I heard this on the radio on the way home from work. Been stewing over it ever since. They need to look at the number of accidents with kids under 16 in auto's with their parents, kids on bikes, etc... I would bet auto accidents claim more injuries than ATV accidents of course they might ban you from hauling your kids anywhere in the car then. Something needs to be done before they slip a law or something in on us. If someone forms a group count on my support. Oh and both of my kids have been riding ATV's since they were 3 and 4 years old. My 11 year old races and can handle a trail as good as any adult. I will not stop them from riding regardless of what laws are passed. They are my responsibility and regardless of what Hillary Clinton thinks it doesn't take a village to raise a child.

 

My mom told me about all of the B.S. she saw on TV last night. I was so p*ssed as soon as she told me. The first thing I thought was "Oh God, they're doing it again!" Just like back in the 80's.

And to the person/people who mentioned stuff about bikes (bicycles) being dangerous...YUP. Sure they don't have a motor, but you should see all the crazy stuff kids do on them, including me. If you saw the way I ride my bike, you would think I'm a complete idiot sometimes. Skateboards, the little scooters little kid ride around on, roller blades, snowboards, bikes, FOOTBALL, baseball, basketball, rock climbing, sky diving, white water rafting, surfing, jet skiing, horseback riding, as well as driving the car across town are ALL considered dangerous. I'm hurting more after playing football than after riding my quad. There are so many dangers around us. In order to enjoy our freedom, we HAVE TO take risks. This is re-godd*mn-diculous. What good is the government doing for us if they pass all kinds of saftey laws? Unbelievable. I want to ENJOY riding.

Now back to the topic, I didn't get to see any of the broadcasts, but from the way you guys are talking, it sounds like it was pretty much one sided against us riders.


In the words of the guy from Big Daddy

<< ...&quot;THIS IS BOOLSH*T!&quot; >>

 

I saw it and it really pissed me off. All we can do is write your local news station and express your displeasure with thier biased reporting, twisted facts and point out that many of thier viewers are avid ATV fans.

 

This whole thing is sponsored by &quot;Natural Trails and Waters Coalition&quot; www.naturaltrails.org
Check out the website and their &quot;agenda&quot;. These evil Fu*#ers are using the failures of the CPSC to attack OHV's.
......If you get into the statistics, you'll see that, yes, kids do get in more accidents, roughly double that of adults, and 95% of them are riding &quot;adult size quads&quot;. But if you dig a little deeper you'll see that roughly 90% of the riders admitted to emergency rooms were not wearing their helmets!
......In the state of West Virginia, which has 5 times the national average of ATV injuries there has only been one fatality in 10 years of an ATV rider who was wearing a helmet!
.......The CPSC guidelines are messed up, we all know that. But now the failure of this ludicrous system of guidelines is being used against us.
......Quad choice is as important as training and safety equipment. But when the guidelines are as screwed up as they are there can be little compliance.
......Training and Safety equipment, especially Helmets are the real issue.
These enviro commies are attacking us where they see the weakest link.
.....Size does matter, as does experience. Matching a kid to a quad is an important decision, one which the CPSC doesn't have a clue about.
......As far as the American Pediatric Society, they don't have a clue either. All they see are the worst cases, the ones hurt and killed and not wearing helmets.
......There is nothing wrong with a 12 year old on an Ozark, Recon, 250EX, TrailBoss etc. And if the kid is big for his age and has some experience he could handle these machines at 10. But they better be wearing a helmet!

 

Ok, all this pissing and moaning wont get us anywhere. I think what we need to do is get organized. Join any off road organizations you can. Kids, get your parents involved.

I am a member of the blue ribbon coalition as well as the american sand association.

If we do not get organized we will lose the fight.

I am open to suggestions about what we can do.

Bat

 

Oh, one more thing. What news agency told the story?

I will write to them and I would ask that others do to. Dont use profanity or vulgarity, it only hurts our cause.

I did not see the report, but if some people that did could tell me who it is that broadcast this, I will begin to write some letters.

Thanks
Bat

 

I sent the following letter to the Natural Trails e-mail address. If you click on the link Fourlix posted you will see that they even ask you to &quot;share your ATV experiance.&quot; Well, let's share them then! But let's all be polite. I think we'd all rather them see us as a group of concerned individuals that want what's right rather than a radical group of flamers.


****************** E-mail I sent......

As an ATV enthusiast and a parent I have some concerns over your groups position on children and ATV's.

Let me start by saying that I am a concientious parent and outdoor enthusiast so please don't label me as one who enjoys destroying nature or who doesn't care about my kids.

The ATV's are an outlet for me to spend time with my children in a natural setting. I teach them safe riding techniques and to &quot;tread lightly&quot; when we ride. My children have benefitted greatly through this experiance and, I feel, are at little safety risk.

Banning children from ATV's won't solve anything. The same people who are thoughtlessly putting children to risk on ATV's certainly won't have any regard for any new laws about it. All that will be accomplished is a reduction in what is already lacking...

Proper training.

What we need is education. We need to teach our youth (and, frankly, many adults) how to ride safely on equipment that is sized appropriately for them (the current 90cc limit is dangerously too small for many kids in the 12-16 age group). While were at it we can teach them to respect the trail and other's rights to enjoy the wilderness.

Such training could be mandated but NEEDS to be made more available. I was PAID to take an ATV safety training course but would have had to PAY for my son to take the same course. My oldest son has taken my state's written ATV safety course, and he's had me pushing the issue, but it's been my personal involvement and training that have paid off.

Please don't catagorize us all because of a few stupid parents. And please don't pursue a course of action that will penalize the concientious among us and have little to no effect on the primary offenders. Rest assured that the ATV community, as a whole, WANTS safer riders.

Thank you for your time and attention.

 

BTW, the oldest son I mentioned is 12. I bought him a SP90 but he's way too big for it (he's 5'5 and 110lbs). He rides my 400 and my brother's 375 (under my supervision). He rides it better than most adults I know (including my brother). He does well because I get involved WITH him and have taken the time to not only go over safety issues, but refresh them in his mind through repeated questioning. We also periodically, as a family, watch the safety video's that came with our ATV's.

 

It is unfortunate. Their data are skewed because the majority of injuries are related to not wearing a helmet or using alcohol.

I really don't have a problem with a required liscense to ride on public lands, it it were enforced and would also cut down on the amount of fools who ruin it for the rest of us.

On private land, that should be your business. If you want to play with a toaster in the bath tub, then go ahead, but please sign a &quot;do not resusicitate&quot; document first. Same goes if you choose not to wear a helmet.

My wife took a good spill two weeks ago, she has a 4 inch long deep sctatch in her helmet from a rock. That would have been a serious head injury.

 

Wow! They (the natural trails people) responded, almost immediatly.

They said...

Thank you for your thoughtful message. We do not apply any blanket characterization to ATV riders or parents. We recognize that many parents follow the very same course of action that you do. Training is very important; however, additional steps must be taken to reduce injuries and deaths.

I said...

I agree, additional steps DO need to be taken, but they need to be taken on the side of training, not banning.

In 2003, training will be offered in my state for children to ride machines larger than the 90cc class (there are probably still some restrictions based on age group and machien size). My sons will attend this training.

But I am not the problem. Neither are my kids. If a law is passed that bans kids from ATV's I will either be forced to break this law (which, frankly, will be next to impossible to enforce) or abide by it until my sons are 16 and then put untrained, in experianced 16 year olds and try to train them then.

Do you have kids? Ever try to teach something to a 16 year old? Trust me, they're far easier to educate when their younger.

But what about the parents who are putting their kids on machines too big for them and letting them ride unsupervised? They've already shown a lack of common sense. Do you think passing a law will change this? How naive!

I'll be honest, I'm not certain that offering training will catch them either, but it's at least a positive step. And training, if properly marketed through the dealers and through community events (like local fairs) would go a lot farther than banning.

My next question would be, if we chose to ban, where do we stop? The child restrictions on motocross and snowmobiles is a lot loser than the ones on ATV's. Are they next? How about bicycles? I see a lot of kids get injured on those. Even seen a kid killed on one once. Perhaps those ought to be investigated?

Any idea how many people die in car accidents? In plane crashes? Why don't we just give up mechanized transportation entirely and go back to horse back (wait, I am sure there is a sufficient injury rate there too)? Ok, let's all get back to walking.

Sorry if I am sounding accusitory here, but this latest &quot;attack&quot; on ATV's smells suspiciously like the witch hunts of old Salem. I'd rather move forward than backwards, however, and if ALL the concerned parties could agree to a progressive course and work TOGETHER a lot more could be accomplished.

Once again, thank you for listening.