NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — It's happening everywhere; dirt bikes and ATVs taking over the streets. Many of them ride recklessly by doing wheelies, endangering themselves and others.
On Monday, the Niagara County Sheriff's Office says they are cracking down harder than before. They say there's been an increase in complaints.
"We need to do something to curve this activity. Simply it's unsafe, as I mentioned. It's unsafe to have these vehicles on the road, and it's unsafe for them to be operating in the manner that they usually are," says Michael Filicetti with the Niagara County Sheriff's Office.
Niagara County passed a new law on ATVs and dirt bikes. It's effective immediately. According to the Sheriff's Office, until now, there were no laws in the county to prevent it.
"As we get complaints, we'll address them, and also, we will have some target enforcement periods that we're working on right now to address specific areas where we have a higher number of complaints," Filicetti says.
The penalty at first would require you to pay a towing fee, plus your citation. Now the new law adds a $250 impound fee, and the towing company's fee, and you'll need to show proof the vehicle is yours. That's for a first offense. Two or more will increase impound fees to $1000.
"What makes it so hard to make more trails for our ATV riders and dirt bike riders,? " 2 On Your Side asked.
"We would love to see more trails open to the public, but there's a great expense that comes with that. You see bike trails throughout the county that require grants, working with the state, trying to find the funds because it's not just putting that bike path together," says Becky Wydysh, Chairman of the Niagara County Legislator.
It's encouraged that you contact the sheriff's office if hear them in your neighborhood. Their number is 716-438-3393.