Judith Cummins MP's quad bikes bill a start to tackling menace - The Yorkshire Post says

While many of the region’s rural farm workers will know the benefits of owning the vehicles for agriculture purposes such as herding cattle, their anti-social use in more populated areas has become a menace, and according to West Yorkshire Police figures is on the rise.

Labour MP for Bradford South, Judith Cummins, who has come up with a new bill to tackle the issue, noted in her presentation of it that most off-road quads are not approved for use on public highways because they do not meet road safety standards. A lack of registration also means that they are harder to trace by police.

Many will be snatched from the countryside in the first place: the National Farmers’ Union estimates that some 1,100 quad bikes are stolen from farms each year, costing more than £3m.

Not only are they a source of noise pollution and damage to our landscapes when used improperly, the chief issue is that they can be a risk to the safety of drivers and pedestrians.

Police can seize the vehicles but won’t give chase if they judge that they cannot risk injury to various parties, meaning that to take action, they must link a quad being used anti-socially to an owner with an address.

One element of the Quad Bikes Bill is extending the registration scheme to cover all quad bikes, including those allowed for off-road use only, to establish a clear line of ownership.

It would be a good start in formal efforts to tackle a growing scourge.