This week, many Ventnor residents on social media have reported witnessing Island Roads’ contractors riding quadbikes on pavements, driving quadbikes in the wrong direction down a one-way street, and some even reported seeing the quadbikes driven at speed – even though it is usually illegal to ride quadbikes on pavements in the UK. Island Roads responds below.
Their purpose has been to spray weedkiller on vegetation growing on the highway where it meets the pavement (more on this later). As long-time readers will know, this is a subject that OnTheWight has covered comprehensively over the years and you can delve into our glyphosate archive to find out more.
Quadbikes are back
Having witnessed contractors driving quadbikes on pavements on Monday, OnTheWight contacted Island Roads with three questions:
- Do IR instruct their operatives to ride quadbikes on the pavements (footways)?
- Does IR explicitly instruct them to NOT ride on pavements?
- Why, despite being told over a number of years, are IR still allowing their operatives to ride quadbikes on pavements?
As any comment from Island Roads requires sign-off from the Isle of Wight council—and can take some time to be returned us—rather than wait (days possibly weeks), we’ll update this article once we hear back from them.
IR/IWC: Special provision for use on the pavements
Seven days later, a spokesperson on behalf of Island Roads told OnTheWight,
“The Highways Act specifically makes provision for highway authorities to use motorised vehicles on the network, including footways and bridleways, for maintenance purposes. To suggest such use is illegal is simply wrong.
“The quadbikes are registered, taxed and insured for road use. Island Roads also use motorised vehicles on footways for purposes such as sweeping and grass cutting and these same provisions apply.
“Using these vehicles shortens the time it takes to complete the treatment schedule, reducing the impact on residents and road users by limiting the spraying programme to a few weeks.
“Quadbike use also means our people are not required to wear a heavy backpack containing the diluted weed treatment.
“Our contractors are professionally trained to ride quadbikes safely and considerately. They are also fully trained in the safe application of the industry-standard and highly effective weedkiller we use – Gallup hi-Aktiv.
“Each quadbike is GPS tracked so we can follow their movements and monitor speed and we will thoroughly investigate any report of inappropriate spraying or quadbike use.”
We’ve gone back to Island Roads with some follow-up questions and will update when we hear back from them.
Illegal to drive quadbikes on pavements
According to Rules 145 and 158 of The Highway Code, it is illegal to ride quadbikes on pavements in the UK.
OnTheWight got in touch with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary this week to ask what action the police would take against someone found riding a quadbike on the public pavement/footways.
Police suggest reporting it
A spokesperson for the police advised,
“If you have experienced this, please report it either by calling 101 or using the report tool online.”
Why IR use quadbikes
In a factsheet shared with OnTheWight in April 2022, Island Roads state the reasons for using the quadbikes as:
Quadbikes are used in the weed spraying process as this removes the need for our people to carry a heavy backpack containing the diluted weed treatment. We are required to consider the manual handling regulations and also look after the wellbeing of our employees. The quadbike also allows the teams to move easily between locations resulting in the work being completed in less time with less disruption to network users.
The spray is still applied by a hand lance controlled by the operator in a similar manner to a normal back pack spray system. Whilst the quadbikes may move quickly between locations, all spraying is required to be done at low speed to ensure direct application to the foliage of the weeds being treated. Blanket spraying is not appropriate or economically viable.
Look out this week for our next article about the use of glyphosate in an area well-known for wall lizard colonies.
Article edit
12pm 16th Apr 2025 – ‘Operatives’ amended to ‘contractors’
2pm 22nd Apr 2025 – IR comment added
