The Alberta Off Highway Vehicle Association is encouraging organizations and individual OHV users to fill out a short survey regarding opinions of mandatory helmet use.

The survey will be active until Sept 25, 2016 and is available for both individuals and organization here: Take the Survey

Traffic Safety Act consultation

Share your thoughts about helmet use for Off-Highway Vehicles (OHVs) on public land and penalties for drivers traveling at excessive speeds on Alberta roads.

We’re consulting with Albertans to understand attitudes and opinions towards Off-Highway Vehicle helmet use on public land and towards excessive speeding penalties. This is being done to improve safety on Alberta’s roadways.

Helmets for Off-Highway Vehicles

Alberta Health Services (AHS) data show that between 2009 and 2013, on average, more than 21 people were killed in Alberta as a result of OHV use each year. Medical examiner statistics show that 41 per cent of ATV deaths are a result of head injuries.

Any changes to the law will not apply to helmets worn on private land. Survey respondents will also be asked for their thoughts on additional exemptions based on age of riders and what the OHV is being used for.

Survey participants will be asked to respond to questions about OHV helmet use on public land.

Off-Highway Vehicle Collisions (0.3 MB)

Excessive Speed

Alberta Transportation statistics show that, on average, there are 1,165 convictions for speeding more than 50 km/h over the limit in the province each year. Drivers traveling at this speed are subject to a mandatory court appearance where a judge can impose penalties such as a fine or license suspension.

Participants will help determine if more severe penalties for excessive speed are needed and what penalties are appropriate.

Collisions Involving Unsafe Speed (0.02 MB)

The Government of Alberta is considering amendments to the Traffic Safety Act (0.7 MB), which will be based on the responses gathered from this survey.  Legislation is expected to follow in the Fall 2016 session.

As you are likely well aware, Alberta has announced a province wide fire ban.  In addition to banning open fires and charcoal briquettes, they have also banned incendiary shooting targets.  Currently, the province has not taken measures to ban OHV use but is pleading for us to limit OHV use as much as possible.

I you do ride this weekend, please ensure your spark arrestors are in place and that you are vigilant about keeping your exhaust and muffler clear of burnable debris.

• Check Alberta Fire Bans before going out, and follow ALL instructions.
  
• If camping, do not leave cooking stoves or lanterns unattended.
  
• Avoid OHV use as much as possible.
  
• Do not throw out lit cigarettes.
  

Curious what a load of 100 ATV mats looks like?  We just picked up 100 mats which are target for the Stanger Hills trail system.  Now all we need to do is install them, so stay tuned for work bee announcements to do just that.

It was great to see new faces at the club ride on Friday.  We had a great turnout and the weather was fantastic.  Although the trails were still a little too frozen for us to do a proper maintenance assessment, we still had a great ride.  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did!

My camera was acting up, so I didn't get very many pictures.  You can check out the ones I did get in our photo gallery: 2015 Trail Maintenance

It was great to see a few new faces at the AGM again this year.  Thank you all for your participation.

The board members for the 2015/2016 year were elected as follows:

President:	Brad Jouan
Vice President:	Eric Gerhardt
Trail Boss:	Cam Beaulieu
Secretary:	Dean Bradko
Treasurer:	Melinie Beaulieu
Directors:	Marvin Eckert
	Lawrence Lal
	Dan MacKinnon
	Steve McMann
	Matt Persini

 

In the end, there were no changes to the executives but we now have a fresh crew of directors.  The board would like to extend a thank you to thank the 2014/2015 directors (John Bodnaruk, Carlos Ives, Jesse Jouan, and Nicole Kott) for their hard work and dedication over the past year. 

We require four volunteers for the Kids Novelty OHV Challenge on Sunday, Feb 15.  We will need two people to man the registration desk and another two to mark the track and direct participants.  

Likewise, we could use an extra hand or two with the Poker Rally on Monday, Feb 16.

If you are interested in helping out, please send an e-mail info@LacSteAnneAtvClub.com

We would like to send out a sincere and well deserved thank you to all who volunteered for the work bee on Oct 25.  With a record turnout of 24 people, we were able to quickly complete our work, allowing us time to socialize and ride.  

We did some routine brush cleanup and manged to lay down 14 fiberglass ATV mats.  Some pictures of the work bee have been uploaded to our new photo gallery section:  Oct 2014 Trail Maintenance Photos

Great job everyone!!!

Are you a road warrior?

Faster, more skilled, more daring than the driver beside you at that red light?

Do you want to test your skill and compete for the chance of a cash prize and the title of Canada’s best Ice Road Racer?

Then we want to meet you!

 Corkscrew Media and CMT (County Music Television)

are casting for a fast, fun and audacious new series:

ICE ROAD RACERS

If you are between the ages of 18 – 75 and think you can go head to head with the best drivers in the country -

Tell us why - and if you have the speed and the precision you’ll be chosen to compete for the prize and the title.

ICE ROAD RACERS is about speed, accuracy and audacity

Do you have what it takes?

If you are interested, please contact Melissa at:

racer@corkscrewmedia.net

We will be holding auditions October 25 – November 2, 2014

In Calgary, Edmonton and Northern Alberta

If you are chosen for the show, we will be filming:

 December 2014 – February 2015

Thanks to all the racers and spectators who showed up to make this our best year yet! We hope everyone had a great time yesterday - the directors, volunteers, and sponsors sure did. See you again next year!

Check out the pictures in our new Picture Gallery.

Here's the winners from this year's event.