Another ATV Article

ATV accidents, deaths on rise

Most states have few laws to regulate all-terrain vehicles

PAUL WENSKE

Knight Ridder Newspapers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - If buddies drop by Chad Rohr's house in Lee's Summit, Mo., to talk about riding their all-terrain vehicles, Rohr always asks them a pointed question: "Did you wear a helmet?"

In October 2003, Rohr climbed on his ATV for a quick ride to a friend's house without a helmet and crashed. A helicopter lifted him to Children's Mercy Hospital. But brain injuries left the then-13-year-old Eagle Scout candidate blind.

"They are fun but they are dangerous," Rohr, now 14, said of ATVs. Rohr, who attends Campbell Middle School in Lee's Summit, is among the 125,000 people who required emergency-room treatment in 2003, the second consecutive record-breaking year for ATV injuries, according to a new Consumer Product Safety Commission report.

Estimated ATV-related deaths also were the highest ever, rising to at least 621 in 2002, the last year for which complete data is available. About one-third of the dead and injured since 1982 have been children younger than 16.

The trend of more deaths and injuries poses "a public health crisis in the United States which demands a serious and aggressive solution by CPSC and state governments," said Rachel Weintraub, assistant general counsel of Consumer Federation of America.

Weintraub said at a minimum regulators need to ensure that "children are not riding adult-size ATVs." The consumer group's 2002 petition to ban sales of adult-size vehicles to children is pending before the CPSC. A decision could come this spring.

The push for tougher regulation also comes at a time when ATVs are more popular than ever. Fifteen million Americans ride ATVs, according to industry data. Sales of the vehicles have increased fivefold since 1993, to more than 847,000 units in 2002.

But most states have few laws regulating their use.

Industry groups support stronger regulations but differ in how to apply them. They say laws that regulate sales won't stop parents from buying inappropriate ATVs for their children. They prefer state laws regulating ATV use.

"Regulating the sale doesn't get at the problem," said Kathy Van Kleeck, vice president of government relations for the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, a trade group for ATV manufacturers. "We want state laws to regulate the use of the product so that a kid under 16 is only riding an appropriate-size ATV and is not riding an adult-size ATV."

Most manufacturers post warnings about appropriate use on their vehicles. Some makers won't sell adult-size ATVs to children, said Ron Berlin, owner of Austin Trailers & Motorsports near Leavenworth.

Even so, Berlin said, "We see a lot of parents attempting to buy above their child's age bracket."

Some pediatricians want even more limitations. They say the same restrictions that limit who can get a driver's license should apply to ATVs.

"It's no surprise to us that injuries are going up," said Denise Dowd, chief of injury prevention at Children's Mercy Hospital and a member of the injury prevention committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Last year, the academy issued its own report on ATV injuries.

"We're concerned about putting kids on ATVs at all," Dowd said. "It's not just a size thing - it's judgment and all the other things that apply to driving a car." "These are severe injuries and some of these kids are 7 or 8 years of age. They just don't have the motor skills and strength."

Some parents, however, maintain that riding ATVs is a healthy family sport that can be made safe with proper education and supervision. "I feel that ATVs have gotten bad press," said Jennifer Elliott of Gardner, who belongs to the Kansas All-Terrain Vehicle Association, a group that promotes family rides and safety training. "Most generally you don't hear about them unless someone is hurt," Elliott said.

Both her sons, ages 10 and 5, ride small ATVs, but only when dressed in full safety gear, including safety vests, pads and helmets. They never go unsupervised.

It Is always the bad that happens, never the good that our sport does and accomplishes.
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