How about ‘insuring’ the rest of us against ATV damage?
I sent the following letter to Outdoors Unlimited, the monthly magazine of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, of which I’m a member. The letter appears in the November issue.
I just read the Supporter Spotlight press release “Nationwide offers tips on insuring ATVs” in the October issue, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of the sad irony implicit in such damage insurance policies.
Last February, I received a similar notice from Allstate. The insurance company said it was giving “adrenaline junkies … a new reason to smile” by offering coverage to off-road vehicle owners, specifically “physical damage coverage.” Allstate promised to insure ORVs for “off-road hazards that could cause direct physical loss or damage. This includes theft, fire, collision, damage-in-transit and vandalism.”
Well, I had to ask for clarification. Was Allstate offering to cover the costs of property damage caused by ATV riders/policyholders? Was the company offering to pay restitution to property owners who suffer wetland damage, rutting and erosion issues due to illegal ATV riding by its customers? How about compensating resorts and public park managers for lost income when ATV engine noise, pollution and damage chase away the majority of outdoor recreationists who are hikers, bicyclists and birders?
Of course not, was Allstate’s reply. “No, we do not cover illegal operation of the vehicle,” I was told by a company spokesman.
But this begs the question: Who does pay for the increasing presence of ORVs on the landscape? Well, it’s not the owners of the machines. Private landowners and taxpayers are left to deal with the aftermath of this growing invasion.
“(ATV) riding is considered such a right that most states do not require ATV users to buy liability insurance for property damage or personal injury,” reports Paul R. Stephenson in his new book “Motorized Obsessions: Life, Liberty and the Small-Bore Engine.” He says only ATV owners in New York and Pennsylvania must carry liability insurance.
Yet the tide is rising against ATV riders who are failing to be held accountable for their trespassing and vandalism. In Maine, “landowners complained that irresponsible users had damaged their property and that they no longer wished to permit ATV users to have access to it, especially since no mitigation fund existed to facilitate repair of the damage,” according to Stephenson.
In my home state, the Wisconsin All-Terrain Vehicle Association has claimed to support creation of an ATV damage mitigation fund which would be funded with ATV registration fees and/or ATV gas taxes. But WATVA has simultaneously criticized an existing model fund, barely three years old, in neighboring Minnesota.
Until the so-called promoters of off-road motor sports – be they pressure groups like WATVA, insurance companies or ORV manufacturers – start “insuring” the public against the “wreakreation” that results, maybe OWAA ought to refrain from regurgitating press releases like that of Nationwide.
And if you thought ATV and hook-and-bullet enthusiasts were joined at the hip, think again. The report “Collision Course?: ORV Impacts on Hunting and Fishing,” recently released by the Izaak Walton League of America, includes many examples of conflict between these outdoor interests. The report can be downloaded here.
– Joel Patenaude