Officials seek ways to keep off-road vehicles off town roads
FAIRFIELD — Officials are looking for ways to curb a trend of off-road vehicles illegally driving through town streets.
“They don’t have license plates. They are not supposed to be on the road, and they know it,” First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said. “They’re like a menace to society.”
Kupchick said the issue of quads, dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles driving through town has become more prevalent in the past two years. She said the groups of riders are made up of both adults and teenagers.
“It’s not a fun thing where they go in the woods,” she said. “They’re barreling down the Post Road in a pack.”
Last summer, Kupchick said, residents were reaching out to her through email and social media with complaints and videos of the incidents. She said the issue mostly happens on the Post Road, but also on Black Rock Turnpike.
Kupchick said it had been quiet up until a warm day a couple of weeks ago, when dirt bikes and quads drove through town again.
“People were upset about it,” she said. “They emailed me saying, ‘What are you doing?’ They don’t like it.”
Kupchick said residents are concerned that someone could get struck while crossing the street or cause an accident. She said she spoke with Police Chief Robert Kalamaras this week about what officials can do to stop it.
“I don’t know what the solution to this problem is,” she said. “I’m upset about it too, but I also am in a position of relying on law enforcement to do what they do.”
Fairfield Police Lt. Michael
Paris said the issue has been on the department’s radar for a while. When the weather gets nice, he said, people start riding dirt bikes, quads and other all-terrain vehicles through Fairfield.
Paris said the vehicles typically drive through town in packs with up to 30 motorists. He said it causes traffic to come to a standstill and pedestrians to get extra cautious.
“These bikes are driving on the sidewalk. They’re driving on the roads,” he said. “It causes pedestrians to fear for their safety. People in cars even fear for their safety because they’re often times surrounded by these groups.”
Paris said the drivers do not seem to be from Fairfield, as they enter town in one spot and leave the same way.
While officers actively show their presence when these drivers are in town, Paris said, the department’s hands are tied to a certain degree by state laws, which prevent police from engaging in a pursuit unless a violent act or crime has occurred.
Paris said officers can try and pull the drivers over, but they tend to drive away.
“We at least have to try,” he said. “But the moment they fail to yield for us, we have to disengage.”
Kupchick said she thinks the drivers are emboldened by the fact that they can not be pursued and there should be stronger penalties for driving on the road illegally.
Kupchick said police have put videos and photos out on social media in order to get tips on who the drivers are to some effect.
Fairfield is fortunate in that there have not been any injuries or property damage from this trend yet, Paris said.
While officers might not be able to engage in a pursuit with drivers, Paris said, they can still charge them with crimes if they apprehend them through other means. He said the department might be able to take the vehicles if officers can prove they were used in a crime — a practice called in-rem.
“It’s not even necessarily the person,” he said. “It’s the vehicle. In-rem is a procedure that we apply for through the court system to physically take these vehicles and make them property of the police department.”
At the same time, Paris said, the department is working with state attorneys to pursue arresting the drivers.
“We are coordinating with our officers to apprehend these individuals that are destroying the sense of calmness in our town, and driving recklessly throughout the streets,” he said.
Paris said there are other ways to go about apprehending the drivers, including using undercover vehicles and coordinating to get the off-road vehicles into an area where the drivers can be caught without a danger to the public.
“We don’t want to risk their lives for something that they’re doing motor-vehicle wise, but they’re still putting other people’s lives in danger and at risk because of the way they are driving and having the vehicles on the road in general,” he said.
As the weather gets warmer, Paris said, the department will be getting more calls about off-road vehicles on the town’s streets.
“We are still actively working with our prosecutor’s office,” he said. “We have this multipronged approach, which is important for us to still stay within the confines of the law, but still ensure the public is safe.”