2008-06-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

ATV = ALL-TERRAIN VIOLENCE

By Ben Kelley

Who in the world would let their kid drive a deadly, violent, unforgiving All-Terrain Vehicle?

Well, apparently countless adults are doing just that, much to the joy of corporations that manufacture and market ATVs. Since it's unlikely that grown-ups intend to put their children in harm's way, it must be that they have no idea what they're doing.

And why would they? It’s not against the law in the United States. (“If the law says it isn’t wrong, I guess it must be okay.”) In Canada, three of thirteen provinces forbid children under 14 to operate ATVs. No state in this country does even that much. Physicians' groups in the U.S. and Canada have urged bans on ATV operation by children under 16, but to no effect so far.

Clearly we can't expect warnings to do the job, whether from government, physicians, or consumer advocates. And God forbid the corporations that make ATVs (and make large profits selling them as "family friendly" should give up sales in the name of keeping kids alive. Instead, they promote ATV "safe driving" courses for little children – a tactic aimed at hooking more kids into a deadly love affair with ATVs - and they push the idea that "small" ATVs, which like their larger counterparts are unstable and hard-to-control, won't hurt children.

The ATV manufacturers and marketers know all this. Yet they go on pitching the "fun" that ATVs can bring, if you call brain damage, paraplegia, quadriplegia and amputations "fun". And as to equipping their products with standard roll cages and seat belts, forget it.

It’s a grim picture; more than 130,000 injuries and about 600 deaths a year involve ATVs; about a third of the wounded are children. The figures come from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is legally responsible for regulating ATV safety but, during the Bush years, has continued and intensified its laissez-faire non-management of the issue while Congress looked on.

There are exceptions to the reign of indifference to ATV injury causation. The Boy Scouts of America forbids ATVs in scouting activities, all the way up to 18 years old. Major physicians' groups in the U.S. and Canada are advocating that ATV riding be banned for children younger than 16. Some consumer groups urge age limits for ATV operation. But few groups have focused solely on the goal of getting laws and regulations that will effectively keep children from operating ATVs. Until that happens, the toll of children killed and wounded in ATV rollovers and crashes will continue to climb.

Here's how to get a quick look at how common ATV injuries have become: Set up a Google Alert for "ATV" and note the frequency of injury items in the results. Not a pretty picture!

(More to come on ATV in next week's posting)

Links for more information - paste into browser address window:

Concerned Families: http://www.atvsafetynet.org/news.php

Consumer Federation:www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/ATV_Fact_Sheet_07_final.pdf

Academy of Pediatrics: http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:a0oVx8W9HdgJ:www.aap.org/advocacy/washing/Testimonies-Statements-Petitions/ATV_testimony_Commerce_final_draft.pdf+academy+pediatrics+atv&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us

CPSC: http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/atv2006.pdf

Nova Scotia News: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1063375.html

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