The 4-1 decision by the Peru Board of Selectmen to allow ATV riders to use several town roads, including portions of Main Street to the Peru-Mexico bridge, was a big mistake.

After the local ATV club failed to get access to private lands to connect its recreational trail network, it turned to town government for permission to use public roads. Private landowners blocked ATVs for good reason: They were tired of their lands being abused and run roughshod over.

So, instead of crossing the back forty on private land in a cooperative arrangement, ATVs will simply barrel down the road. The decision is legal under state law, but not very reasonable. Selectmen should have seen through this special interest request which, while pleasing some, is bound to trouble many others, especially those with property along the new ATV highway.

Selectmen ignored concerns of the town’s road commissioner, who reported that renegade ATV riders were already causing trouble at the town’s sand pile – costing the town a day’s worth of the commissioner’s labor to repair.

We can only wonder what the selectmen were thinking.

“In the past, we’ve granted permission and removed that privilege if there was any abuse,” Selectmen Andy St. Pierre said in justifying his vote.

St. Pierre is correct, but must also know that once a privilege is given, it is tough to retract.

Selectmen should have given others in town a chance to comment before approving the request.

State law requires local police to handle ATV violations and accidents when they occur on public roads. But Peru lacks a police department, so policing the ATV riders will now fall to an already-overburdened Oxford County Sheriff’s Department and the Maine State Police, meaning violators will be tough to monitor or stop.

Both agencies, as well as the Maine Warden Service, should have been asked to review the plan to open up Peru’s roads to ATVs before new enforcement responsibilities were foisted upon them.

Selectmen also overlooked some other key facts.

According a 2004 study by Cornell University, one of the most frequent factors in ATV accidents is operation on public motorways.

Selectmen also failed to consider that nearly 40 percent of ATV-related deaths involve children under the age of 16. Speed, alcohol, multiple riders and the lack of helmets were also among the top factors leading to death or serious injury.

The ability to go fast – certainly faster than on any forest trail – down a country road will be an irresistible temptation to young and old. The results will not only be ongoing damage to the town’s roads, which are paid for by all taxpayers, but also quite possibly the loss of a life or lives.

We urge the Peru Board of Selectmen to reconsider its hasty decision to open town roads to ATVs and give their residents a chance to weigh in on the issue.