Hearing to focus on safety of popular ATVs

Tuesday, June 03, 2003

By Virginia Linn, Post-Gazette Staff Writer







Hal Stratton is the first to admit he's never been on an all-terrain vehicle.

But as chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Oklahoma native vows to keep an open mind at a regional hearing on Thursday in Morgantown, W.Va., to find out what to do about the doubling of ATV-related injuries in the nation over the past five years.

For enthusiasts of these widely popular off-road vehicles, the meeting may seem like deja vu. The commission held hearings in the 1980s that led to a ban on production of the easily tippable three-wheelers.

It's too early to know what direction the commission will take this time on the use of the four-wheeled ATVs, but Stratton hopes to hear from all interested parties -- consumers, distributors, dealers, trauma surgeons, safety experts and public health officials.


"I think we're going to find out interesting information that we haven't known," he said in a telephone interview last week. "We're particularly interested in hearing from the users. Typically, here inside the Beltway, we don't get input from people using them."

Federal statistics fail to pinpoint any one cause that would explain the dramatic increase of injuries, said Ken Giles, commission spokesman.

Pennsylvania recorded 264 deaths related to ATV use between 1982 and 2001, behind only California, with 278. West Virginia ranked sixth with 194 deaths. Ohio had 124.

ATVs are used on farms and ranches and in industry; it's their recreational use that is booming. The Pennsylvania Off Highway Vehicle Association, which was started three years ago to push for better safety on and expansion of off-road recreational areas, estimates that there are between 400,000 to 500,000 ATVs in the state. Of those, 170,000 have been registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and National Resources, up from just 60,000 in 2000.

In September 2002, the Consumer Federation of America and other groups petitioned the commission for a ban on the sale of adult-size, four-wheel ATVs for use by children under 16. Nationally, a third of all victims in ATV-related accidents in 2001 involved children under 16.

Under a long-standing agreement between the ATV industry and federal agency, only ATVs with engines displacing 90cc or less have been sold for use by riders under 16. Still, children are getting onto the larger vehicles.

Trauma surgeon Jeffrey Upperman reels off a litany of ATV cases he's handled at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where admissions have tripled from 19 in 1998 to 65 in 2002.

"We've seen head injuries to abdominal injuries and ages ranging from 3 to adolescence," said Upperman, who will be testifying at the hearing.

When he saw the 3-year-old, "my jaw just dropped open. He was riding on the back of it. Whoever was driving went up a steep incline and it flipped back over.

"I had a case in which a 5- or 6-year-old was riding with a younger sibling. I was told by the parents that they came home and wanted to get a little time on the ATV. I thought, 'Why not give them your car keys and let them take a spin around the block?' "

A scary ride

Danielle Melton's case in Jefferson County may be more typical.

On a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, the 14-year-old Brook-ville Area High School student was riding an adult-size ATV that belonged to a friend's family. Danielle and her friend were riding together and about five miles from her friend's home, her friend hopped off. Danielle continued alone.

She hit a ditch in the middle of a field and the side wheel went up an embankment. "She was still in the seat when it rolled over her and landed on top of her. It rolled down on her chest," said her father, Rob. "Gasoline was spilling all over her neck. Thank God she was wearing a helmet."

Two hours later, Melton was riding in a medical helicopter with Danielle to Children's Hospital. Although her parents had discouraged her from riding the ATV, they hadn't forbidden it, believing the pair was riding in the friend's yard.

"She won't be riding another one," Melton said of Danielle, who broke her shoulder and can't play volleyball this year. "I think she found out that mom and dad aren't as stupid as she thought."

Training is the key

Mike Babusci of Plum, executive director of the Pennsylvania Off Highway Vehicle Association, said improving safety is one of the group's primary concerns.

"Our position is that the injuries we're seeing have a lot less to do with the safety of the product than with the training going into using these. Our approach is, 'Let's focus on the safety aspect. Let's try to get appropriate training for everyone.' "

Babusci's organization is working with the DCNR to make affordable training widely available.

While ATV manufacturers offer free training to buyers of new vehicles, or cash incentives or warranties for those who complete the course, training for those who buy used ATVs, -- 44 percent of all ATV purchasers in 2001 -- is less affordable.

Buyers of used vehicles must find an ATV Safety Institute training program, which charges $125 per adult and $75 per child 15 and under. Training for a whole family is often too expensive.

The DCNR is starting its own training program in which instructors will only be able to charge up to $50 per person. The state program also will target 10- to 15-year-olds, who are required to have training to ride on public lands.

Training can only go so far

"If you provide training, and if people choose to do something stupid, it's not the product," Babusci said. "It's like driving your car when you're drunk or surfing when you're drunk. How do you regulate a piece of wood or a piece of fiberglass?"

New technology might be something to consider. A scientist at Veritas DGC, an international seismic recording firm, developed an electronic device that reduces ATV speed after one of the company's employees -- which use ATVs in field operations -- smashed into a fence at high speed and was killed. The microcontroller limits speed to 15 mph, instead of the 60 mph they can reach, without compromising the needed engine RPM for steep hill climbs.

The device has reduced the company's ATV injuries by 97 percent. It can be installed for $50.

The Morgantown meeting is the only hearing scheduled so far to address these injury concerns, Stratton said. Solutions could rest with state legislatures or Congress. Pennsylvania's helmet and age laws now are limited to ATVs driven only on public land.

"Doing away with the machines doesn't resolve the problem," Babusci said. "They're widely popular. That's all the more reason to make sure they're used safely."