Quads are excellent for off-road thrills, but probably not what you want to drive to your local gas pump, at least not if you reside in Ohio. Back in 2017, the Cleveland City Council passed an ordinance that let law enforcement cite those who drove an ATV or dirt bike to a gas station to fill it up. Failure to heed it will cost you a $100 fine and a misdemeanor. The rule stipulates that these vehicles must be on a trailer or moved by another vehicle. But wait, that was several years ago. Why the sudden interest now?
The law was passed in response to a rise in large, disruptive groups traveling Cleveland’s streets on ATV’s and dirt bikes, which aren’t street-legal in Ohio, creating a public nuisance. Apparently, a recent surge of this illegal activity — performing stunts, tying up traffic, and harassing police officers on city streets — has renewed efforts to curb the behavior.
Cleveland isn’t the only place experiencing this kind of activity, as dozens of ATV and dirt bike riders went joyriding through the streets of San Francisco in 2023. However, in a move that has many divided, Cleveland police have begun cracking down on gas stations for letting these groups fill up. In fact, while nobody has been ticketed for driving a quad up to a fuel pump, law enforcement has already handed out nine citations against gas stations.
Should gas station clerks be responsible for enforcing this law?
Gas station attendants are required by law to observe and stop certain actions at the pumps. For example, according to Ohio code 2304.2, the gas station attendant on duty is required to prevent anyone from putting fuel into unauthorized containers that don’t meet state requirements. Speaking with the media (per News 5 Cleveland), Police Chief Annie Todd noted that it’s against the law for a station to permit vehicles without plates or registration to fuel up and added, “We’re going back to look at the participants but also the gas stations to see if they were actually allowing them to pump gas.”…