At the request of Green City Councilman Dave France, Major Roger Kline of the Summit County Sheriff’s department gave a presentation on All Terrain Vehicles or ATV’s laws for the City of Green. Major Kline’s presentation also covered golf carts, motorized scooters, dune buggys, motorized bicycles, go carts and snowmobiles. The focus of Kline’s presentation was on ATV’s and golf carts.

At the April 22 Green City Council meeting, local farmer John Beese took the opportunity to speak on behalf of the issues he has faced personally in regards to the ATV’s and snowmobilers using his fields without his permission to ride their vehicles.

“There are only a few left us in Green that farm anymore so we have a lot of exposure to this type of activity, a lot more than most people do,” said Besse. “One issue is the phenomenon of disdain for private property by these users of these vehicles. The disdain for private property is absolutely rampant.” 

Dairy and crop farmer Denny Hartong agreed.

“It’s a lot like a lot of things the majority of the people that own ATV’s behave themselves and keep them where they belong. But it’s a simple case that there’s usually a handful that decide to go wherever they want to,” Hartong said. “And unfortunately there’s places that they go through the crops and go through the fields and they don’t show too much respect for where they are going and even if there are signs they disrespect the signs as well.  “

Both Beese and Hartong have posteed “No Trespassing” signs, but to no avail to the people who use their property without permission.

Another one of the concerns is the property damage that has occurred because of the ATV riders damaging their property.

“Once in a while we will have a four wheeler that will go throughout a whole field and wreck havoc on a corn or alfalfa field,” said Hartton. “They don’t know what they are doing - they are just doing. Whether it’s corn, wheat, whether is alfalfa or soybean whatever it is, it’s crops. And it’s especially damaging on farms that I rent. I pay rent on the fields and so you are not only destroying the crops but I’m losing out on the rent and fertilizer and the expenses that you put into it and people don’t realize that there’s considerable expense that goes into it.”

Beese has had incidents in the last two years where someone has gone through their fences.

He also had considerable field damage and figures his losses total thousands of dollars.        

Also a concern for Beese, is the possibility of bodily harm to someone.

Major Kline suggests if residents have an issue with an ATV-related incident to get as much information about the operator as possible without causing a confrontation. He suggests obtaining a name and address of the operator, if possible, and to contact the Summit County Sheriff’s department’s non-emergency number at 330-643-2181.

Here’s the law

Golf carts:
    Have to be street legal, they have be equipped just like a car.

    Have to be passed by an ordinance that they are allowed to be on the roadway. The only areas of Ohio that allow golf carts to be on the road are in Putting Bay and Kelly’s Island.

    Have to be driven by a licensed driver.

All Terrain Vehicles or ATV’s:
   

They cannot operate on private property without the permission of the property owner.

    The vehicles must be registered with the state.

     Have to be driven by a licensed driver.

    Anyone under 16 on any land other than private property has to be accompanied by a licensed adult.

    It has to have at least 1 headlight, has to have adequate brakes and muffler system.

     They cannot be operated on limited access highways

     They cannot operate on any land controlled by the state

     They cannot operate on railroad tracks.

     They cannot be operated while the operator is carrying a firearm unless concealed in a case and unloaded.

     The operator cannot chase wildlife for the purpose of capture

    They cannot be operated on half hour after sunset or one half hour before sunrise.

    They must be operated on the berm of the road.