Hello Florida OHV operators,

Many people don't remember the Ocala National Forest prior to the regulated and mandatory OHV trail system that was created in 2006. Prior to the existing designated OHV trail system there was an estimated 1000 miles of trails across the 300,000 + acre forest that OHV's could use which minimized head on collisions and crossroad collisions and kept the existing routes smooth with very little maintenance.

The new regulated trail system created in 2006 is now said to be 200 miles of trails and is poorly maintained (if at all) and has miles of stutter bumps that will rattle your machine and your body to pieces no matter how slow you go. This is from severe over use because every OHV user has to ride the exact same trail system or be ticketed and fined.

While being unfairly over regulated and forced to ride a poorly designed and maintained trail system is a bad thing it dims in comparison to the real issue with the current trail system. Simply put the Ocala OHV trail system is unsafe and dangerous by design and these design flaws have no doubt caused many collisions and injuries in the last decade the majority of which were likely not reported. Here are the reasons I believe the trail system is unsafe by design.

(1) This is the one that seems entirely negligent to me and is why thru experience I started this petition. THE TRAIL SYSTEM IS NOT A ONE WAY ROUTE. It runs both directions and makes it possible and HIGHLY likely to encounter head on traffic at any of the hundreds of blind corners which comprise almost the entire trail system. 

(2) The trail system is comprised of hundreds of blind corners many with burms that contribute to people exceeding the 20 mph speed limit. 

(3) The trail in many places is only wide enough for one machine so there is no room to avoid a head on collision. Basically if you encounter another vehicle head on you have no choice but to crash into it or a tree. Both bad choices with extremely bad potential outcomes.

(4) All OHV users are forced to ride the same relatively small trail system which makes an accident with another machine more likely to occur simply due to the odds. More people in less space = more opportunities to hit someone.

(5) even with each vehicle traveling at 20 mph I can say from experience a collision is still very likely to occur and from my estimate an operator has about a second to attempt to stop in time. This is not enough time for even advanced operators. 

I am 53 years old and a retired truck driver and have been riding in the forest with all kinds of off road vehicles since long before the existing trail system as well as over a decade of riding the regulated and mandatory existing trail systems and in that time I have seen 6 head on collisions one with serious injuries, three where the machines were rendered inoperable by the crash as well as being involved in 2 head on collisions myself and countless other near misses over the years. This does not take into account the possibly hundreds of crashes that I am unaware of or were not reported.

The most recent head on collision I was involved in occurred less than a month ago and bent the frames on both machines as well as causing serious injuries to the occupants of both UTV's including multiple fractures and 20+ staples even though everyone was wearing a seatbelt. Remember even with both machines traveling at approximately 20 mph the crash bent the frames of both machines. For comparison imagine hitting a tree at 40 mph (20+20=40). Had this been dirt bikes or 4 wheelers head on it would have been much worse!

The DANGEROUS design flaws in the ONF trail system need to be brought to the attention of the the Federal Government, the USDA and Forest Service. The designers of the existing trail system need to reevaluate the trail system and make changes (like making the trail one way) before someone is killed. This is an important issue and not something that should be taken lightly since lives are literally at risk. Please sign the petition and show your support!