With temperatures in the Lehigh Valley rising as summer approaches comes the inevitable sound of loud, revving engines whizzing by at all hours of the day and night.
And it’s already causing headaches.
According to Allentown police Chief Charles Roca, the city already has received 161 calls related to illegal or excessively loud ATV and dirt bike use in 2026, compared with only 83 calls last year.
Off-road vehicles, including dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles, are not legal to ride on most public roads in Pennsylvania, except for designated “ATV or Snowmobile Roads,” and designated state park and forest trails. Yet ATV and dirt-bike riders form a subculture both in the Lehigh Valley and nationwide, planning meet-ups on social media that sometimes involve reckless driving and excessive noise, critics say.
It’s not just a city problem — Whitehall Township Mayor Joe Marx said dirt bike use is also an issue in the Allentown suburb, population 30,000.
“You can’t predict where they may pop up,” Marx said. “It is a challenge for law enforcement. We don’t have resources to sit and watch social media 24/7; they know how to code their speech to mask where they are going to be when, and how. It’s a culture, so we are doing everything in our power with our resources to address the issue.”
In total, the 18 largest municipalities in Lehigh County have received 1,830 motorbike-related complaints from 2023 to 2025, according to data compiled by state Sen. Nick Miller’s office.
Boroughs and townships like Whitehall are even less equipped to handle the problem than cities like Allentown.
A law passed by former state Sen. Pat Browne, now the commonwealth’s revenue secretary, in 2022 gave third-class cities like Allentown the right to seize and destroy illegal ATVs and dirt bikes, which leaders have called a highly effective deterrent.
However, the law only applies to city police departments, so township and borough police do not have the right to seize illegal bikes under the law. That has made it harder for smaller municipalities to get a handle on illegal riding.
Borough and township police can issue traffic citations for illegal riding, but city police can both confiscate vehicles and impose higher fines — from $50 to $200 for a first offense and $100 to $300 to subsequent offenders.
Lawmakers now are looking to change that.
Miller, D-Lehigh, introduced a bill last month that would give local police departments the right to seize these vehicles and impose higher penalties.
The bill, if passed, would also add an additional “reckless driving” summary offensive if three or more bikers are on the road illegally together, which Miller said addresses the group mentality of bikers and the hazards they can cause.
“Police chiefs’ support of this bill is critical because they see it every day, especially now that the weather is warmer, the amount of complaints, the amount of times we see it spikes through the roof,” Miller said. “It’s a very real issue right now, the boots on the street, folks seeing it, having to deal with it, and it’s not easy to address it if they are moving very quickly.”
Miller introduced the bill unsuccessfully last year, but is hoping it picks up momentum this time around because state Rep. Ana Tiburcio, whose 22nd District overlaps with Miller’s, has introduced a parallel bill in the state house. Last year, the bill had no co-sponsor in the other legislative chamber.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.