GUYSBOROUGH — Free-wheeling four-wheel vehicle use in parts of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) made it to the agenda at the committee of the whole (COW) meeting July 3, as councillors pondered how to crack down on increasing incidents of dangerous driving.
“I was [recently] in Canso attending a concert and there was a four-wheeler coming down with no lights on and a little bit to our side of middle of the line in the road,” District 3 Councillor Neil DeCoff said. “It was scary. What if there is a major issue, like an accident or death? There seems to be an awful lot [of this]... There’s been a lot of discussion in the past couple of weeks of the erratic behaviour of four-wheelers.”
He added: “I know we’ve brought this [issue] to the RCMP, and they’ve said there’s nothing they can do about it. But, I can’t understand why they can’t go in and take the machines from [the drivers]. Because, it gives a bad image.”
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Shawn Carroll noted that any “peace officer” can enforce the province’s off-highway vehicle act, which covers ATVs, such as four-wheelers or quads and side-by-side vehicles. “But true enforcement of infractions lies with... conservation officers of the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables and not technically the RCMP.”
Added Chief Administrative Officer Barry Carroll: “It’s a difficult one. We talk about staying in our lane and, as a municipality, what we want to be regulating or doing. We have no method to enforce this. It’s a provincial government issue.”
Warden Vernon Pitts suggested that, if the problem does lie outside the RCMP’s obvious jurisdiction, a more direct approach might be appropriate.
“Maybe we have to approach the Department of Justice to see if there can be some kind of law implemented,” he said.
The local detachment of the RCMP is scheduled to present its most recent quarterly report at the next regular meeting of council on Wednesday, July 17.
