Some success with bad ATV case but it's difficult.
We have a similar issue where the parents not only don't care but are part of the problem (in our case in, it's one family and they are racing ATV's with motorcycles, doing wheelies, burning rubber, running racing vehivles, riding in the dark without lights on, etc. in a neighborhood without sidewalks.) Neighbors tried talking to the father but he just got defensive and took the offense, physically threatening the neighbors - don't know if your case is this severe. Anyway, calls to patrol officers don't work with people who are that careless, especially if they have a scanner. You need to find someone at the police department (we started with Community Policing, who referred us to Traffic Division) who can asses how severe the problem is and how they should/can respond. We did have limited success with gathering photo evidence (recommended by the sherrif's office) and getting several neighbors to testify in court. In our state, an officer can issue a citation based on your complaint, but then your testimony is the only thing that brings the case on behalf of the state; in other words, an officer can't testify to something he did not see. Our culprit had a bold-faced lying attorney, and the only reason he was fined and given probation was because we had DATED PHOTOS where you can see him with wheels off the ground and others showing his face; there was no denying he did what was in those photos. It's really a shame because it used to be that people in our neighborhood used ATV's just to go visit someone else, etc., and those people used sense when operating them. But it's just gotten so bad someone is bound to get hurt soon. An accident last summer left an ATV in one family's front yard (thank God the kids were playing out BACK) and an overturned cart full of broken beer bottles in the street. It stinks to have that kind of animosity in the neighborhood, too. AND, the results may be short-lived...I found this site because they have been racing again and driving through our yard, I'm trying to ID any other alternatives...we're back to meeting with the police for round 2. Best of luck to you.
P.S. Keep in mind that (assuming you did try talking to your neighbor already and he blew you off) that your problem is not ATV's per se, the underlying problem is that your neighbor is an inconsiderate person...that's what makes this hard to fix.
