City police promise to crack down on off-road vehicles

Pittsburgh police vow to crack down on “flash mobs” of off-road vehicles riding recklessly on city streets, a phenomenon that popped up in the city last year.

In a Tuesday news release, the city Department of Public Safety said ATVs, dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles had been spotted on city streets, “taking over roadways and intersections, driving on sidewalks and, in many cases, even driving the wrong direction.”

The city said it wasn’t alone in its experiences with the sometimes illegal off-road vehicles. In New York City in September, an ATV rider was struck and killed by another vehicle when he drove into a crosswalk against a red light.

In Pittsburgh last summer, the department said, a dirt bike rider driving in a bicycle lane on Liberty Avenue clipped a turning vehicle and was thrown from his dirt bike onto the back of a parked car.

Riders “in these so-called ‘flash mobs’ or ‘ride-outs’ are now taking their actions to alarming new heights in the city of Pittsburgh, with as many as 50 to 200 riders roving through neighborhoods at any given time, disobeying traffic rules,” the city said in its news release.

In recent week, police issued eight citations and towed two vehicles from a ride-out event, the city said. One of those citations stemmed from a traffic stop in which a dirt-bike rider was driving the wrong way toward police on North Beatty Street, the city said.

“These all-terrain vehicles are not designed to be driven on public roads and they pose a

serious danger to the general public, law enforcement, and to the illegal riders themselves,” Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said. “It is just a matter of time before this irresponsible behavior leads to a serious injury or death either of the rider or to an innocent pedestrian or motorist.”

Public safety officials said police are beginning an effort to address the issue. They said they will start an education and community outreach effort; collaborate with other police departments; and enforce laws pertaining to the off-road vehicles.

“We cannot address this problem alone and we are asking for the public’s help to put an end to these dangerous and disruptive rideouts in the city,” police Cmdr. Eric Holmes said.

Residents who see off-road vehicles on public streets are encouraged to email the police department at 412_TIPS@pittsburghpa.gov.