BUMPER YEAR FOR GARNISH

[albert linegar]

 I was  talking to Ruth Cluett , Garnish town clerk, yesterday and she told me that  the new rules governing the use of ATV's on the town  roads is going very well and they are  going to continue. She said that since the new rules came into effect  the attitude of motorists and ATVers  , toward each other ,  have certainly changed for the better. " This , I would have to say has been a bumper year for the town of Garnish, you can look out the window and see a dozen or so ATV's going by and everyone is having a good time. The are also getting calls from  '' TOURISTS  " asking if there is any place in the area where ATV's can be rented. Perhaps a new business is on the horizon . From my  conversation with her it seemed like everything was going perfect until I asked how the request for permission to include the provincial highway that runs through the town was going  and  "sadly enough" this became a stumbling block that opened the door for a more serious one.

           The application , as I understand it , was submitted to the provincial gov. early in 2011 when the rules were first implemented  and has not been acted upon yet , it appears to me  " the author of this post  "  they are dragging their feet..This now has opened the door for something , that to my mind , should not be happening. It appears that a young RCMP officer has taken it upon himself to ticket every ATV rider he sees on that stretch of road , but I guess he is just looking out for the safety of the ATV riders given the fact that the speed limit  , on that stretch of road is a staggering  50 KPH. through the community .  Here is a copy of the interview with Garnish mayor Reubin Noseworthy

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     A southern Newfoundland community has opened its roads to all-terrain vehicles for at least a year.

All the rules of the road apply to ATVs, and if ATV-drivers don't respect them, their freedom to use roads will be revoked in 2012.

The mayor of Garnish hopes the change will improve safety in the town on the Burin Peninsula, where it's estimated there are as many ATVs as there are cars.

Garnish is the gateway to a popular ATV trail in the area. Until Jan.1, riders had to load their ATVs onto a truck to get to the trail, but Noseworthy said too many riders were just driving to the trail on the town's streets anyway.

"Well, some of the ATVs, because they were sneaking around to avoid the police, were going around at night with no headlights on, and sometimes at super-fast speeds because they didn't want to have that chance of being caught," said Garnish Mayor Reuben Noseworthy.

He hopes that being more welcoming to ATVs will make Garnish more attractive to tourists.

"So what were looking forward to is that people will come to Garnish and will part with some of their money in our stores and businesses and will use Garnish as the starting point to their trail rides," he said.

 

Courtesy of CBC News

  

    The latter part of that hope is , without a doubt , becoming a reality . however the former is being undermined by the above mentioned action. Who would have thought that a curve ball would have come from that direction , and I don't think it has anything to do with public safety since the mayor ' s  idea was working well. I would have thought that a " Spirit of co-operation  between  " LAW ENFORCEMENT AND COUNCIL " would be the logical approach , since public safety should be uppermost in the minds of all.  Am I the only only one who thinks that co-operation is the way to go or are there others who feel as I do about this matter.

                  

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[albert linegar]

         I went back into my files on ATVs and found this interesting post .

 I was talking to Mr. Noseworthy just a few minutes ago and he tells me things are quite positive. The most noticeable thing that he sees is that people have slowed down since they don,t have to get of the road so fast, for fear of getting caught. However some still go to fast and they're not just the young , but he said no matter what you do there will always be some who will try to push it. Indeed he can see the boulders and is not intended to punish the majority  for the actions of a few. What a difference in thinking .You are right Peter the difference is in "mayors" . He is now waiting for a reply to a letter sent to the municipal authority asking that the main road through the town, on which the speed limit is 50kph., be  included so that people can gain access to it on their ATVs. I can' t see this being turned down since authority is granted to them   in the regulations provided proper procedure is followed , which is what he is doing. Mr. Noseworthy says that in conversations with the RCMP. they see no problems with this so far.This is a ground breaking event for ATVers.

       On a more personal note I know from experience that if you're riding your ATV. without a "HELMET" you will be stopped no matter where you may be riding on crown land, that means on the woods trails and especially on the shoulder of the road. " I  WOULD SUGGEST THAT ALL  ATV USERS SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WHO ARE TRYING TO GIVE US A BREAK  AND WEAR AN APPROVED HELMET. THEY ARE NOT JUST OUT TO GIVE US A HARD TIME.

           Albert.