Pa. bill would allow cities to crack down on illegal dirt bikes, ATVs

State legislators from Pennsylvania’s urban areas are hoping a bill that would allow cities to pass their own, stricter rules regarding dirt bikes and ATVs will help curb the problem of off-road vehicles ridden by thrill-seekers on city streets.

The Pennsylvania House passed the bill Monday with a bipartisan 160-43 vote, and House members gathered Tuesday to urge the state Senate to take the measure up.

“Despite the passage of yesterday’s bill, we still have a lot of work to do in the Senate,” said House Transportation Chairman Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia.

“This is on my trade list to do,” Neilson said, referring to the bargaining process between the chambers as to what priority bills are run, with the goal of “getting something done before the springtime.”

The bill, if enacted into law, would make the section of the state’s motor vehicle code regarding off-road vehicles on public roads non-preemptory for first- through third-class cities, thus allowing those cities to pass their own ordinances on the matter above and beyond state law.

The bill was originally written by Neilson to pertain just to Philadelphia, the only first-class city under state code, but was expanded at the behest of smaller third-class cities, including Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, and others.

“It’s something we’ve been wanting for a very long time,” said Rep. Patty Kim, D-Dauphin County, whose district includes northern Harrisburg.

“I’ve received the phone calls and seen it myself,” said Rep. Dave Madsen, D-Dauphin County, whose district includes southern Harrisburg. The bill, if passed, would give cities the option to “add more to their toolkit” by creating fines and penalties on top of existing state law, Madsen said.

The problem generally takes the form of packs, often dozens strong, of riders on dirt bikes and four-wheel ATVs that are not street legal — riding at high speed, weaving in and out of traffic, and not obeying signs and signals.

“Any day it gets nice out you’re going to see them out ripping around, and it’s a huge safety issue for us and the public,” said Sgt. Brandon Braughler of the Harrisburg Bureau of Police traffic unit.

The behavior appears to be thrill-seeking, Braughler said. Most of the riders appear to be young men or even teenagers, and Madsen observed that Harrisburg has seen similar cycles of rebellious or anti-social behavior with graffiti and illicit fireworks.

“The biggest issue we run into is pursuits and identifying the owners,” Braughler said.

The groups typically scatter when they see police, and Harrisburg officers won’t get into chase out of safety concerns. Police have had some luck blocking off both ends of a street to corral the groups, Braughler said, or boxing them in at gas stations when they stop for fuel.

Further, because the bikes and four-wheelers were never street-legal to begin with, they were never registered and plated, so confirming ownership is a matter of observation.

Current law has limited fines — $200 for the first offense and $300 subsequently, according to state code — and allows for forfeiture only when the vehicles are operating, Braughler said; if the non-preemption bill was passed, the city could pass its own laws increasing fines and allowing police to confiscate vehicles after-the-fact if they have proof that the vehicle was operated on a city street.

Braughler said he has investigated fatal crashes in the city involving dirt bikes, and “the fact that we don’t have more is probably credit to our drivers being vigilant.”