CONNEAUT — Tougher penalties may be one way to convince some all-terrain vehicle drivers to obey local traffic laws, City Council’s public safety committee learned at Tuesday’s meeting.

On the other hand, some people won’t get the message, no matter what the fine or fee they face, said Police Chief Jon Arcaro.

“You can have all the laws in place, but you can’t stop stupid people from doing stupid things,” he said.

Ward 2 Councilman Charles Lewis, committee chairman, said the matter needs quick attention.

“I learned we have a very serious problem,” he said. “We will be working on this for some time to come. There’s a lot of work to be done to get these characters under control.”

Conneaut’s problems with irresponsible ATV drivers came to a head June 29, when a 10-year-old girl was struck by one of the vehicles while standing on the sidewalk in front of her Harbor Street home. The girl suffered a foot injury, according to police reports.

The child’s mother, Jacqueline Snyder, and grandmother, Barbara Balzer, were at Tuesday’s meeting to stress the need for reform.

“We don’t want any more children harmed,” Snyder said.

City resident Sally Richards said ATVs are a problem on stretches of Liberty Street.

“Every day, they’re going up and down the street,” she said. “I was almost hit myself. We need to toughen the law and need to do something.”

Options include tougher sanctions for ATVs caught violating the law “when we do catch them, which are few and far between,” Arcaro said. However, local laws cannot be made more severe than state code, the committee learned.

The city could reward responsible owners, too. Inspections could be held, and machines that pass muster could be allowed to travel city streets at low speeds, he said.

“We have to do some research,” Lewis said. “We have to see how far we can go.”

Pursuits involving ATVs have become more common, Arcaro said. The machines always will have the advantage, however, because they are more maneuverable, he said.

“We are no match for them — unless they crash,” Arcaro said.