Philadelphia officials call for renewed push to get ATV's off city streets
PORT RICHMOND - There’s a new push to get illegal ATV’s off the road, after a woman dies in an ATV crash in the Holmesburg section of the city, the second deadly crash with an ATV this week.
"You know, at some point, we’ve got to start caring about others. We’ve got to stop doing the wrong thing. We’ve gotta stop thinking we can do whatever we want, because it’s not fair," Angel said.
Angel commented that it broke his heart that a young woman was killed Thursday night riding an illegal ATV with a pack of others on State Road near the prisons. The worst part, he says, is how tragically avoidable it is.
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"I don’t appreciate the fact that people just do whatever they want. And, it happens all the time. You see it every day. They do it in North Philly, they do it around here, especially on weekends. It’s a group thing. It’s really a group thing," Angel added.
It is a group thing, often at an Amera station on Aramingo where dozens of riders often gather to ride unregistered, uninsured off-road vehicles in packs, with apparent little regard for others. It was a single high-speed biker riding a wheelie who reportedly killed a young skateboarder on Allegheny on Sunday, then ran off.
"What do you do?" asked FOX 29’s Hank Flynn.
"I don’t know. And, from what I understand, the police can’t do much because their hands are tied," a Philadelphia resident answered.
Police typically do hold off on chases because of the increased danger to everyone of that high-speed activity, but the problem persists in many cities and may be growing here.
"One thing I know for sure is that it has to be a priority move forward. It doesn’t seem like it has been. It’s been a priority for a couple of council members, but I think it needs to be a priority for everyone," Councilmember Mark Squilla lamented.
Squilla, along with Councilmembers Alan Domb and Derek Green got a bill passed last year that finally enabled confiscation of the vehicles. The three are pushing other new bills regarding cameras and new tactics.
"The best place is when they’re stopped, obviously. If we see them parked, an ATV parked on our streets, we should be able to approach them, engage them and confiscate those vehicles when they’re parked," Squilla added.