Metro To Crack Down On OHV Roadway Use

Local Metropolitan police officials plan to begin tightening up enforcement on the illegal use of off-highway vehicles (OHV) on Moapa Valley highways and roads. In a public comment made at the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board (MVTAB) meeting on April 29, Metro Sergeant Brett Empey stated that the community needed to clarify the rules for the public and for local law enforcement.

Empey explained that the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS 490) allows for specific portions of public roads or highways to be designated for OHV use. “There are statutes that allow these provisions to be made,” Empey said. “My challenge to the board is to explore that. Without (those designations) we have, at best, a willy-nilly approach to our enforcement.”

Empey said that Metro has seen a recent increase in OHV use on the highway and other paved roads. Specifically, local officers have noticed a substantial increase in people from out of town who ride the trails but then come down onto surface streets to connect to points in town, Empey said.

“The word is out in areas north of us that this is a OHV friendly community,” Empey said. “But we are not. At least, there is nothing currently in the law that makes it that way. By statute there is currently no rule that allows people to drive an OHV on the highway or on the pavement anywhere.”

In addition, Metro officers are seeing more and more locals that are using ATVs for general transportation in the community, Empey said. “People are taking them to pick up kids from school, to drive downtown to the store or to the restaurants,” Empey said. “I have no problem with any of that. But the trouble is there is no way to accomodate any of that in the law.”

Empey urged the board to work with the community and the county to designate OHV friendly routes in the community.

Clark County Northeast Liaison, Matt LaCroix stated that this subject was being dealt with in the open space/trails planning procees that is currently ongoing. LaCroix stated that those plans would integrate all of the BLM lands on the east bench of the lower valley that are marked for disposal. “The plan comprehends the area at the point when it has reached full development and provides for access through those areas out to the open land beyond, where we will recreate,” LaCroix said.

The plans also included designating routes and trails inside of the currently developed community, LaCroix said.

In the meantime, Empey said that Metro would be doing a media campaign and working to put signs out on the highway; getting the word out that it is not legal to drive an OHV on the roadway. “That’s it, really,” Empey said. “The message is, if you are on the asphalt (with an OHV) we will cite you.”