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All-terrain vehicle definition could be expanded in Ontario if private member’s bill passes


March 2, 2015   by Canadian Underwriter


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A private member’s bill proposing to let Ontarians drive “utility task” vehicles – on highways on which all-terrain vehicles may also be driven – recently passed second reading at Queen’s Park.

A Polaris Ranger“This bill is about expanding the definition of (all-terrain vehicles) to include utility task vehicles,” said Norm Miller, the MPP who sponsored Bill 58, in the Ontario legislature Feb. 26.

If passed into law with no amendments, Bill 58 would change the Highway Traffic Act to stipulate that “no person shall drive an off-road vehicle on a highway except in accordance with the stated exceptions.”

One of those exceptions would be utility task vehicles, which people would be able to drive on any highways where ATVs can be driven.

“Those would be vehicles like a Polaris Ranger or – there are various different models made, by Bombardier, Honda, Kawasaki and Argo,” said Miller, Progressive Conservative MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka. “In most cases, being able to use a road is just to be able to access a trail. I might have a 100-acre lot down the road that I want to cut firewood on. I want to be able to drive legally down the dirt road to access that woodlot and then come back without breaking the law.”

Currently, municipalities have the authority to determine whether or not off-road vehicles (ORVs) should be allowed access to roads under their authority, according to background information posted to the website of the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

The Off-Road Vehicles Act defines an ORV as “a vehicle propelled or driven otherwise than by muscular power or wind,” and designed to travel either on not more than three wheels, or on more than three wheels and “being of a prescribed class of vehicle.”

Ontario regulation 316/03 includes, in its definition of ATV, a vehicle which is four-wheeled, has steering handlebars, a seat that is designed to be straddled by the driver and is not designed to carry passengers.

That regulation specifies the conditions under which off-road vehicles may be driven on roads. For example, off-road vehicles must have auto insurance.

“The definition of an ATV is a vehicle that has four wheels, carries one person and that you straddle – so quite specific,” Miller said Feb. 26 in the legislature.

Related: Ontario court rules farmer driving uninsured ATV on road not foreclosed from claiming income replacement

Bill 58 would change the definition of ATV to include one that is designed either to carry a driver or

“a driver and no more than one passenger.”

Bill 58 would define UTV as an off-road vehicle that “is designed for utility applications or uses on all terrains,” has four or more wheels, a seat that “is not designed to be straddled by the driver” and carries a driver and one or more passengers.

“The more rural municipalities tend to be freer in terms of allowing use of ATVs,” Miller said, adding that most municipalities in his riding “allow ATVs pretty much anywhere on the roads.”

Related: Supreme Court rejects appeal applications in dispute over homeowner policy vehicle exclusion

A New Democratic Party MPP, Gilles Bisson, spoke in favour of Bill 58.

“These particular vehicles, I would argue, are a lot safer and afford an opportunity for people to be able to use these things for everything from clearing the snow on their driveways to hauling the garbage to the dump to taking a ride out with your loved one,” said Bisson, MPP for Timmins-James Bay. “These particular vehicles, I would argue, are a much safer vehicle than others out there that are available for people to be able to cruise the bush with.”

Bill 58 has been referred to the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly.


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