LA Times - Coalition Targets Youths' ATV Use
#1
09-05-2002, 01:11 AM
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 365
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
September 4, 2002
YOUR WHEELS
Coalition Targets Youths' ATV Use
A surge in vehicle-related fatalities and injuries among children prompts the call for new rules and a federal inquiry.
By JEANNE WRIGHT, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Last Thanksgiving, when more than 240,000 people arrived for a weekend of camping, partying and riding dune buggies and all-terrain vehicles at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area near El Centro, Calif., the emergency room at Pioneer Memorial Hospital was swamped.
"It was a madhouse," said Dr. Michael Berger, director of the hospital's emergency department.
Close to 160 patients a day--most of them injured in ATV- related accidents--flooded the small hospital in Brawley, he said.
"Beer, gasoline and ATVs" are a dangerous mix, Berger said. "I've seen so many severe traumas and injuries that it's all a blur."
Amid the stream of broken bones, scrapes and head injuries that holiday weekend, Berger recalls the death of a child who was riding on the back of an ATV driven by his father. The father suffered a broken collarbone; the little boy, a broken neck.
Troubled by the surge of ATV- related injuries and deaths of children, a coalition of medical, consumer and environmental groups is calling for a federal inquiry into ATV safety.
The coalition has called on the government to prohibit children younger than 16 from riding powerful full-size models of the four-wheeled, motorcycle-derived vehicles. The member groups also advocate federal or state training and licensing standards for all ATV users.
Most injuries to children riding ATVs occur on adult-size models, a recent study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission determined.
Some members of the coalition, including the Consumer Federation of America and the American Academy of Pediatrics, say they would prefer a rule that goes further, barring children under 16 even from so-called child-size ATVs.
ATV enthusiasts and industry representatives oppose such regulations. They maintain that most drivers engage in safe and responsible use of the vehicles.
Elisabeth Piper, director of corporate affairs for the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, an ATV trade group, blames accidents on a minority of users who disregard safety rules and allow their children to drive or ride adult-size ATVs.
"We don't believe children should be riding adult vehicles," Piper said. Her group urges ATV buyers to attend its free training programs and to restrict their children to riding the less powerful ATVs designed for young riders.
Unfortunately, Piper said, only about 25% of all new buyers of ATVs in the U.S. take advantage of the training sessions.
In the last 20 years, there have been 4,541 ATV-related deaths nationwide, the Consumer Product Safety Commission report said. California, a major ATV market, led the nation with 278 of those fatalities.
The numbers have risen each year, the commission found, as the popularity of ATV riding has skyrocketed. Annual sales of ATVs jumped from 368,000 in 1997 to 825,000 in 2001 and are continuing to climb this year, the commission said. As many as 7 million ATVs are in use today, according to the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, which works to protect public lands and waters from damage caused by off-road vehicles.
Particularly disturbing is that 38% of those killed in ATV accidents have been children younger than 16. More than 800 of those children, 18% of the total ATV deaths, were under 12.
Last year alone, nearly 35,000 youngsters under 16 received emergency treatment for ATV- related injuries, said Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, one of the organizations petitioning the product safety commission for tougher ATV regulations.
All new ATVs are four-wheeled vehicles. The less-stable, three-wheeled models haven't been marketed since the late 1980s, when they were associated with a increase in injuries. But three-wheeled ATVs remain in use.
The safety coalition wants ATV makers to buy back those three-wheelers and to offer refunds to people who bought full-size ATVs for use by children under 16.
"Self-regulation by the ATV industry has led to larger and faster ATVs and more children being killed and injured," said Rachel Weintraub, a lawyer for the Consumer Federation of America.
There was a time when the Consumer Product Safety Commission regulated the ATV industry. The industry challenged the commission's authority in a lawsuit that resulted in the production ban on three-wheeled vehicles and ended the regulations.
Representatives of the safety coalition contend that because ATVs today are faster (some can travel 75 mph) and bigger (weighing up to 550 pounds), they can be difficult for children to control.
But physician Berger and others also blame the use of alcohol and a lack of parental supervision for the increase in accidents. Even industry representatives stress that parents must require their children to wear proper safety gear and allow them to drive or ride on only ATVs designed for them.
The sport certainly has become a family activity. But it can be risky, and parents need to be cautious, Berger advised.
More than once, he said, he has had children being treated in the emergency room tell him confidentially, when their parents were out of sight, that they didn't want to ride the vehicles again.
*
Jeanne Wright cannot respond to individual inquiries but writes about topics of general interest. Write to Your Wheels, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. E-mail: jeanrite@aol.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can submit your letter to the editor here:
letters@latimes.com
YOUR WHEELS
Coalition Targets Youths' ATV Use
A surge in vehicle-related fatalities and injuries among children prompts the call for new rules and a federal inquiry.
By JEANNE WRIGHT, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Last Thanksgiving, when more than 240,000 people arrived for a weekend of camping, partying and riding dune buggies and all-terrain vehicles at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area near El Centro, Calif., the emergency room at Pioneer Memorial Hospital was swamped.
"It was a madhouse," said Dr. Michael Berger, director of the hospital's emergency department.
Close to 160 patients a day--most of them injured in ATV- related accidents--flooded the small hospital in Brawley, he said.
"Beer, gasoline and ATVs" are a dangerous mix, Berger said. "I've seen so many severe traumas and injuries that it's all a blur."
Amid the stream of broken bones, scrapes and head injuries that holiday weekend, Berger recalls the death of a child who was riding on the back of an ATV driven by his father. The father suffered a broken collarbone; the little boy, a broken neck.
Troubled by the surge of ATV- related injuries and deaths of children, a coalition of medical, consumer and environmental groups is calling for a federal inquiry into ATV safety.
The coalition has called on the government to prohibit children younger than 16 from riding powerful full-size models of the four-wheeled, motorcycle-derived vehicles. The member groups also advocate federal or state training and licensing standards for all ATV users.
Most injuries to children riding ATVs occur on adult-size models, a recent study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission determined.
Some members of the coalition, including the Consumer Federation of America and the American Academy of Pediatrics, say they would prefer a rule that goes further, barring children under 16 even from so-called child-size ATVs.
ATV enthusiasts and industry representatives oppose such regulations. They maintain that most drivers engage in safe and responsible use of the vehicles.
Elisabeth Piper, director of corporate affairs for the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, an ATV trade group, blames accidents on a minority of users who disregard safety rules and allow their children to drive or ride adult-size ATVs.
"We don't believe children should be riding adult vehicles," Piper said. Her group urges ATV buyers to attend its free training programs and to restrict their children to riding the less powerful ATVs designed for young riders.
Unfortunately, Piper said, only about 25% of all new buyers of ATVs in the U.S. take advantage of the training sessions.
In the last 20 years, there have been 4,541 ATV-related deaths nationwide, the Consumer Product Safety Commission report said. California, a major ATV market, led the nation with 278 of those fatalities.
The numbers have risen each year, the commission found, as the popularity of ATV riding has skyrocketed. Annual sales of ATVs jumped from 368,000 in 1997 to 825,000 in 2001 and are continuing to climb this year, the commission said. As many as 7 million ATVs are in use today, according to the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, which works to protect public lands and waters from damage caused by off-road vehicles.
Particularly disturbing is that 38% of those killed in ATV accidents have been children younger than 16. More than 800 of those children, 18% of the total ATV deaths, were under 12.
Last year alone, nearly 35,000 youngsters under 16 received emergency treatment for ATV- related injuries, said Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, one of the organizations petitioning the product safety commission for tougher ATV regulations.
All new ATVs are four-wheeled vehicles. The less-stable, three-wheeled models haven't been marketed since the late 1980s, when they were associated with a increase in injuries. But three-wheeled ATVs remain in use.
The safety coalition wants ATV makers to buy back those three-wheelers and to offer refunds to people who bought full-size ATVs for use by children under 16.
"Self-regulation by the ATV industry has led to larger and faster ATVs and more children being killed and injured," said Rachel Weintraub, a lawyer for the Consumer Federation of America.
There was a time when the Consumer Product Safety Commission regulated the ATV industry. The industry challenged the commission's authority in a lawsuit that resulted in the production ban on three-wheeled vehicles and ended the regulations.
Representatives of the safety coalition contend that because ATVs today are faster (some can travel 75 mph) and bigger (weighing up to 550 pounds), they can be difficult for children to control.
But physician Berger and others also blame the use of alcohol and a lack of parental supervision for the increase in accidents. Even industry representatives stress that parents must require their children to wear proper safety gear and allow them to drive or ride on only ATVs designed for them.
The sport certainly has become a family activity. But it can be risky, and parents need to be cautious, Berger advised.
More than once, he said, he has had children being treated in the emergency room tell him confidentially, when their parents were out of sight, that they didn't want to ride the vehicles again.
*
Jeanne Wright cannot respond to individual inquiries but writes about topics of general interest. Write to Your Wheels, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. E-mail: jeanrite@aol.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can submit your letter to the editor here:
letters@latimes.com
#2
09-05-2002, 01:24 AM
#3
09-05-2002, 12:19 PM
I'm sure I'll get ripped for this...but what else is new....A 12 year old kid has NO damn business riding a DS650. Can he/she swing their leg over your CR500?? and ride it across the dunes?? I do STRONGLY disagree with banning all kids under 16...that's just stupid. I think the rules do need looked at...In California the crack down has started at the O.H.V. parks about kid's age limits. Jon, can you enlighten us on how the law reads about ages & cc's ??
#4
09-05-2002, 03:35 PM
I agree and I think most parents would agree that a 12 year old does not belong on a ds or raptor or banshee or whatever. But I dont think all 12 year olds need to be on 80 or 90 cc quads either. I know of a 13 year old that is 6ft, only weighs about 150, but is a big kid, wheres a bigger shoe than I do.
I just think maybe the riding areas need to have some rules and then abide by them and enforce them. I hate seeing people let their kids just take off and ride. I am talking about kids under 10 that need to have some supervision. This past weekend at little sahara utah, numerous times we had to help kids get their quads started that just died on a trail, or help them get unstuck, where are their parents (freakin idiots). It makes me mad, I feel for the poor little kid that cant get his quad started and is sitting there for 10 minutes with no help. Must feel real abandoned.
Sorry to rant, please parents be parents to your kids, and I think we can stop these politicians from taking away our sport.
Bat
I just think maybe the riding areas need to have some rules and then abide by them and enforce them. I hate seeing people let their kids just take off and ride. I am talking about kids under 10 that need to have some supervision. This past weekend at little sahara utah, numerous times we had to help kids get their quads started that just died on a trail, or help them get unstuck, where are their parents (freakin idiots). It makes me mad, I feel for the poor little kid that cant get his quad started and is sitting there for 10 minutes with no help. Must feel real abandoned.
Sorry to rant, please parents be parents to your kids, and I think we can stop these politicians from taking away our sport.
Bat
#5
09-05-2002, 09:28 PM
Bat...I totally understand with you. Jeff and I were discussing this today...maybe quads should be regulated by height and weight just like an Amusement Park ride. My 11 year old rides a Honda TRX 90 that is just right for him and will be for a couple of years. He's way to big for a 50...but thats what the law is. I thought I was the only one who wanted to smack a few parents around...I'm sure I won't be if "Big Brother" wins on this one.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]
#6
09-05-2002, 10:53 PM
racrdude, yeah you are not alone. But what are we to do. I am not going to ruin my weekends, getting in arguments with other parents, because they are busy drinking beer and dont give two sh@ts about what their kids are doing.
I think we need rules and we need rangers out there enforcing the rules. I visited coral pink sand dunes for the first time in July, and that place is the best. The reason I say that is because it is small and heavily regulated. I would see the rangers come through camp at least every hour and most times more often, they were great guys and gals, and very nice to talk with. I visited with them quite a bit.
I dont mind them doing their job and it makes the trip much more enjoyable for the rest of us that want a nice peaceful vacation. I am more than up for that kind of regulation. But to throw out the whole bunch, because of one bad apple makes no sense. While at little sahara this past weekend, I saw the ranger once in 4 days. That is miserable. They have no presence and dont really seem to care. I like riding there, but I will avoid it on large weekends, because of the idiots. I guess that is why I have no plans to visit glamis. I rode there when I lived in phoenix about 10 years ago and enjoyed it, but I think it was much smaller crowds then now.
Anyway, I dont think these extremists will ever get their way, but it brings up interesting points. I hate to see life flight or emt's have to come to the dunes. I tell people all the time, I may not ride as hard as you, or do some of the crazy things you do, but I go home in my truck without injury everytime (knocking on wood).
My son is only 5, and has been riding his suzuki 50 since he was 4. He is ready for more power, not only because of his skill (which he has shown he has) but because he is a large boy for his size. I will be looking for an 80 or 90 cc quad, which should last him for quite some time. The 50 has been a great learner, and he has gone from being kind of scared of the machine to showing me he has a skill level very very high. The problem is the machine is just not quite strong enough to carry him up some small hills. And I mean small hills. And in the sand it is way underpowered.
Off my soapbox, and on to better things.
Thanks for listening.
Bat
I think we need rules and we need rangers out there enforcing the rules. I visited coral pink sand dunes for the first time in July, and that place is the best. The reason I say that is because it is small and heavily regulated. I would see the rangers come through camp at least every hour and most times more often, they were great guys and gals, and very nice to talk with. I visited with them quite a bit.
I dont mind them doing their job and it makes the trip much more enjoyable for the rest of us that want a nice peaceful vacation. I am more than up for that kind of regulation. But to throw out the whole bunch, because of one bad apple makes no sense. While at little sahara this past weekend, I saw the ranger once in 4 days. That is miserable. They have no presence and dont really seem to care. I like riding there, but I will avoid it on large weekends, because of the idiots. I guess that is why I have no plans to visit glamis. I rode there when I lived in phoenix about 10 years ago and enjoyed it, but I think it was much smaller crowds then now.
Anyway, I dont think these extremists will ever get their way, but it brings up interesting points. I hate to see life flight or emt's have to come to the dunes. I tell people all the time, I may not ride as hard as you, or do some of the crazy things you do, but I go home in my truck without injury everytime (knocking on wood).
My son is only 5, and has been riding his suzuki 50 since he was 4. He is ready for more power, not only because of his skill (which he has shown he has) but because he is a large boy for his size. I will be looking for an 80 or 90 cc quad, which should last him for quite some time. The 50 has been a great learner, and he has gone from being kind of scared of the machine to showing me he has a skill level very very high. The problem is the machine is just not quite strong enough to carry him up some small hills. And I mean small hills. And in the sand it is way underpowered.
Off my soapbox, and on to better things.
Thanks for listening.
Bat
#7
09-05-2002, 11:02 PM
Amen...
I too grew up going to Buttercup, Gordens Well & Glamis ( now known as the ZOO ). Have not been there in 20 years and no way would take my family today.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] That place was great!! We are planning on spending the week between Xmas and New Years @ Ocotillo Wells...Hopefully still a good family atmosphere there...
I too grew up going to Buttercup, Gordens Well & Glamis ( now known as the ZOO ). Have not been there in 20 years and no way would take my family today.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] That place was great!! We are planning on spending the week between Xmas and New Years @ Ocotillo Wells...Hopefully still a good family atmosphere there...
Trending Topics
#8
09-05-2002, 11:13 PM
i am under 16 yrs old, and i can handle my ds650 just fine, i have a friend that is also under 16 and he is 6'3" and about 280lbs, he feels cramped on a 400ex, hes tryin to save up for a ds, he currently rides a 99' suzuki ltf250, which he hates but has 2 keep it for now, theres no ways he could fit on smaller machines
#9
09-05-2002, 11:16 PM
#10
09-06-2002, 03:19 AM
If you do go to Ocotillo Wells, try and find camping in 'The Cove" unless your going to stay up on the RV Mesa off of "Main Street." We go to Ocotillo Wells one or two times a year and it's great, they even have flush toilets and showers there for those of us who don't have RVs. They've got two sand hills, and tons of open riding. At night, Blow Sand Hill is all lit up with freaks going up and down the hill all night - it's really fun to watch.
The rangers here are fairly active as well, I've seen them as much as twice per day or not at all. However, since I'm not at camp all day, I really can't say how often they come by. They seem to keep things pretty well under control, and at night when all of the freaks are up on blow sand hill, they're out there keeping that from getting too wild.
The rangers here are fairly active as well, I've seen them as much as twice per day or not at all. However, since I'm not at camp all day, I really can't say how often they come by. They seem to keep things pretty well under control, and at night when all of the freaks are up on blow sand hill, they're out there keeping that from getting too wild.