A mind-boggling manoeuvre by an ATV operator on a jam-packed four-lane highway through the Town of Paradise last weekend has stirred up a lot of people who wonder if there’s a way to keep the machines of the road. The operator was fortunate not to have been seriously injured.

Many municipalities struggle in that regard, but the problem of illegal road use never goes away. One can make an argument that, in some areas, it has only worsened.

Paradise Mayor Dan Bobbett says the communities frequently talk with each other on that issue. His town has enforcement personnel with access to off-road machines but they will not actually engage in pursuit with the offenders.

He says the greatest problem seems to be with operators who are underage. The mayor had an encounter with an ATV last year.

It was at a busy intersection on Topsail Road. The operator, with an unlicensed machine, popped a wheelie and went right through the intersection. Mayor Bobbett could only shake his head.