Every decent person in Maine should be outraged at what recently happened to Starks resident Ernie Hilton.

"I had occasion to be run down early last Friday evening, the 16th, by an ATV," Hilton writes in a letter about the incident.

"On a trail I had built. On my own land. Literally. Run down. Run over."

The trail on Hilton's land used by the ATV rider was posted with two state-issued red and white "No ATV" signs. The rider had ample time to see Hilton, who says he waved to stop the ATV "so I could chat with him a little bit."

But as Hilton relates, the ATV got within a few feet of him, sped up, knocked Hilton down as it passed and ran over his leg.

State law enforcement officials are investigating the incident and trying to track down the rider.

Meanwhile, Hilton, who is an attorney, sportsman and a member of the state Board of Environmental Protection, sprang into action. He sent his letter about the incident to news outlets and state agencies. He called on the state to hold the ATV community to higher standards. And he called on the ATV community to rein in their "frontier mentality," encourage the rider who hit him to turn himself and to attack the larger issue of ATV scofflaws by requiring mandatory instruction and training for ATV riders that is "certified and results-tested."

We're not quite sure what "results-tested" means, but we do understand why Hilton is so ticked off.

There's the immediate incident, of course, that aroused his entirely appropriate ire and indignation.

But beyond that, there's the frustration felt by many landowners -- justified or not -- who believe that in the haste to establish ATV use and tourism as a viable part of the Maine economy, the state has not held ATV riders to appropriately high standards. There are far too many cases of ATV users tearing up private land, causing erosion, scarring the landscape and scaring the wits out of hikers and property-owners -- and not nearly enough accounts of state oversight, let alone actual enforcement and prosecution.

ATV advocates say that all would be fine if every rider took a safety course, joined an ATV club and stuck to authorized trails.

That's true, but it's also not happening.

The state would do well to stiffen safety education requirements, raise the profile of enforcement efforts and seriously consider additional incentives to encourage ATV club membership. Such membership cultivates a sense of collective responsibility and also offers distinct advantages, like information about trails that are open to ATV users.

And the state should nail the guy who hit Ernie Hilton.