Cass County’s New ATV Ordinance Goes into Effect

For over a year, Cass County has worked on constructing an ordinance regulating the use of all-terrain vehicles on county highways and public road right of ways, and now, the ordinance has gone into effect.

The ordinance aims to lower the maintenance costs of county-maintained highways and more importantly, increase safety. Now, as of Thursday, May 16, all ATVs that are used on county highways must follow the same direction of travel as other vehicular traffic and remain on the far right side of the paved or gravel surface.

Before the ordinance, ATV riders in Cass County would operate regularly in the ditches alongside county roads.

“That is where the most hazards are, whether it’s a guideline or wire, rocks, culverts, hazards like that, fence posts, signpost,” explained Cass County Sheriff Bryan Welk. “So that made sense to get them all in one spot so that they’re operating consistent. We’re consistent with our neighbors, our neighboring counties, so that everybody’s on the road surface. You know, our goal is to make it safer for all operations. We’re getting the influx of ATV traffic and the sport is only growing.”

With the new ordinance, the priority for the county to raise as much awareness and education about it as possible.

“We’re going to educate by social media. We’re going to educate through traditional media means,” stated Sheriff Welk. “People are going to be confused. People come up from a different area and if you go to different counties, there’s different rules. So we want to be more consistent and safer. And that’s been the driving goal.”

“I think one of the underlying benefits of such an ordinance is that it causes some attention. It highlights the need to educate,” said Craig Wadzink, Wootick Wheelers ATV Club’s VP and Safety Officer. “And safety is all built around education.”

The county recognizes that some riders may not want change. They have been enjoying ATVs their whole lives and were taught a certain way. But with the new ordinance, Sheriff Welk believes the changes will positively impact ATV riding in Cass County.

“I do,” he said emphatically. “You know there’s … anything you do and change there’s going to be resistance. But overall it’s been really positive. We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from it. And I think that people will like the change.”

Sheriff Welk also told Lakeland News that the county will revisit the ordinance in a year to see if changes are needed. A copy of the current ordinance and a summary of the new rules can be found below: