Nunavut hamlet cracks down on reckless ATV drivers

A new traffic bylaw in Rankin Inlet aims to put the lid on the community’s longstanding problems with risky all-terrain vehicle driving. (FILE PHOTO)

The Hamlet of Rankin Inlet wants to clamp down on the dangerous driving of all-terrain vehicles in their community of about 3,000 people with new traffic regulations focusing on ATV safety.

“The goal for this program is compliance, which means getting people to obey the bylaws. Bylaw officers will not discriminate with their friends or relatives,” said the hamlet’s municipal enforcement head and fire chief Mark Wyatt, when introducing the new bylaw on the Rankin Inlet Facebook page.

This month, bylaw officers Kelly Kabvitok and Kyle Lowe will start to hand out tickets, which come with fines to ATV drivers who speed or break other laws.

ATVs racing around this town is something many have complained about for years—with some young drivers doing wheelies on ATVs and racing through stop signs late into the night.

But that’s all due to change.

The new bylaw officials will ensure that drivers keep to a maximum of 50 kilometres per hour in town but stay at 20 km in school or other speed-restricted zones.

They’ll also make sure ATVs are properly registered and, as the legal age to drive an ATV in Nunavut is 14, children under 14 will not be allowed to drive on ATVs in town “at any time.”

And everyone will be obliged to wear a helmet, according to the bylaw.

As well, bylaw officers will make sure that maximum number of people on an ATV is two: the driver and one passenger.

The only exception, the bylaw says, is for a baby in an amauti.

The tickets will come with fines:

• from $25 to $75 for speeding;

• $25 for unlawful operation of an ATV by person under 14;

• $25 for contravening helmet regulations;

• $25 for operation of an ATV with more than two persons;

• $25 without certificate of registration or insurance; and,

• up to $500 for dangerous driving

For second offences, the fines will rise up to $200, the bylaw states.

Bylaw officers will be on duty 8:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays, from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturdays, and will remain on call for emergencies.

Most in Rankin Inlet, responding to news about the new traffic bylaw appeared to welcome the bylaw, with a post from one woman dismissing those who criticized the new rules:

“All summer long people were complaining on this page about kids driving recklessly. A solution that’s very reasonable comes up and there’s more complaints? At least this is being enforced before someone gets seriously injured. People buy a pack of smokes for $23? I don’t think $25 is unreasonable.”

Rankin Inlet’s bylaw comes ahead of Nunavut’s new Traffic Safety Act, which comes into force on Dec. 31, 2018, and will put the minimum age for ATV drivers even higher, at 15 years.