County of Wetaskiwin: Off Highway Vehicles

[meierjn]

Just a warning for all of those that ride in the County of Wetaskiwin... We were out at Pigeon Lake for the family day weekend as we have been for the last 5 years. We rented 3 rooms at pigeon Lake Village for the family, kids, and relatives and planned on a nice weekend of sledding as we had had in the past. Well, on day two we get pulled over by one of the County Peace officers. He explains to us that we were breaking the law by riding in the ditch North/East of the Village to access the lake. I have to tell you we were nowhere near any major highway but I guess the definition of a highway according to the Alberta Traffic Safety Act includes ditches on any roadway, and not just the single and double numbered highway’s as I thought. We had never had issues with the RCMP there before! He then explained to us that he could impound the sleds and it would cost us about $1500-$2000 per sled when all was said and done. My brother-in-law and I were then each issued $230 tickets and both of our wives let off with a warning. Maybe I am just venting but I am doing a lot of research trying just to find out what is and isn’t legal. We had never had issues with the local RCMP before. Any help would be appreciated. The Peace Officer did give me the document in the link below. Let me know what you think.

 

[Sledderglen]

Looks like Stratchona County anti-motorized bylaw is getting around. When will it ever end. Wetaskwin time to get organized to make some changes must be a election coming up soon?

 

[CaribooSlyder]

Wow that is steep You would think they would just warn you.

 

[nosmoke]

i got the sama thing in strathcona,230 bucks for crossing the road. fight it i am just ask for full disclosure and see if the cops can find yours because they cant seem to find mine.

 

[m8welder]

I think eventualy all counties are going to try to imply that law as there are to many morons getting hurt or killed on these things. It is sad that we all must pay for it though......soon the only place to ride will be on private property.I just as soon try to out run them and take my chances.

 

[highmark x]

I wouldn't have stopped, just saying.:d

 

[clint/KTM/16]

what do they stop you with? car or snowmobile? if it was car i would have just pinned it lol. mind you, you had your family with ya.:d

 

[RETODD]

That is steep...we've never had a problem out in the County of Parkland.

 

[stuckenough]

Just a warning for all of those that ride in the County of Wetaskiwin... We were out at Pigeon Lake for the family day weekend as we have been for the last 5 years. We rented 3 rooms at pigeon Lake Village for the family, kids, and relatives and planned on a nice weekend of sledding as we had had in the past. Well, on day two we get pulled over by one of the County Peace officers. He explains to us that we were breaking the law by riding in the ditch North/East of the Village to access the lake. I have to tell you we were nowhere near any major highway but I guess the definition of a highway according to the Alberta Traffic Safety Act includes ditches on any roadway, and not just the single and double numbered highway’s as I thought. We had never had issues with the RCMP there before! He then explained to us that he could impound the sleds and it would cost us about $1500-$2000 per sled when all was said and done. My brother-in-law and I were then each issued $230 tickets and both of our wives let off with a warning. Maybe I am just venting but I am doing a lot of research trying just to find out what is and isn’t legal. We had never had issues with the local RCMP before. Any help would be appreciated. The Peace Officer did give me the document in the link below. Let me know what you think.

I think that if the Gov't is willing to take your cash for registration, they should lax off on some of the off road laws. Either that or quit with the registration cash grab.
Some counties actually allow you to ride the roads and ditches. It should just be universal and a guy would'nt have to decipher where or where not it's safe to ride. Besides...there must be worse crimes to fight other than you and your family out for a ride. Maybe there's no crimes in the County of Wetaskawin, other than yours.

 

[SHIFTmx]

Buddy got stopped outside vermilion for same thing. Never had a problem before but cop said they will be stopping everyone now.

 

[PullThePin]

Lame! Riding with your family too! Some cops are wankers especially some of the cops out at the lake. The lake sucked for riding anyway I guess. I was out there on Monday came down the highway ditch lol. Cop would never catch me but I don't have kids yet.

 

[Sleeper700]

That is steep...we've never had a problem out in the County of Parkland.

I was talking to the officer at the Trailseekers Poker Rally, and he confirmed the following:

All Alberta Highways INCLUDING the ditches are illegal to ride UNLESS the local county/municipality passes a bylaw stating that it is not (eg. Whitecourt). Most officers don't bother with people as long as they are riding safely, but there are certain areas (eg. Strathcona) that have gone the other way, and made it a point to either follow the provincial laws, or make more stringent bylaws. The easiest way to know is to talk to your local government (county or municipality). They will be able to tell you if they are following the provincial law, or if they have their own bylaw.

Parkland County, from what the Officer knows, does not have any bylaw saying it is legal or not the use in the ditches, so it defaults to the Alberta law, which says it is not legal.

 

[ZRrrr]

Parkland County is one of few where they have a bylaw ALLOWING OHV use as per the rules they have set out:

 

[badss]

My God.....don't they have anything better to do than to bother a family out having some fun!!!!???? Like maybe go catch a crook or a snowmobile theif....isn't there any common sense left in this world....and then people wonder why some of them aren't respected....go figure!

 

[mxz sledhead]

Hey there retodd there is a new law in the county of parkland you are not to
drive ohv in the ditches in the county i personally gave a moron counselor a
tongue lashing told him that sleds and quads are to separate ohv and can't
use a blanket law on this problem he expected sled to drive down roads to thick between the ear to understand the danger there putting sledders in
their that inner voice again.

 

[meierjn]

Thanks for all of the replies. Running is not an option. If you, or somone else is hurt you are in a whole world of trouble. If you are caught, you are in a whole lot more trouble, and since I was with family it is out of the question. I am going to speak with some local RCMP and see what there take is on the charge. As far as I can tell by reading the Alberta Traffic Safety Act is that I may be screwed if it comes down to what the Act states.

We have a cabin in the Summer Village of Grandview where they have a bylaw that allows the use of OHVs as long as they are insured, registered, and the operators are wearing helmets. There is always the option of fighting it in court and hoping for a lenient judge. The hotel we stayed at may also express there opinion with the County on the charges. They may lose a lot of winter guests if the County Peace Officers are going to be as sticky as they are...

 

[Summiteer]

Talking to the bylaw enforcement officer in town here it seems that most bylaw enforcement is complaint driven. It's possible that the county fuzz works the same way, they get a bunch of calls complaining about sledders in the ditch ruining their peace and quiet and the pseudo cops have no choice but to crack down.

 

[meierjn]

I was going to mention that that may lead to the Peace Officers actions but the coffee hadn't kicked in yet. He did only charge my brother-in-law and me. He could have also charged both of our wives as well who didn't even have their driver's licenses with them! He also reminded me again that we should all have our license plates attached to our sleds which were tucked away in our storage areas. That could have been another fine. He suggested that we mount them to the sides of our tunnels however it states in the Alberta Highway Safety Act that they have to be mounted on the rear! I discussed with him that I have lost far too many plates that way but that's a whole other thread that we have all discussed!

 

[hogster008]

Been riding around there my hole life and the first thing my father told me is to never stop if you have an out. The county mountme's are very unreasonable around there. There is a rumor that the county was going to give the farmrs a special card to allow them to ride there quads sleds down the ditches. There have been a couple of attempts to get a bylaw passed to allow sleds quads to ride in the ditches which failed. My thoughts are if you are not trespassing not harming anything there is no need for the cops. But there are a lot of older people out there that complain to cops to much about the sleds and quads and the cops try to fix this.

 

[fargineyesore]

I will never camp at Pigeon Lake again. I had nothing but trouble with the a##hole law enforcement types there, and saw them walking around hassling other campers and day users all weekend long. It seems as though the sled/quad cops are the same. I don't know what it is with that area, maybe it's a training ground for new recruits.