ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Over the last number of years, there has been an increase in ATV riders in Illinois.

An ATV is an all-terrain vehicle designed for off-road surfaces.

The Illinois Vehicle Code defines an ATV as “Any motorized off-highway device 50 inches or less in width, having a manufacturer’s dry weight of 900 lbs. or less, traveling on three or more low-pressure tires, designed with a seat or sadly for operator use, and handle-bars or steering wheel for control.”

Driving ATVs on city streets is already illegal.

City officials in Rockford say illegal ATV riders have been a safety concern on Rockford streets, not only for operators but everyone they share roads with.

Rockford requires that ATV riders register their vehicles with the city.

The city’s ordinance also makes it “unlawful to keep or store unregistered non-highway vehicles or non-highway vehicles used in violation of the ordinance, as well as declare it unlawful to fuel non-highway vehicles, or allowed them to be fueled at a gas station, unless secured on a trailer or truck bed.”

Police can impound ATVs that are suspected of being used unlawfully on streets or machines that are unregistered.

Officials say that means officers may go onto private property to seize them if they have probable cause.