Bucks Co. Police Cracking Down On Illegal Quad, Bike 'Ride-Outs'

BRISTOL BOROUGH, PA — Police in Bucks County are joining a growing chorus of law-enforcement agencies asking for help as they try to stop people riding quads and dirt bikes illegally, and dangerously.

In a post Thursday, the Bristol Borough Police Department said officers are seeing a rise in people using off-road vehicles illegally. They said it's becoming a problem across the country and that they're cracking down "in an attempt to avert a tragedy."

Police are asking residents who know the identity of people who have been operating quads and motorcycles dangerously in the borough to contact them. They're also requesting any photos or videos residents may have of dangerous riding.

Local police are echoing a sentiment that's being shared by authorities across the nation and in other countries. Last week, police in Pittsburgh also announced plans to crack down on illegal quad and dirt bike riders.

So-called "ride-outs," in which groups get together to ride bikes and ATVs, often recklessly, on city and suburban streets have become increasingly popular, authorities say. The vehicles are legal, but it is illegal to ride most of them on city streets.

In January, police in south Florida made seven felony arrests, along with four for misdemeanors and another five for traffic offenses, during an annual event originally meant to honor civil-rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. but which police say has turned hundreds of people from across the country gathering to ride dangerously.

Last month, police in Philadelphia arrested an ATV rider they say assaulted a driver and, at one point, grabbed a handgun. According to police, the ATV rider was part of a group riding together when they stopped short in traffic and the motorist struck him.

The attack began after the motorist got out of his vehicle to make sure the ATV rider was OK, police said.

"Like most, I was both shocked and sickened by the utter lawlessness I saw in that video," Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said, according to 6ABC.

The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that from 2015 to 2017 — the last years for which there are complete numbers — there were 2,258 deaths associated with off-road vehicles. Of those, the CPSC says 1,697 involved ATVs, or quads.

Over a 5-year period from 2015-2019, the commission estimates there were 524,600 emergency-room injuries associated with off-road vehicles.

In Bucks County, Bensalem Township Police issued a public reminder in January about ATV rules and regulations. In February, Middletown Township Police said they were patrolling the Highland Park area after reports of quads being ridden recklessly.

In 2019, people on a quad and two dirt bikes tore up turf during a joy ride at Tawanka Elementary School in Lower Southampton and, that same year, an 18-year-old Bensalem High School student was killed when the dirt bike police say he was riding at high speed crashed into an SUV.