Published: March 11, 2007 11:01 pm         

Governor wants ATV fatality data

CHARLESTON — Gov. Joe Manchin says he intends to make sure State Police compile vital statistics on all-terrain vehicle deaths in West Virginia, after a bill that sought mandatory record-keeping failed this year.

“I can tell you, we’re going to move immediately on that,” Manchin said minutes after the 2007 session ended with another failed ATV safety proposal.

“I want to know. The people of West Virginia want to know.”

A Senate Rules Committee decision yanked an ATV bill off the calendar, one that would have barred four-wheelers from all paved roads, including some 21,000 miles of unlined ones.

That same bill called for State Police to maintain records of fatalities, providing the same elements ordinarily kept in fatal crashes involving cars and trucks.

A major reason for the bill’s demise, however, was what opponents perceived as an intrusion into private property to enforce a ban on passengers on ATVs not designed to haul them.

Lawmakers for months insisted it was difficult to pen meaningful legislation without knowing where such deaths occur, and all the elements of the fatalities.

Testimony at interims showed police don’t have to compile such information as a matter of procedure.

“I was surprised that they don’t do it,” Senate President Earl Ray Tomb-lin, D-Logan, said.

“There are always death certificates. Every time there’s an accident, they do it in automobiles. They know if the person was drinking, or speeding, or whatever. And you would think they would be able to do the same thing with ATVs.”

Manchin said he assumes that in any fatal ATV mishap, some law enforcement agency conducts an investigation to determine the cause.

“There should be a report and findings that are made public,” he said.

Manchin suggested common sense needs to prevail in the operation of the popular utility vehicles.

“Those are low pressure tires,” the governor said.

“Anybody that knows anything about an ATV knows low pressure tires shouldn’t be ridden fast on paved roads.”

The governor said he favors a means of identifying riders in case they drive recklessly or break some other law, then speed off when a police officer attempts to stop them.

On the other hand, Manchin suggested caution so that private property rights are not abused.

Fear that the state was attempting to regulate ATVs on private land killed the road-ban measure in the Senate this year.

“You don’t want to infringe on people’s rights on their own land to where they want to ride, and I understand that, too,” the governor said.

Tomblin said a breakdown of ATV deaths is crucial to passing meaningful safety legislation.

“We’re up here trying to pass bills in generalities,” the Senate leader said.

“If we can at least require the State Police to get us what caused that death, or what the situation was, I think we could better address the issue without infringing upon people’s lives.”