2016 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 14 - Motor Vehicles. Use of the Highway By Vehicles. Gasoline
Chapter 255 - Snowmobiles, All-Terrain Vehicles, Dirt Bikes and Mini-Motorcycles
Section 14-390m - Municipal regulation of operation and use of dirt bikes and mini-motorcycles on public property. Penalties. Seizure and forfeiture.
(a) Any municipality that adopts an ordinance pursuant to section 7-148 to regulate the operation and use on public property, including hours of use, of dirt bikes or mini-motorcycles may prescribe a penalty for violation of such ordinance (1) in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars for a first violation, in an amount not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars for a second violation and in an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars for a third or subsequent violation, and (2) in the case of a municipality with a population of twenty thousand or more, to provide for the seizure and forfeiture to the municipality of such dirt bike or mini-motorcycle for violation of such ordinance, subject to any bona fide lien, lease or security interest in the dirt bike or mini-motorcycle, including, but not limited to, a lien under section 14-66c.
(b) No dirt bike or mini-motorcycle shall be forfeited under an ordinance adopted pursuant to this section to the extent of the interest of an owner or lienholder by reason of any act or omission committed by another person if such owner or lienholder did not know and could not have reasonably known that such dirt bike or mini-motorcycle was being used or was intended to be used in violation of a municipal ordinance.
(c) Any dirt bike or mini-motorcycle ordered forfeited pursuant to such an ordinance shall be sold at public auction conducted by the municipality. The proceeds of such sale shall be paid to the treasurer of the municipality, who shall deposit such proceeds into the general fund of the municipality.
(d) For the purposes of this section and section 7-148, (1) “dirt bike” means a two-wheeled motorized recreational vehicle designed to travel over unimproved terrain and not designed for travel on a highway, as defined in section 14-1. “Dirt bike” does not include an all-terrain vehicle, as defined in section 14-379, or a motor-driven cycle, as defined in section 14-1, and (2) “mini-motorcycle” has the same meaning as provided in section 14-289j.
(P.A. 13-154, S. 1; P.A. 16-208, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 16-208 designated existing provisions re municipal ordinance re operation and use of dirt bikes on public property as Subsec. (a) and amended same by adding reference to mini-motorcycles and making a technical change, designated existing provision re penalties as Subdiv. (1) and added Subdiv. (2) re seizure and forfeiture of dirt bike or mini-motorcycle in case of municipality with population of 20,000 or more, added Subsec. (b) re exception to forfeiture, added Subsec. (c) re sale at public auction of forfeited dirt bike or mini-motorcycle, and designated existing provision re definition of “dirt bike” as Subsec. (d)(1) and further amended Subsec. (d) by adding Subdiv. (2) re definition of “mini-motorcycle”.
