Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department officials would like locals to comment on a recent grant submitted to the state to pay for an education and safety course for off-highway vehicle drivers.
Recreation Supervisor Dennis Smitherman said the grant money, if approved, would fund education classes at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center and a hands-on driving component most likely at the Oceano Dunes.
“We want people riding safe, riding smart, and riding ethically,” Smitherman said, adding that the classes will also teach people how to pick up on the cues of other riders and help them better understand the local riding culture.
He said the city applied for the grant in an effort to decrease the number of accidents at the dunes and in other areas on the Central Coast. There have also been some complaints of people riding their ATVs and motorcycles in unauthorized areas, such as the Santa Maria riverbed.
Officials were also concerned by a 2011 U.S. Consumer Product Safety report that documented a 2.5 percent increase in OHV-related deaths and accidents over the last several years.
“What we want to do is lower those numbers or eliminate them altogether with programming like this,” Smitherman said.
In an interview with the Sun, Dena Bellman, park and recreation specialist for the Oceano Dunes District, explained that the majority of OHV accidents occur on private property as opposed to park land.
“[The Oceano Dunes] has such a low accident rate compared to its visitation rate,” she said. “Last year, we had 1.7 million visitors and 150 accidents, 25 percent of which were property damage only.”
Bellman said the district supports the city’s grant because it will help riders who maybe can’t afford to take safety education classes, which cost approximately $120 for adults. If children want to take a course, however, the state will pay for it.
The month-long public review and comment period for the grant runs through April 7. The final grant applications are due May 5.
The grant is available for review at ohv.parks.ca.gov; call Smitherman to request a hard copy at 925-0951, Ext. 263.
This article appears in Mar 13-20, 2014.