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Off-Road Riders Fined while Riding on their Own Property:
Four teens in Hampden, Massachusetts, were fined $750 each by the Massachusetts Environmental Police while riding on their own property. The teens were riding on land owned by the parents of one of the boys, with the parents' permission, when the environmental police arrived and questioned them for two and a half hours. In the end, each teen received a $250 fine for operating an unregistered recreational vehicle, and a $500 fine for the operation of a recreational vehicle without a safety certification.
Speaking to 22News, Melanie Beck said her son and three friends were riding around her wooded yard, with her permission, when Massachusetts Environmental Police arrived and questioned the boys before handing out the fines. Beck wondered why the boys were not given a warning instead of a fine, considering the laws that they broke are apparently not well known in the area. She says other parents in the area have taken to social media to express their displeasure with the fines.
One of the teens told 22News that they were just trying to have fun, in contrast to other teens "doing drugs and vaping" instead of participating in outdoor activities.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Environmental Police, Craig Gilvarg, told 22News that safety education requirements for young riders have been in place since 2010. Additionally, the state of Massachusetts requires all recreational vehicles operated on public and private lands to be registered through the Massachusetts Environmental Police.
Earlier in February, 22News reported that ATV and dirt bike riders riding on city streets have been an ongoing issue in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts, saying that they had received multiple viewer complaints about the illegal activity. Police there have used undercover cars, motorcycles, and cameras to attempt to stop the problem, and have asked the public to keep an eye out for where the riders might be storing their vehicles.
See also: Four teens fined $750 for violating dirt bike laws in Hampden; What are the rules?
Environmental police? Huh? They're just jealous because they can't get it up, let alone up on two!
(Score: 5, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Monday March 23 2020, @07:40PM (3 children)
Neighbors heard the noise and called 'em, probably directly.
We had a "helpful neighbor" who would call the local DEP anytime she heard a chainsaw, and the DEP is obligated to investigate. I cleared some scrub from the back of our property to put in a swingset, out of sight of the road so as not to piss off the HOA, but, instead, "helpful neighbor" called the DEP on me who - grudgingly - came out, observed what I had done, and wrote me a formal letter requiring me to "remediate" my property back to the wild state (meaning, 30 years of untended growth after having been cleared when the home was constructed) it was in before I installed the swingset - as they are required to do by the statutes that they are employed to enforce. The DEP agent also informed me that "helpful neighbor" is usually out of town on weekends, so if I have any chain-sawing that I want to do I can do it then and they won't get called out on me.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @08:50PM
remember sendpoop is a thing.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @09:36PM
I'd have a recording of a chainsaw running every 40 minutes of every hour all weekdays.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 24 2020, @12:56AM
HOAs, HMOs, what a country!
Remember when the cops used to give a warning shot?
Old black guy has this antique car with one of those old horns you squeeze the bulb, and it would go, "Honk-KEE, Honk-KEE"
So his white neighbor fires up the chain saw, "RRUNNNN niggerniggerniggernigger
Dress up as Leatherface next Halloween.