Check this out.. I am sure y'all will love this whacko and his great ideas. Send him an email and let him know what you think!!!!

www.bennettlawfirm.com/index.html

 

People like that make me SICK! They're using OLD data. The most recent data they are using was from way back in 1987. They make one small mention that fatalities are on the decline in recent years but fail to mention in the same sentence that sales have greatly increases. ARRRGGGGHHHH! Time for me to do my research again and hit them with some cold hard RECENT facts/data

 

Here is what I wrote.
They dont make ATC's any more!!!!
And the people who want to take the risk of riding the ATC's, ATV's or whatever its their choice its just as risky riding a dirtbike, go-cart, a car, any other moterized product!!!!
If the Parents don't want their kids riding them than the don't let them ride but don't ruin it for every one else!!!!!!!!

Is that good enough?
I hate it when they do things like this!!!

 

I think that somebody (not me because I don't have great writing skills), should come up with a "generic" letter, explaining more accurate ATV injury statistics, and more positive uses for ATV's, that we can all copy and send to this guys email account. I would be happy to put it on my webpage as well.

Just a thought.

-Josh

 

Here is what I ended up writing to these guys... sorry it is so long, but I had allot to say.


Good afternoon Bennett Law Firm,

I would like to take this time to state some opinions and facts, that were brought to my attention while reviewing your web site. I would also like to request a reply from your organization, so that I can see how you view the information I am presenting, and the reasoning behind the things I question about your web site and you organization.
To start with, I would like to say that I grew up riding dirt bikes (from the age of 5), have ridden three-wheelers (ATC's) and purchased my first four-wheeler (ATV) in April. I own a Yamaha 350 Warrior, and I am 22 years old.
I read through allot of the information that you have on your site, but due to time constraints I was not able to read everything, and other than the brief statements I saw on your home page, I really don't know what you plan on accomplishing. It appears to me that you are attempting to not only have them completely removed from production, but also make all all-terrain vehicles illegal to ride. Is this what you are attempting?
Due to the fact that ATC's have not been in production for years now, and are banned from most riding areas in the USA, I am not going to discuss these vehicles in-depth. I would like to say that they are not in production, so "new users" will not be obtaining them, and anyone who doesn't already know the dangers, or misconceptions about these vehicles probably won't be buying/riding one due to there lack of interest in the sport. They were banned from production for a reason, and that is because it was too simple for an unknowledgeable rider to injure themselves, and since Americans are no longer held responsible for their actions, you feel that the manufacturers are now responsible (i.e. woman suing McDonalds after burning herself drinking coffee, instead of her being responsible for being smart enough to drink it correct, McDonalds is responsible for telling her that the coffee she wanted hot, is hot.) Since ATC's are now banned this is a resolved issue. Would you agree with the fact that this is resolved and no longer an issue worthy of discussion? If this is a resolved issue, then why is it that you feel you must continually use information based on the ATC's to support you cause of banning ATV's? They are very dissimilar and most of the information you use has little bearing on ATV's.
Now on to ATV's. No where on your web site did I see any information pertaining to ATV's. Not to mention the MOST recent information I saw was from 1995 or 1996, and the LARGE majority of this information was from the mid-80's. Can you explain why, if these are "such dangerous machines" you can't come up with more recent information. You say that injuries have been on a slight decline for the past decade, yet forget to mention that ATV sales have sky-rocketed, meaning that the percentage of riders having accidents has drastically decreased. Why is it you fail to mention this? Oh yeah, that hurts your cause doesn't it? I would also like to point out the huge strides that have been made in the way of tires, suspension, strength, reliability, safety features, quality control, and safety courses that are now always offered and occasionally required on or with ATV's. On one of the pages you are listing your definition of an ATV and one of the things you list are "balloon tires." When was the last time you looked at an ATV? Yes the OEM tires are still referred to as "balloon tires" but in no way resemble the tires that you show pictures of your web site. All the machines you show there are extremely outdated and (for the most part) unattainable machines, in today's market. I would honestly say that (and I am not a "lawyer" as yourself so please take that into account) that your web site is one of the most misleading and down right deceitful sites I have ever seen. I am sure that if you were to find a hundred people that did not like ATV's but were extremely knowledgeable about them, you would find that they agree with me when I say, your web site is a gross misrepresentation of the facts, and allot of it is merely opinions. As stated above, I have ridden almost every kind of ATV (I forgot to mention the snowmobile and Odyssey of my uncle's that I rode for years, and the jet-skis that I have ridden countless times) and to this day I have had no injuries greater than scratches and bruises. Not to mention that my brother and sister (both with very similar riding background) have never had anything beyond a good bruise before. If you look at these facts and only these facts (which in essence is what you are asking viewers of your web site to do) then I can say that riding ATV's is safer than riding a bike, playing basketball, football, baseball, and volleyball, and even babysitting... because I have broken at least one bone in my body participating in each of these events! This doesn't even figure in the thousands of kids that are hurt each year playing on swings, and slides, the countless mothers that burn themselves while cooking dinner each night, and the millions of fathers that jam their big toe while trying to get to their crying daughter in the middle of the night. It all comes down to taking responsibility for your own actions. If you honestly feel that ATV's are unsafe, then I have no problem with this. However I feel that it is your responsibility to everyone (ATV owner or not) to have first hand experience with these machines before you try getting them banned and eliminating the favorite activity of millions. Not to mention if ATV's are so dangerous, why aren't you attacking sports like, downhill skiing, skateboarding, snowboarding, rollerblading, hockey, and freestyling bicycling? Each of which has its own set of "dangers" and skills needed to keep from getting injured, yet all these sports and ATVing alike, can be participated in by people of almost any age, without injury, if the right precautions are taking place. This is something that your organization, the government, and the manufacturers can do nothing about. It is strictly up to the end user, and the parents/guardians, or other participants of that sport to ensure this is being done.
Very briefly I would also like to cover the financial aspect of ATV's. Have you taken the time to consider the financial impact it would have if ATV's were banned from production and use? I am just going to point out some small aspects of it, because I am willing to admit that I don't have solid numbers, and I don't have all the information I would like to have. First off we have the new jobs for American that researching, designing, testing, and building ATV's creates. Then we have all the distributor, aftermarket parts vendor, used dealerships, online supply companies, etc. Most of these businesses solely survive on ATV sales. Now that the people have purchased their ATV's and accessories, you have the parks, and private owned land that charges admission to allow riders to use their property. Then there is the states that require you register all ATV's and carry insurance on them. They way I see it, this is hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Now without even going into detail I have showed what non-ATV riders have to lose by this, and I think you already know what the actual rider have to lose.
Although I didn't see it anywhere on your web site, I am sure that somewhere you talked about the effects of ATV's on the environment. Well it has been shown that riding a typical ATV for 24 hours straight puts off less pollution than driving a car for approximately 2 hours. The pollution put off by these vehicles is minute and not worth discussion. There are so many better and more practical ways to decrease pollution that this idea isn't even worth the money it would take to go to trial! Then there is the "damage" done to woodlands by these vehicles. Allot of the trails in the USA are trails that were created by logging trucks and have just been maintained since then, causing no more damage than was already done. Other properties are set up strictly for ATV use and so damage here is irrelevant. Finally we have state or federal land that is open to ATV use. For starters there is very little of this land left. Somehow people have been blind sided into believing that this cause "great danger" for the woods and the animals that inhabit it, which is extremely misleading. A simple horse (which is allowed on almost all trails in federal funded forests throughout the USA) can cause as much if not more damage to a forest if you look at the "big picture." Visitor from Canada brings his horse down and rides on the trails for a day. This horse has been eating Canadian thistle while up home grazing. After "leaving his lunch" on the trails, the Canadian thistle seeds take root and begin to spread. Canadian thistle is considered one of the most devastating weeds in the USA. It is illegal for people to have over a certain amount of this on their property due to the rapid spreading rate, and difficulty of controlling it. This thistle can spread to completely cover as much of an acre a year, and grows exponentially. Can you imagine what this would do to a protected national forest? In almost every state ATV's can or have to be registered just the same as a vehicle and this money is usually put to the use of maintaining state and federal forests. There is also allot of states requiring inspections of their vehicle to make sure they have spark arrestors and meet certain requirements (Indiana is not one of those states, so I can't provide any specifics on what they look for) this money also goes to maintaining these areas. Not to mention the eight dollars or more that it costs to get into each of the riding spots, for each day of riding. Do you realize how much money that is? The local place that I ride at most of the time (Haspin Acres in Laurel, Indiana) is privately owned, and I have seen them have as many as 1,000 riders there in a single day. They charge nine dollars a day, and a one time fee of a dollar for a membership card. That is $9000 for a single day of riding and outside of whatever necessary insurance they carry, they have to do what? Groom the trails every couple of weeks, water the tracks and main trail, and provide water for the toilets and showers? Seems to me like these properties have adequate funds to keep their areas in good shape and keep them from becoming "destroyed by ATV's."
Please read this, think about this, and respond with any comments, or information that you feel is necessary. I would like to say, that ATV riders are finally getting organized, and if you think we are going out without one heck of a fight, you are sadly mistaken. The more cooperation we get from people like you, and the more you try to understand our perspective and listen to our ideas, the less of a "knock-down drag-out fight" this will be.

Thank you for you time, and I look forward to reading a response from you in the near future.

 

WoodWarior....very well put

 

BRAVO!!!!

You are a true patriot in the fight for equal representation between us(ATV'ers)and those beurocratic(sp?) a$$holes that have no idea what is going on since they can't see over that stack of money on their desks. I am going to find some real numbers on the subject and give them a peice of my mind. Though they may not take me as seriosly as you seeing that I'm oly 16, but I will give them something to think about.

 

16 year olds is who owns the most ATV's and the ones who will still be buying them for the next 30+ years. You guys are the ones that count in this fight!

Get all your friends writing letters to this guys, and ask him for answers to everything you say. If nothing else, writing these responses will take up some of his time and he won't be able to spend as much time fighting against us.

 

That may be, but we also aren't taken seriously as easily as adults. To these old guys we are just young punks with no respect.

I searched last night for some real numbers and the only thing I came across was an article about how honda sold 211,000 some ATV's in 2000. I also found found an article from a local newspaper about injuries and deaths caused by unsafe ATV's. They said 50,000+ injuries a year result from riding atv's.

This is going to be harder than I thought. When I searched for "atv injuries", Bennett lawfirm was at the top of the list [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

 

Yeah there was 50,000+ injuries from ATV's. But how many were scratches and bruises? Every sport has them. ATV injuries are just more publicized. Not to mention the fact that there are (according to Bennett's own web page) 3.5 million ATV's currently in use in the USA. This means that if all these accidents happened to different people, only 1.4% of ATV owners had an accident last year.

I see nothing wrong w/ those numbers seeing as how we know how stupid some people can be. I would also like to know the number of those accidents that occured while under in influence of alcohol.