NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207

For Immediate Release
April 23, 2003
Release # 03-112

CPSC Media Contact: Bruce Richardson, (301) 504-7908

CPSC To Hold Regional ATV Safety Hearing in West Virginia;
ATV Injuries Double in Five-year Period, Deaths Continue To Climb

WASHINGTON D.C. -- All-terrain vehicle safety is the focus of a regional
public hearing the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission will hold in
Morgantown, W. Va., on June 5, 2003. ATV-related injuries in the U.S.
have doubled in a recent five-year period and deaths also continue to
climb.

"We recognize the growing popularity and diversity of uses for
ATVs by the American public, but we are concerned about the
disproportionate increase in the number of deaths and injuries
associated with their use in recent years," said Hal Stratton, CPSC
chairman.

ATV injuries requiring an emergency room visit increased by 104
percent from an estimated 54,700 in 1997 to more than 111,000 in 2001.
In 2001, about a third of these victims were under 16 years old. In this
same period the estimated number of ATV drivers increased 36 percent,
driving hours grew by 50 percent and the number of ATVs increased by 40
percent, according to a recent CPSC analysis.

For 1999, the last year for which death records are substantially
complete, CPSC has reports of 357 people who died as a result of ATV
use, up from 251 in 1998 and 241 in 1997.

"We want to hear from people who use ATVs for recreation, on their
farms or ranches and in industry. We want to understand their
motivations. We also want to hear the perspectives of medical
professionals and emergency service providers, state and local public
health and safety professionals, distributors and dealers, and any
others who feel they have a stake in this important issue," Stratton
said.

Interested persons from Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania also are
invited to participate in the West Virginia hearing.

"West Virginia and Pennsylvania ranked in the top six states for
ATV-related deaths between 1982 and 2001," Stratton said, "so it makes
sense to hold a hearing in that area." (Pennsylvania and West Virginia
recorded 264 and 194 deaths, respectively, in that period. Ohio
recorded 124 deaths and Maryland 25 deaths.)

"The field hearing gives local people a voice and an opportunity
to participate when they otherwise might not have been able if we
limited our hearings to Washington D.C.," Stratton said.

The Consumer Federation of America and other groups petitioned the
CPSC in September 2002 requesting a ban on the sale of adult-size 4-
wheel ATVs sold for the use of children under the age of 16. The
commission sought written public comments on the petition from October
through March 16, 2003. The West Virginia hearing will provide an
additional opportunity for the public to express its views about this
petition.

Requests to make oral presentations at the regional hearing and
the text of the presentation must be submitted to the CPSC, Office of
the Secretary, no later than May 29, 2003. The hearing is from 10 a.m.
to 7 p.m. at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia
University Health Sciences Campus, in Morgantown.

ATV Facts

* In the 1980s the CPSC held hearings in several locations around
the country to address hazards associated with ATVs, namely as
they related to the then-popular three-wheeled vehicles.

* In 1987, the commission filed a lawsuit under section 12 of the
Consumer Product Safety Act to declare ATVs an imminently
hazardous consumer product. The lawsuit was settled in 1988 by
consent decrees between the commission and ATV distributors.
The consent decrees expired in 1998. The consent decrees
contained provisions addressing both three-wheel and four-wheel
ATVs, and led to the elimination of the manufacture of
three-wheeled ATVs.

* After the consent decrees expired, the commission entered
into "ATV Action Plans" with individual distributors who had
been subject to the original consent decrees and three other
distributors who had subsequently entered the market. In the
consent decrees and action plans, ATV distributors agreed to
use their best efforts to see that adult-size ATVs (vehicles with
engines larger than 90 cc) would not be sold for use by children
under 16 years of age.

* Since the expiration of the consent decrees, the commission
has continued to study and gather information about ATV-related
injuries and deaths. It also continues to monitor the ATV dealer
market to make sure that industry complies with the agreement
not to sell adult-size ATVs for children.

* From 1997 to 2001, ATV-related injuries rose 104 percent, from
an estimated 54,700 to 111,700. Over the same five years:

* the number of drivers rose 36 percent from 12.0 to 16.3 million;
* the number of driving hours rose 50% from 1,575 to 2,364 million; and
* the number of ATVs rose 40 percent from 4.0 to 5.6 million.
None of these exposure measures accounts completely for the rise
in injuries.

* Subgroups that have been associated with greater risk for injury
continue to be at greater risk in 2001; for example, drivers under
the age of 16, drivers with less than one year of driving experience,
and recreational drivers.

* CPSC was petitioned by consumer organizations in September
2002 to ban the sale of adult-size 4-wheel ATVs sold for use by
children under age 16.

* CPSC will consider its recent injury/exposure studies and all
other information, including that obtained at the regional hearing
in West Virginia, in responding to the petition.


"TOID"

 

Argh, the cpsc, should be banned, trying to save us from ourselves.

What they fail to realize is that they cannot legislate stupidity.

Good info, but it makes me angry. Pretty soon the groups like this will have us living like they did in the stoneage, no silverwear, its dangerous, no cars, they are dangerous, no bicycles, dont you know how many people die on those each year, no more haircuts, scissors are dangerous and you might cut yourself, after all we are so damn stupid.

Sorry to rant, it just makes me angry[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

Bat

 

If you ever have an atv boo boo. Don't add to the statistics by saying it was on an ATV. Say it happened while you were at a sierra club or other "anti off road" meeting.

 

Hurt at the Sierra Club
there was a stampede to save a blade of grass and I got these broken ribs

 

LMFAO!!!

Sierra Club! I was hurt at the sierra club once. I was "running" really fast and hit some uneven ground (commonly called whoops) at an angle and I was thrown off my "feet". I landed in a pile of sand and could not breath for awile, and all the other Sierra Club members were afraid that I hurt the sand. Do you think I can go back to the emergency room and have my records retroactively changed, because I just remembered what really happened (damn amnesia).

RR1

 

CPSC, [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img] This is why I haven't reported my tranny to them. I am stuck between a rock and.... If I report it then I go into the statistics catagory, if I don't then Yamaha gets to screw everybody. But why in the hell have them if we can't use them for what we need. Are they only there to protect people who can't protect themselves? And who is that, orphaned infants and the mentaly ill.

Bat said it best.

 

Yes he did!

I just thought I would post it because I am subscribed to ALL of their recall notices (of everything), and this was actually the first ATV related thing that has come acrossed in over a year,,,,, nope, I'm wrong, there was the warrior recall on the frames. But anywho, just thought I would throw it out there.

It gets my blood to pumping too!

 

Toid, I am glad you threw it out here, If I lived in the east, I would try my best to go. We need some people that actually use atv's to be the voice of reason at something like this.

I am sure it will end up with mostly people that have never even sat on one, and they will all be telling how bad they are. Probably mostly enviro's using this to further their cause.

Anyway, thanks for putting it up, and if some could attend that would be great.

Bat

 

what happened to the universal law that ALL parents are responsible for THEIR children until the age of 18???

now it is the dealer's responsibility???

what dumb@$$es