I seen on the news tonight......in Coburg Ontario,Canada.......A 11 year old girl died today when the adult (Can-Am) quad rolled on top of her!!....It looked like it when down over the side of the road when the ditch is. I am now in the process of getting a quad for my daughter ,and this makes you kind of think again!......

However this quad was over 600 pounds........

I know this is not a Polaris topic, But this is where I spend my time reading and thought I would let you know..........
PLEASE GUYS/GIRLS..........ride with your kids on "OUR" big quads................Don't let them drive alone!!!!.....Caper...(And Daddy)

 

how true..... i always ride with my niece and nephew.. they just cant handle the size and power of the machine..... and i also and getting a child atv for them soon...... one with a speed control..... and remote shut off if needed.

 

That is very tragic.
I agree, the kids should be riding the bigger bikes.

 

TTP, i think you miswrote the last quote

 

Here in New Brunswick the government is in the process of passing a new off-road vehicle act as the result of two childern being killed last year on adult size machines. Under the new law only persons 16 & over can drive adult sized machines and children 14 & 15 can only drive age approiate bikes. Under the age of 14 will not be allowed to drive any bikes -ATV's or dirt-bikes- no matter what size they are, even on private land.

 

It is sad, rather horrifying, and something that happens far too often. But, it's not just adult bikes. Accidents, even bad ones, happen on youth machines as well. Even with supervision something can go wrong in the blink of an eye. My niece lay her Sportsman 90 over just last year and broke her collarbone. Could have been much worse.. but we're thankful it wasn't.

 

Locally a kid got killed on a skateboard. Rode downhill out into traffic. A teen killed on snowboard, hit a tree. Kids have been killed on bicycles. If ATV are outlawed, then outlaw skateboard, snowboards and most of all cars. Keep kids out of cars. Anyone see a lopsided reaction here but me?

Anything that moves has danger. That is why there are parents to supervise. Think of what the parents of the 11 year old have to live with the rest of there lives. They need lots of love and prayers surrounding them.

The New Brunswick law is the tree huggers goal. If they can keep the kids off, they keep the families off and close down the sport. In the USA such a law would be cause for a war of shorts to fight such stupid government interference into our lives. It is not law to protect kids, it simple makes outlaws of normal people.

 

Newfoundland already has the age restriction in their laws. Nobody under age 14 allowed to operate an ATV regardless of CC size. Can you imagine a 14 year old riding around on a Giovanni 50??? C'mon. It's a rediculous rule that cannot be implemented. The rule used to be 12yrs old up to 125cc I think then 12-16 under 250cc and 16+ could ride whatever. The PROBLEM is parents turning over adult sized ATV's to their kids without supervision and/or training just to get them out of their hair for a bit. $10,000 baby sitters. They couldn't police it when the rules were sensible .. so what is there to be gained by making the rules tougher without any policing?? All this ruling did was make a short term impact on youth ATV sales which have rebounded thankfully.

It's very sad for this little girl and I would not want to be the parent responsible for this. There could be more to the story than them letting her go out on it but it stinks of negligence to me that an 11 year old girl should be on a machine of that size by herself!

 

Definitely a serious error in judgement to put an 11 year-old kid on a 600 lb. quad. My 9 year-old daughter drives a 230 lb bike, which I am sure she could push off of her if need be, and also "manhandle" when required.

Also, to all you parents out there - if you get your kid a quad, have the sense to get them a full day course where the training is by a professional. I really don't think it is a good idea to try and train your child yourself, because kids are much more attentive to, and obedient of, instructions by people other than their parents. IMHO, when you try to teach your child something, especially something as important as motor vehicle safety and skills, the pre-existing relationship just gets in the way. With a stranger, however, the child will be much more focused on the task at hand, and (a) learn better, plus (b) remember more.

Also, when my daughter took her course, she received a nice diploma and certification card from the Canada safety Council, of which she is very proud. So, the course meant more to her as a result.

At the same time, my heart goes out to those parents, whose lives are shattered forever, and we who have not experienced it cannot possibly imagine what it must be like. Perhaps others who hear of this tragedy will be more careful as a result.

 

An excellent point re: children's attentiveness to people of authority vs. parents. Courses are not offered everywhere though, so sometimes it will come down to the parents to teach and discipline. You don't follow the rules, you don't ride the quad should be the message loud and clear from the start. And the message MUST be backed by action if they decide to test the limits of the rules. Nobody wants the expensive new toy to be just sitting because their kid didn't listen about fastening their helmet strap or looking where they are going, but think of the consequences(sp??) if you don't enforce it and something goes horribly wrong.