Letters to the Editor

Letter: ATV lunacy

The governor and the Department of Public Safety currently are proposing to amend state regulations allowing for ATV and snowmachine travel on all state roads in areas with speed limits of 45 mph or less.

With the myriad of high-priority issues that the department should be dealing with, allowing unlicensed drivers, with no insurance, requirements for license plates, seat belts, turn signals and all the other things required by the state for drivers or automobiles is high on their list? I suspect that there may be some conflicts in rural Alaska communities, but for this regulation change to become effective statewide is just lunacy.

I cannot wait to share a stoplight in the middle of Kenai or Soldotna, at zero-dark-thirty, with a couple of 13-year-olds on their way to school on snowmachines. Drug-related crimes, missing persons, fraud, domestic violence, trooper retention and many other priorities can wait until the governor and the Department of Public Safety have some extra free time.

— Steven Russell

Nikiski

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