Operators of off-road vehicles are facing increased regulation and local governments are advised to bring bylaws into sync with provincial legislation.
Colin Palmer, Powell River Regional District board chair, reported on the Off-Road Vehicle Act legislation during the committee of the whole meeting, Thursday, August 21.
“Just to bring us all up to date on what is going on, the actual act is now in place and the ministry and the UBCM [Union of BC Municipalities] have a joint advisory group,” Palmer said. “The next steps are to implement the legislation.
“People with these vehicles are going to be required to register them in the near future. Once that date is established, there will be a grace period of six months. At the end of six months, if you don’t have your licence plate, if you don’t have all of the requirements for an outdoor vehicle, then you are going to be facing the legislation from various people as to what you are supposed to do and what you are not supposed to do.”
Palmer said the registration is going to be a one-time, $48 fee which includes a licence plate.
“If that upsets you, it’s $54 in Alberta every single year,” Palmer said. “So $48, one time, is what they are going to do in BC. Insurance brokers and ICBC [Insurance Corporation of BC] are all involved.”
Not only is registration required, but also there are safety regulations which are going to be implemented, he added. This will require owners to have safety features on vehicles, although Palmer said he was not sure what those are at the moment.
The new rules apply to Crown lands, resource roads and also prescribed private lands.
“This is where it is a little bit difficult right now,” Palmer said. “You might say, what about the private managed forest lands? Apparently, this doesn’t apply to them, but they are in negotiations with the private managed forest lands council to try and figure out what they are going to do there.”
Palmer said regional parks and regional lands, city parks and city lands, are not Crown land. He suggested the regional district review its bylaws in case people start abusing regional district land with their outdoor recreation vehicles.
“They are recommending we amend our bylaws so these regulations apply on our own public lands,” Palmer said. “We might want to review our regional district lands, the city might want to look at theirs and make the legislation apply, because at the moment, it applies to Crown land.”
Palmer added another interesting matter is there has been discussion about a provincial trails strategy in the future. There will be a funding mechanism through the act that will eventually lead to revenue to fund the maintenance of trails, Palmer said.
Patrick Brabazon, Area A director and chair of the committee of the whole, asked what happens if he is riding down a resource road, he comes upon a highway and wants to cross to go to the other side. Palmer said the off-road vehicles will be registered for Crown land and also highway crossing.
“If you go off the resource road onto Crown land, you are okay,” he said. “If you come to a highway, you will be registered, but I can’t answer if it requires a recognized highway crossing, or if it’s a highway crossing anywhere.”
Maggie Hathaway, City of Powell River director, asked if an operator’s licence is required for these off-road vehicles. Palmer said the vehicle has to be registered to get a licence plate and helmet needs to be worn, but that an operator’s licence was not discussed.
Palmer added that the RCMP, conservation officers, forest rangers and other peace officers will have the ability to issue tickets and fines.
