the outdoors with summer at its peak, ATV and side by
side vehicles are out in force across thousands of
miles of trails in Wisconsin, and we have the
most registered off road vehicles of any state at
more than half a million. The explosion in rioters
comes with a steady increase, though, in
fatality and injury accidents involving the
vehicles. A new law went into effect in June that
requires seatbelt use, part of work to enhance the
safety of ATVs and utvs. DNR conservation Warden
Jake Holsclaw oversees the Off Highway vehicle program
and joins us now from Eau Claire. And thanks very
much for being here. >> Absolutely look forward
to it. >> So how busy is it out
there on the ATV routes? >> Yeah. Great question. It
seems like it's getting busier every day. Wisconsin,
like you said, we have over half a million registered
machines. It seems like that number is going up
every year. And we have about 2500 miles of off
road trail routes. And then we have over 65,000 miles
of on road routes. So basically roadways, you
know, roadway routes shared with other motor vehicles.
So it really does keep us busy.
>> As we've said, the uptick in the number of
riders, though, also results in an increase in
accidents and injuries and even fatalities.
>> Yeah, unfortunately, I think that that's just a
kind of a byproduct of the increased numbers. We
really started to see an increase around 2020, 2021.
I think people were just with everything else going
on, they were trying to get outdoors, find something to
do. And it really has stayed steadily increasing
ever since then. And when you have more people on the
landscape, you have more folks potentially are, you
know, not being safe and not following the rules.
And then we have seen an uptick in crashes because
of that. crashes mostly happen?
>> Well, it's any number of reasons. A number of our
crashes are going to be alcohol or drug related.
The majority of them would be alcohol related. When
we're looking at, you know, some kind of substance, so
to speak, that's causing folks to crash. And so I
think folks need to remember that, you know,
just like the motor vehicle world, you really need to
make a smart decision and realize that even with
these recreational vehicles like ATVs and Utvs, maybe
even more so, they're very dynamic machine and folks
have to be you want to be on your best, right? You
want your mind to be working the best. You want
your body, your reaction time to be working the best
when you're out operating these. One of the other
things is that people need to remember. I think they
sometimes forget that these machines handle differently
roadways. The original design of these machines,
in fact, that's what the you know, you'll see
manufacturers recommendations is that
they are only operated off the road. So I think folks
need to remember that the knobby or softer tires on a
lot of these machines, they tend to grip pavement
really well. And if people drive them like they would
drive their car going to work, it can cause some
problems. They tend to tip easier if people aren't
slowing down into their curves and really
anticipating their stops. So a number of the crashes
we're seeing, a little over half are occurring on
roadway routes. >> So as to the operation
of these vehicles while under the influence of
whatever it is. What are the penalties for that? I
mean, you can write citations for that, but
what are the penalties that someone would face for that?
>> Yeah, ultimately it would be it would be a
citation or a couple citations. Typically, you
know, the citation is issued for the operating
while intoxicated. If they're operating over that
0.08 level, they would be issued an additional
citation for that. And then sometimes they're issued to
other citations for other violations that may have
occurred because they were intoxicated and not not
really thinking clearly and and violating some other
safety issues. So yeah, so a number of citations can
be issued. But typically, you know, most of what
we're running into is a first offense. And in
Wisconsin, like any, oh, to be a first offense is just
a civil forfeiture. It's really just a fine. There's
typically typically no jail time or extra fines
associated with that unless unless there is something
more major, like somebody dies in the crash or
something like that happens. >> And so people could be
right back out there on, on those vehicles after that
kind of a citation. Now, I took a look at your annual
report, and it says that 95% of fatal accidents are
among operators who have not taken a safety course,
but those are that course is only required for people
born after 1988. Why is that? Yeah.
>> Yeah, you're spot on. Well, back when the law was
created, they they decided to. My understanding is
that they decided to set a date. They had to set a
time frame where they wanted everybody born on or
after that date to complete the course. Like you said,
it's one one of 88. And so the idea behind that then
was that folks born before that are essentially
grandfathered in their older age. But what we are
seeing, like you said, 95% haven't completed a safety
course, but also the majority of our crashes are
happening with folks that are older and grandfathered
in. So folks that were born before that one, one of 88
date. And so I think it really points to the fact
that you're never really too old to learn safety.
You're never, you're never too old to know the rules
and regulations. And we just want folks to remember
that the majority, the vast majority of our regulations
are there for your safety and for you to continued
enjoyment of that sport. >> All right. Well, we
appreciate it. Thanks very much for joining us from
Eau Claire. Jake Holsclaw. >> Thank you.