Pain in the wallet
Albany raising cost of reclaiming impounded ATVS and dirt bikes
Albany is raising the cost of reclaiming impounded ATVS and dirt bikes
Aiming to keep the vehicles off city streets, the Common Council on Monday passed a law that will make it more expensive to recover an impounded dirt bike or ATV.
The law raises the cost of getting back one of the machines to $3,000 by adding a $2,350 redemption fee to the existing $650 fine. The measure, passed on a 14-0 vote, also allows city police to auction off, sell for scrap or destroy impounded off-road vehicles that are not claimed after 60 days.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan sent the council a message of necessity to allow the council to skip the required aging period for the bill and pass the law more quickly than it would otherwise take. In her message to the council, Sheehan said that the city wanted the legislation passed before the summer season when more riders come to the city.
After a public hearing is held, Sheehan said, she’d sign the bill by the earliest possible date, April 14.
“The message is clear: don’t drive your ATV or Dirt Bike in Albany,” she tweeted.
Councilman Derek Johnson said he supported the legislation to punish those who threatened public safety but thought the council was making a mistake by
not speaking with riders about creating a possible alternative for them to ride.
“We have to have some type of discussion for people who want to ride,” he said. “It just sounds too punitive. I think we have to have that conversation, even if we can’t accommodate them, we have to have that conversation and explain why.”
The problem of off-road vehicles on the city’s streets has
slowly morphed from a seasonal one to a near year-round frustration for residents and city officials.
Residents and business owners have lobbied the city and the police department to do more to crack down on the practice, but there are few other options for the city. Similar efforts are underway in Schenectady.
Police departments generally do not pursue off-road vehicle riders unless they’ve committed serious crimes over concerns about liability if the riders crash. And riders who are stopped typically walk away with traffic tickets and having their bikes impounded.
The department does have a detail of officers in unmarked cars assigned to trying to find the riders and seize the vehicles. The police department also has drones it can use to track riders as part of its efforts to seize those vehicles.
The department has made a point to publicize any vehicle stops or seizures it has made this year. Most riders, unless they have existing warrants, are written tickets and released.