Here's another thing that article doesn't report: How they died. I remember posting some sites with ATV death statistics for one particular state. At LEAST 90% of these accidents were caused by- lack of safety gear, riding under the influence, riding with a passenger (or passengers) or a younger child on a machine that was too large for them.

Now, I'd like the CPSC to tell us how a lack of regard for BASIC riding safety equates to ATVs being dangerous. What they're doing would be like taking all the drunk driving death statistics and saying cars are deadly. For the 9 billionth time: It's not the machine, it's the rider!

Not to take a away from any of those who died in the least, but..... I'd be willing to bet if you took that 625 (an already skewed #) and made a ratio using the number of ATVs being ridden today, you'd still come out way under the ratio of motovehicle deaths per year. I honestly think you have a better chance of being hurt or killed in a motor vehicle accident than you do in an ATV accident.

 

This is also a good example of how the media, manipulates the news. Why....when its something they are against, be it guns, atvs, motorcycles, personal watercraft, whatever...the headline has "killed in it. Why not "died"? Because killed implies that something bad was done to someone ( think murder). But it was actually an accident. Died is a bit more benign, and doesnt suffer from a negative connotation. Its a suttle form of propaganda by the anti crowd, to get mainstream americans to have negitive feelings for atvs.

 

na just dont worry i am going to die doing somthing dumb on my banshee but all of those pple were eather drunk or just dumb and deserved to die

 

No one deserves to die.

 

hi all go check out the link under kids quads then "kids on ATV's size wise thread. There are great things going on there regarding this exact issue

link http://forums.atvconnection.com/mess...did/436712.cfm

Its all about education and people making informed wise choices. Yes, most accident/deaths are caused by lack or knowledge, skill or parents giving a kid a bike thats WAY to big. We have got to stop this from happening. Help us all out.

 

In a nation of 300 million people, you can come up with statistics scary enough to ban anything. Bicycles, baseball bats, 5 gallon buckets, you name it, all have been involved in tragic deaths. People unfortunately are dumb enough to be whipped into a frenzy de jour, and it can end up in loss of freedoms.

 

This is 100% true. Remember that old show, Rescue 911. There were all kinds of injuries from people using everyday items, washing machines, lawn mowers, screw drivers, etc...

 

I have personally been injured worse than my ATV by:

Lawnmower

Barbed wire (multiple times)

a spring

sheet of particle board

the ground

the front half of a bull elk

I want this stuff controlled or I'm gonna sue someone!

 

LOL, everything but the elk I've probably been hurt on, too. We'll split the lawyer fee's and sue Home Depot since they sell most of that stuff[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

I would really like to sue Newton for "discovering" gravity. That stuff really hurts[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

IMO many of the posts here skirt around what's at stake, although some are pretty close. The tree huggers out there against ATVers WILL NOT STOP until ATVs are banned - at least on public lands - unless we, as a group, become activists ourselves.

Many on this forum are sled riders. I've ridden every winter from the town of West Yellowstone, MT for more years than I can remember. The very nice citizens of West Yellowstone believe there will always be snowmobiles allowed in the Park, well, just because. They couldn't be more wrong. The ability to ride in the Park is an on again, off again thing and has been for several years. Presently only guided tours with 4-stroke sleds are allowed and only so many a day. ...but the activists are not done yet. They do not want sleds in the park, period; they WILL NOT STOP - ever! Several years ago I wrote the Snowmobile Assoc. of America to find out what they were doing. ATT time they said they "were waiting for the EPA to set environmental standards." That really spun me up. ...strong letter followed. Waiting is a guaranteed way to lose!

It's exactly the same with ATVs. It's so easy to get the anti-ATVer spun up with a partial truth statements as about people being killed or injured on ATVs. That anti-ATVer is a lot more likely to contact someone of influence than the rest of us. If we as a group are not proactive to protect our riding areas we will find ourselves without those areas. It's as plain as that.

In the meantime we can all be good stewards as we ride. I try to go out of my way to not anger anyone while on the trail. Hell, I'll even stop when I see horses, shut down, and let them pass before restarting. I don't want to give anyone reason to write, call, or otherwise contact any public land official about "those dam ATVers." I have a B.S. in Forestry and an M.S. in Ecology and many friends that work in the Natural Resourses field. I can tell you they are VERY SENSITIVE to callers that complain. Don't give anyone that reason.

Jim