By Lauren
Mills Lmills@Siouxcityjournal.Com
South Sioux City - All-terrain
and utility-type vehicles will be merging into traffic on city streets here
after the City Council approved the move Monday without discussion.
The ordinance, which takes effect Dec. 1., passed 7-0.
Councilman Wayne Boyd left the meeting before the vote.
Drivers must be 18 or older, have a valid driver's license
or farm permit and obtain an annual permit from the city clerk. The city permit
will allow them to take the vehicles on streets, but not highways, between
sunrise and sunset and travel at speeds of 25 mph or less.
Drivers and passengers will be required to wear a helmet and
the driver must have insurance. The vehicle must also pass inspection,
including a noise test, to make sure the vehicles don't disrupt neighborhoods.
Randy Meyer, of South Sioux City,
spoke against the ordinance at the council's Oct. 22 meeting. He said he was
concerned about noise and the city's image.
He did not attend Monday's meeting but said later by phone
that the ordinance addresses his worries about noise but not about how the city
of 13,000 might be portrayed.
"I don't necessarily believe that it's the
right direction for the city. We are a growing city, moving forward. This is
moving back to a little hick town," he said.
The state of Nebraska
passed a law in 2007 allowing cities to decide whether to permit ATVs and UTVs
on public streets. Since then, a handful of Nebraska
towns have passed similar ordinances, including Fremont,
which has about 26,000 people, and David
City, with about 2,900.
Dan Nitzel, business manager of the Nebraska Off Highway
Vehicle Association, estimates the number of towns with ATV/UTV ordinances at
around 30.
The association has roughly 2,000 members and keeps tabs on
issues and regulations involving ATVs and off-road motorcycles.
Nitzel, who lives in Grand
Island, Neb., said
there are pros and cons to the ordinances.
"The manufacturers don't support the use on public
streets or roads. But it's nice to have other places to ride, since Nebraska has so few
public places open to the vehicles. It gives people another way to enjoy their
machines," he said.
South Sioux City police
Chief Scot Ford, who spoke with officials in towns with similar ordinances,
said there weren't any major safety issues. But he was concerned about allowing
the vehicles on the streets alongside cars and trucks.
"They are a little slower moving vehicle, so they are going
to require the rest of the motoring public to recognize them and be on the
watch for them," he said.
There were more than 600 ATV-related deaths and more than
130,000 emergency room visits nationwide in 2009, according to a government
report. But Ford said most ATV accidents occur off-road.
"When you are operating any vehicle in an unregulated
fashion, off the road where there are no speed limits or laws, sometimes people
get reckless and that's where accidents happen. As long as the ordinances and
regulations are followed, there shouldn't be an issue," he said.
ATVs on the road
- Driver must be 18 or older
- Must obtain annual city permit
- May drive no faster than 25 mph
- No highway driving
- Travel allowed between sunrise, sunset
- Driver, passengers must wear helmets
- Vehicle must pass inspection, noise test
