Bremen Police stressed this week that it is important for people adhere to laws regarding four-wheelers, golf carts and other off-road vehicles being driven in unauthorized areas after police received ongoing complaints about the use of off-road vehicles, which have damaged property in some neighborhoods.

Bremen Police Chief Keith Pesnell said the department wants to “get the word out” to prevent people from getting hurt and inform them that using off-road vehicles on public roads is illegal and can result in offenders receiving a citation.

“We plan to further look into the problem and stress the point that it is illegal and dangerous to be riding off-road vehicles on the streets,” he said. “We’re blessed that no one has gotten hurt.”

Pesnell said the problem seems to persist in neighborhoods as well as undeveloped subdivisions where homes are in the process of being constructed. He added that the use of off-road vehicles have caused erosion and tearing of city easements that are in some cases located on other people’s property.

“Eighty miles of easement for sewer and water lines are for the city of Bremen. Although they are city easements, they’re on other people’s property,” explained city of Bremen Operations Manager Mike Thompson. “The riding of off-road vehicles on these easements results in the erosion of right-of-ways and damage to the property.”

Thompson also noted additional problems from utilizing unauthorized vehicles in restricted areas that could lead to costly repairs.

“If you’ve got trespassing problems, you’ve got vandalism problems and litter problems because some people throw Coke cans. When you damage the sewer system, that’s an immediate problem that has to be fixed. If someone drives over and bursts a pipe, we have to call crews to come out and make repairs,” he said.

Thompson noted that he does not know of designated places to ride such vehicles in the city; however, he stressed that people should only use off-road vehicles in the areas which they were designed for.