There is an article on the front page of the Oklahoman today about a MANDATORY HELMET LAW for ATV riders and it also says the law would not allow riders under 16, and outlaw passengers. The Health Department and Oklahoma Safe Kids Coalition is looking for a legislative sponsor for this bill. I hope they dont find one, but I bet they will. If they were to get this one passed the street bike riders will be next. This is an assault on our freedom of choice. I would call my legislator and voice my opinion oin this one.

 

Jim, Are they trying to restrict ALL atv riders under 16 from riding a quad? If thats one of the cases, then the manufactur's will step in on this to vote it down. Millions of dollors of quads and riding gear are sold to riders under the age of 16 yearly in oklahoma. Probably much, much more. I see the only thing they could pass is an under 16 helmet law. kind of like the under 18 helmet law on road bikes in oklahoma. I see many changes coming for atvers in the coming years, just like the tag deal for 06 and newer ORV's. I do not like the tag deal since i cant ride on the paved roads. If we have to tag like cars , then we shold be able to ride where they drive. I know alot of states have tag or sticker laws, but most of those states dont have the riding land we have. Most of the stickered states only legal riding spots are state owned like Little Sahara and lake murray. These are 2 of the few that Oklahoma could enforce a tag/ sticker law on 06 modle quads and newer. And when you pull through the gates at any of these places, are they going to ask you " what year is your quad?" well for several years you could say " Oh its an 05" and drive right on in.

 

Oklahoma City (AP) - State health officials are looking for a lawmaker to sponsor legislation prohibiting anyone under 16 from driving an all-terrain vehicle.

The law proposed by the state health Department would also prohibit passengers on A-T-V's and require helmets.

Health officials say there have been at least 14 deaths this year in A-T-V accidents, including three in November that killed two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old.

 

Yes, I agree the manufacturer's will be all over this. As Racechick quoted and the way I read it is it applies to anyone under 16 years old, but the helmet law would apply to everyone!!!

 

Texas has had this law in place for a while now and it is srictly enforced at all the places I have been. I personally dont agree with the kicking off passengers. My daughter is 5 and she has so much fun sitting in my lap when we go zipping up the face of a big dune at Little Sahara on my quad, but it is going to suck if they get this law passed and I have to tell her she cant no longer ride with daddy cause some dummys that were elected that dont ride quads made a stupid law. Now I know that this law is a "blanket law" to cover everyone in the state of Oklahoma, but out of the 14 reported deaths, how many were due to ignorant people doing stupid stuff on a quad they couldnt handle? For those of us who do ride with a passenger(like my daughter at the dunes) that have fun in a responsible manner, why should we be punished? Do I gas it at the top of a dune so we both fly 30 ft off the top? NO! Do I ride wheelies in forth gear with her on? NO! Do I do stoppies in front of Little Sahara Power Sports on a 800 lb utility quad? NO! I know 3 of those 14 deaths were at Waynoka this year doing what I just descibed and I dont want to be punished for others mistakes. I dont know if the guy who flew off the dune had a helmet on or not or if it would have saved his life due to the long fall he had but the other two were not wearing a helmet and might have had a chance with one on their THICK heads! The helmet law is taking a pop shot at our liberal atv laws here but I won't not argue it but because of the few, all of us will suffer.

If anyone here finds a good website with their elected reps on it, please post it and I will do the same cause I will be contacting my local reps and giving them my tow cents! Maybe we can get a petition started or something but we have to nip these laws in the bud quickly cause this is BULL S**T!!

 

JGH,

I couldn't agree with you more!!!!!

 

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Lets follow the advice of these people and begin with an E-Mail Campaign. Like someone said earlier, I believe it was Ronnie, if we can get to our legislators early, perhaps we can stop this from ever coming out of committee. The Legislature convenes sometime in early february if I remember right...it's been a while since I checked. Once we find out what the committee assignments are we can concentrate on the members of the appropriate committee. Sound good to everyone? Meanwhile the links below will take you to a roster of legislators and you can contact your individual State Senators and Representatives.

Write Early and Write Often

Members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives


Members of the Oklahoma State Senate

 

WHEW after an hour and a half I FINALLY got a email sent to every representative !

 

i know this is an old post and doesn't necessarily affect me BUT i would liek to say.. i don't know why people make such a big deal about wearing a helmet? i mean it just like 2 more lbs and it only helps you.

 

Folks I don't know if this has came to pass as of yet, but we here in Ky are fighting the same fight, we already have a Helmet law, now they want a law that states anyone under the age of 16 CANNOT, ride our toys at all.
I just spent 4 days in Frankfort,Ky and got a promise from 10 of our reps that this would not even get out of committee, how can we teach our young riders to ride safe, enjoy our great outdoors, if they cannot even ride until they are `16.
Your voice is needed to stop this, and with the numbers we have all over the Nation they have to listen for sure.