Posted on 03/27/2002 3:04:18 PM PST by chance33_98
| Forest Service issues tickets for snowmachining without a license |
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State lawmakers are working on a bill to remove the little-known requirement. The bill covers motorized vehicles spanning from wheelchairs to snowmachines. It is expected to hit the House floor soon. But the effort is already too late for some snowmachiners. The 120-CC eight-horsepower snowmachine is used and shows when it was registered. Dealers have to make sure to register a machine when they sell it. But whether the buyer has a driver's license is another story. The requirement has not been an issue for years, but a U.S. Forest Service law-enforcement officer revived that law this weekend--first with warnings, then with a ticket. And the Forest Service said it would continue the enforcement. "He pulled up along side us, to tell us that she had to have driver's license to ride the snowmachine. I don't know too many 5-year-olds that have a driver's license," Tom Reed said. Reed took his 5-year-old daughter to Turnagain Pass, where she rides an eight-horsepower snowmachine. Reed has taken his daughter riding since she was three, but it was their first run in with the law. "He had written tickets on another person too who had an 8-year-old kid riding their Z-120," Reed said. "It just seemed kind of stupid." The 8-year-old's father, Chris Prigge, received a ticket because he contested the law. "When his attitude and my attitude clashed, he ran down to his truck and got his ticket book and wrote me a ticket," Prigge said. The law that restricts snowmachine use to licensed drivers has been around since 1978. Alaska State Troopers do not consider enforcing the law a priority, but the Forest Service stands behind what its officer did. "Our whole idea is to seek cooperation and to seek understanding. If they choose not to do that, it's up to the officer to then figure out the best way to handle that situation," said Doug Stockdale with the U.S. Forest Service. How the law is understood depends on who's reading it. Some, like Reed, said law enforcement is changing the rules by changing how it reads law. "You spend that kind of money on a toy for her to ride and the gear and it's her enjoyment," Reed said. "She enjoys riding it, she races, and I can't see--if it costs $100 a day for her to ride and she gets a ticket for it, then I'll pay the 100 bucks." Until the law is changed, the winter pastime for young snowmachiners could be more expensive with worse consequences. State Troopers released the law-enforcement bulletin in early February. The bulletin tells law officers that the court will uphold snowmachines as a motor vehicle. |
Interestingly, this behavior is perfectly legal in Russia.
Rural families all have several snowmachines, fact of life. Kids travel to school on them.
Big deal about nothing. Law to be soon changed to correct problem.
I could see it now. Kids laughing at state cops as they ride down the trail and into the woods . Kids running down over zealous forest service employees.
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