hi i'm new to posting here but i've been reading activly for months , and it seems alot of people are having a hard time deciding what the minimum age for young atv'rs should be , well i live in iowa and they just made it alot easier to decide..
the new state law requires a child to be at least 12 years old and between 12-18 must have completed a certified training course(and have a copy of the cert. on hand) this only includes public land and our ohv parks not private property but we have 5 nice atv parks here 4 within an hour of my house one 15 minutes away. my son is 7 he's been riding an eton 90 for 7 months and i feel is very capable of controling his quad, we always ride together and he's never outta my sight but because of some reason the states feels compelled to step in .it most likley stems from people putting small kids on big atv's and letting them loose ,and if you can't decide whats the right age .... well ya might not have to for long.. and the best part has to be this only aplies to atv's not minibikes



now should i just go to the parks with my son and take the chance of getting fined or get him an equally dangerous 80cc minibike

 

does that pertain to mx racing as well?
haven't posted much on any site about the age of a rider.
but some of the people(not what i really want to say) this is a perfect reason on what can happen if too young a child is put on an atv. doesn't matter if dad/mom thinks they were born to ride/race. one mishap no matter whos fault, it just becomes a statistic that works against youth quad riders everywhere. thats not my opinion, not what i think,not what i am guessing, IT IS A FACT.so all should think long and hard about putting very young children on a quad.it can work against everybody in the long run and bring more govt. into the sport of atving. like we don't have enough already!!!!

 

The fact is STUPID people shouldn't BREED! It's Parents who wanna push their kids to a bigger quad so they don't have to keep buying mini's as they grow. Or Look my son can ride a 450. It's these people who make it look real bad for atv's.

I do think 12 is a little silly tho. Can a 6 yr old ride a 50? I would have to move outta this state if that is true. But here in WV you got to have a saftey card to ride. And take a saftey riding course to get it. They can even fine ya on your land if kid doesn't have it. But also here you can ride a quad doun any road as long as there isn't a white line down the middle. That's cool.

The bike rules are a joke. You can put a little child on a rm 85 that will cruz 60. That's funny. Or no it isn't really!

I would have to say I'd move from that state or try to protest to get the age down to what other state laws are at.

 

nope thats correct ,the way the new law reads no one under 12 on an atv in iowa except on private land
this could be interesting come summer when alot of the local mx tracks have small kids racing on saturday night atv races, i see that as a grey area ..because the tracks arn't state owned

for a state that has done alot for atv'rs and have biult several new large public areas , being as the state acknowledges the growing sport and are putting forth some effort to take care of older riders unfortunatly the stats on young riders are already affecting legislation here.. and i'm in iowa


like i said if you can't decide whats right and wrong , your state will decide for you

 

Saw a small child on a 250ex a while back. He could reach the foot pegs so he put his feet on the rear fenders to get his hiney off the seat. And no helmet.

Also, saw a small child on a banshee that could barely reach the footpegs not too long ago. He sure couldn't reach good enough to handle it correctly.

With decisions like those and the numerous people here that insist their 2 year old should be on a motorized vehicle with harsh chemicals and hot engines/exhaust, I don't blame the law makers.

 

welcome to the forums.

 

They are our kids, we should raise them how we want. It's not the government's, or anybody elses job! Where were they when we wanted to have kids? They didn't have anything to say then. I don't remember a test to see if I, we would be a fit parent. If we don't like the laws government is making maybe we should remind them of their job and elect different people.

A young boy died after being hit by a car while on a bike here in my town this last summer. Within a month our city councel decided that all kids under 16 must have a bike helmet on in the city limits. I'm sorry but a foam helmet isn't going to save your life when run over by a 4,000 lbs. + vehicle. Maybe they should put age restrictions on peddle bikes? Wonder how many kids are hurt or killed on those annually? NOT NOT NOT.

My point is accidents happen. Life is dangerous. Some of us live, love more dangerous sports, hobbies, etc. then others. We are big people, we can make our own decisions. Will people get hurt? YES. Will we always make the right choice? NO.

My hats off to people that come on here and ask what if. We should give our opinion and try to help from our experiences and respect the decision they make even if it isn't one we would choose. For now the USA is still a free country with freedom of choice, but for how long?

 

I don't like the cpsc recommendations. It's absurd to limit a 15 year old to a 90cc mini that likely does not fit. Iowa restricting children under 12 is just as ludicrous. But let's face it folks, we pay for our neighbor's stupidity. And I'll reserve the right to be vocal when their poor desicions are affecting my rights as a parent. We need established guidelines that prevent morons from putting their children at severe risk.

The examples I listed above were child endangerment, pure and simple. We cannot let people like that ruin the sport for the rest of us. We need restrictions and need them to be enforced. BUT we need weight and height to be a factor on the size of a machine in addition to a child's age. We also need guidelines regarding the specifications of children's atvs, including weight, seat height, length and width. In short, make safer machines that are harder to flip and actually fit the intended rider.

 

In my state, if you are not sure if the ATV is not right for your child you can simple follow this simple guidelines for 12 to 16 years old riding 90cc or above:

- While seated, child can reach and grip both handlebars while maintaining a distinct bend at the elbows. Child must be able to control throttle and handbrake while turning handle bars to extreme right and left.
- While seated, child can reach foot pegs/controls with upper leg nearly parallel to the ground.
- There must be a 3 inch minimum space from top of inseam to ATV seat while standing on foot pegs and holding handlebars.

Child must be certified to be able to ride on their own ATV in public with an adult on another ATV. Children under 12 are not allowed to ride public in Minnesota.

I agree that if your child fits the ATV, like when I was 8 years old, 200cc was the lowest in 1986 and my father lets me ride it, at least I was able to follow the guidelines above. But now it's 2006, a lot of laws have been made.

 

Several factors have all aligned to create this situation.

1) The supreme court has ruled that "you" have 100% freedom of choice. You do not have the freedom to choose for anyone else (aka your offspring) if that choice is placeing your child at risk of injury or death. Basically they said that the child is the only one able to make that choice of risk - when they turn 18. This ruling started with children skydiving and has snowballed into a general principal upheld in courts all across the country.

2) Because over one hundred children were killed and 43,000+ injured on ATV's in 2003 - and being on to large of a ATV was present in 93% of these incidents (to large per the CPSC guidelines) - elected officials have had hundreds of thousands of child protection, child development and child advocacy persons directing a substancial amount of pressure to restrict youth ATV operations outside of the CPSC recommendations.

3) Because anti-ATV groups relish in reducing ATV opeations in any format means or flavor - they also have aligned themselves with substancial resources into legislative opposition to Youth ATV operations as that directly benefits their cause.

4) And some parents were stupid enough to actually video tape their 6 year olds kneeling on the seat of their 500cc quad and running it through a deep mud hole - and that tape found its way to the anti-ATV groups and on to national news television. Not a foothold for our side.

5) And, some parents continue to find their 60 pound children dead under a 700 pound ATV - and that makes the news - every time.

Basically - the few parents who are choosing poorly - are ruining it for the rest.