More Trails, Back Roads Open Up for ATV Users...

Here is an interesting article.  I'm not sure what it means, if anything, for us on Vancouver Island, but it's perhaps a chink of light at the end of the tunnel.  There are few interesting statements in it; for instance, Quads/ATV's must be insured by Nov 2012 to go offroad...  Anyway here is the article.  Be sure to read the comments on the web page after the article:

More trails, back roads open up for ATV users

Governmental policy changes means more room to ride

Robert Barron, Daily News

Published: Monday, July 02, 2012

Members of the Nanaimo-based Mid-Island ATV Club are pleased with governmental policy changes that will open up more trails and back roads in the province.

 

Kye Francoeur, one of the approximately 300 members of the club, said anything that provides more access to the thousands of kilometres of forest and other privately owned roads in the region to responsible and recreational users is welcome to local ATV enthusiasts.

 

The province announced recently that amendments to the Occupiers Liability Act, to help prevent resource road closures and reduce the possibility of injury-related lawsuits, have come into effect as the general public heads into the back country to enjoy B.C.'s wilderness this summer.

 

Nanaimo-area all-terrain vehicle riders are pleased with governmental policy changes that will open up more trails and back roads in the province.

 

B.C. has an estimated 450,000 kilometres of resource roads that provide commercial and recreational links to vast expanses of the province's back country. Currently, roads that do not access year-round communities are sometimes closed to the public after an industrial user no longer needs the road.

The amendments will help keep more back-country roads open by establishing that people using resource roads of their own accord do so substantially at their own risk.

 

In addition to lowering the duty of care owed by the Crown and those that maintain the roads, the revised legislation shifts the onus for personal injury insurance coverage to third-party users and brings the government's resource-road policy into line with policies covering rural agricultural land and marked recreational trails in other jurisdictions.

 

Francoeur said club members are already required to have at least liability insurance to deal with any incidents with other vehicles and people that are encountered on the back roads and trails.

He said that means more trails will be instantly available for their use.

 

"Problems have come up in the past when people on machines that aren't registered and insured have had accidents with logging trucks and other vehicles while on these roads," Francoeur said.

"Our members have always made it a point to be respectful of the rules and it's good to hear that responsible riders will now have access to these trails."

 

Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson said the policy changes are an important first step to simplifying the regulations covering B.C.'s vast network of resource roads.

 

"Reducing the possibility of injury-related lawsuits will encourage road maintainers to keep roads open and preserve access to B.C.'s wilderness areas," he said.