The South Rising Up...Against ATV Bill - UPDATE

(UPDATE: I had not considered the agenda-setting Senate Rules Committee, where the bill has been bottled as The Associated Press reports.)

Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin has expressed misgivings about the pending all-terrain vehicle bill to both The Charleston Gazette and the Register-Herald of Beckley.

The powerful Logan County Democrat has echoed other southern lawmakers in criticizing the measure's two main goals: to ban ATVs from paved roads, and to keep passengers off machines designed for solo riders.

Tomblin and his regional peers argue that both provisions collide with popular, even cherished uses of ATVs in their part of the state. Safety advocates, in response, point to the manufacturers' own recommendations and warnings.

The southern senators lacked the numbers in the committees that have reviewed the bill to dilute or derail it. For instance, Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone and one of the Senate's two physicians, tried unsuccessfully to scuttle the no-passenger provision in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Bill supporters cited the 13 ATV deaths last year involving machines carrying passengers. Stollings countered with the enjoyment so many of his friends and neighbors derive from "double heading" on ATVs.

But the contingent's chances of defeating the bill in the full Senate are different. At least 15 of the 33 members on hand for a vote are either from that region or have sided against the pending legislation in committees. What's more, besides Tomblin this faction also includes the majority and minority leaders (Chafin and Caruth), and the majority whip (Bailey).

MetroNews also set the stage for Senate vote, with audio from Sen. Mike Oliverio, D-Monongalia and a bill supporter.