Moses Lake considers safety changes to WATV/ORV ordinance

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake City Council is considering making changes to the city’s WATV/ORV ordinance.

The council initially passed an ordinance that deals with Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) and Wheeled All-Terrain Vehicles (WATVs) in March 2017, with the council asking for an update on the ordinance a year after its adoption. Washington House Bill 1632 created the WATV class of vehicle in July 2013. The vehicles are required to meet a standard set of requirements before they can be operated on select city streets and are not allowed to travel in excess of 35 mph.

The Moses Lake Police Department hasn’t had to enforce the WATV ordinance since its passage and few complaints have been logged by the department in reference to people driving the vehicles on exempt streets. However, the MLPD has not had to take enforcement actions with regard to the complaints.

“We’ve had no enforcement action and, more importantly, we’ve had no accidents with any of these vehicles in the city,” MLPD Chief Kevin Fuhr told the council Tuesday night.

With little to no noticeable difference after a year, the only recommendation to change the ordinance was amendments to address safety concerns. Fuhr requested two amendments to the current ordinance, the first of which deals with seatbelts.

The addition states that any person who “operates or rides as a passenger in a wheeled all-terrain vehicle must wear a securely fastened seat belt” as required by state law. Plus, passengers younger than 16 must be restrained in the vehicles in accordance with state law.

The second addition to the ordinance deals with side-by-sides (UTVs).

“Any child that is a passenger in these side-by-sides, so the UTVs, the way the current ordinance is, they are not required to wear a helmet as long as they are seatbelted in. We thought that it might be prudent to add that any child 15 years or under would be required to wear a helmet, even in a side-by-side, or the UTV, just for added protection,” Fuhr told the council.

The additions were well received by the council, with the only suggested improvements to the ordinance centering around ensuring that all helmets used in the vehicles are Department of Transportation certified and possibly excluding vehicles, like ATVs, that do not have safety belts from the ordinance altogether.

The additions were met well by Derek Smith, general manager at Experience Powersports in Moses Lake. He pledged $2,000 from his business to the city for WATV/ORV ordinance-related signage around the city.

No action was taken during Tuesday night’s meeting and the ordinance will be brought back to the council at a future council meeting for more discussion.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.