children under 16 on adult ATVs are twice as likely to be injured as those riding youth ATVs.”
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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