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By: Robert Janis
Specialty Vehicle
Institute of America Takes the Pulse of the ATV
Community
How can I say with such confidence that:
- 16.3 million Americans operate all-terrain
vehicles
- On average, ATVs are used three-fourths of the
time for recreation and fun
- The median age of an ATV owner is 37 years
- More than 86 percent of ATV owners are male
- The median annual household income of ATV owners
is $52,800
I can say all of this because of the Specialty
Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA). The Irvine,
California- based, non-profit organization is an
information source on the all-terrain vehicle
(ATV) industry. It provides information on ATV
standards and promotes model state legislation
on ATV riding and serves as a liaison with state
and federal agencies concerning ATV training and
ATV impact on the environment.
Formed in 1983, the SVIA’s mission is to promote
the safety and responsible use of ATVs in the
U.S.
Surveys and Working with Government and Other
Groups
The SVIA gets its information through its
support of the Motorcycle Industry Council
(MIC), which conducts motorcycle/ATV owner
surveys. The related-business information it
provides is due to its support of the Motorcycle
Industry Council Retail Outlet Profile Survey.
This is a survey periodically done by mail to
ascertain the economic and employment profile of
the U.S. ATV dealer network.
The group also works with a large assortment of
national organizations on land access issues.
The groups it cooperates with include The
American Council of Snowmobile Associations
(ACSA), the American Motorcyclist Association
(AMA), Americans for Responsible Recreational
Access (ARRA), the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC),
the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), the
National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation
Council (NOHVCC), the Off-Road Business
Association (ORBA), the Recreational Off-Highway
Vehicle Association (ROHVA), Tread Lightly!, and
the United Four Wheel Drive Association. “We
talk regularly with these groups and have met
with them face-to-face three times during 2008
to discuss land use issues and to develop
strategies,” said Kathy Van Kleeck, senior vice
president of Government Relations for SVIA. “The
organizations find that it is useful to
periodically discuss and explore areas where we
share a common interest. Recognizing that each
organization has a separate mission in
representing its distinct membership, we find
that communicating with each other serves to
strengthen advocacy efforts for OHV recreation.”
SVIA also provides funds through its OHV
Organization Support Program for NOHVCC’s
efforts to promote OHV recreation; Tread
Lightly!; and other national, state and local
OHV organizations and clubs.
It is also involved in influencing the drafting
of legislation on the state and national level
and closely monitors the development of
regulations that affect the ATV community by
federal agencies like the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) and the United States Forest
Service (USFS).
“We provide comments to state legislators and
testify before legislative committees on issues
impacting OHV recreation and safety,” said Van
Kleeck. “We advocate state ATV safety
legislation and state OHV programs to develop
and maintain OHV trails and riding areas.”
SVIA on its own or in cooperation with others
worked to enact ATV safety laws in many states.
And it has also worked with rider groups to
enact state OHV trails program laws where OHV
registration and/or titling fees are used to
fund development and maintenance of OHV trails
and riding areas. Florida and Texas are just two
states that serve as an example of the
successful work SVIA has done to pass
legislation on these issues.
SVIA works with Congressional staff on an
on-going basis to provide information and input
on issues affecting OHV recreation.
“Independently and through our federal public
lands advocacy arm, Americans for Responsible
Recreational Access, we participate in
Congressional committee and subcommittee
hearings and work to develop legislative
solutions to a variety of issues affecting
access to federal public lands.”
Its work with the BLM and USFS involves land
management issues. It has, for example, worked
closely with the USFS on its OHV Travel
Management Rule Implementation. “The rules
require each national forest to designate and
map routes for OHV use,” said Van Kleeck. “Once
the process is completed, vehicle use will be
allowed only on designated routes. SVIA has been
involved in the rulemaking process since its
inception and has met on an on-going basis with
Forest Service officials to discuss the rule and
how SVIA can work with the Forest Service to
ensure its successful implementation.”
In addition, with NOHVCC SVIA has developed
workshops to help Forest managers understand the
needs of the OHV community, trail system
development, and facilitate cooperation and
involvement with the OHV community. There are
also workshops to help OHV riders understand how
they can get involved in the process in a
constructive way. SVIA and MIC have funded more
than 20 workshops.
Other federal agencies and departments that SVIA
works with include the Federal Highway
Administration, the Consumer Product Safety
Commission, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Safety a Major Issue
The safe use of ATVs is a major issue for SVIA.
The group formed the ATV Safety Institute to
promote safety among the ATV community (see
article on the ATV Safety Institute), and the
organization advocates industry safety programs.
The programs include:
- Point of Sale Safety Information, which include
warning labels, hang tags and owner’s manuals;
safety videos; safety alerts which ATV
manufacturers provide ATV buyers with
information on safety issues at the
point-of-purchase. These alerts include warnings
on the safe and proper use of an ATV as well as
age recommendations concerning the proper ATV
children should ride.
- Safety Courses which include nationwide,
hands-on training, the ATV RiderCourse, offered
free by SVIA member companies under the
direction of the ATV Safety Institute and
training courses for children ages 6 and older.
- Educational Campaign which includes classroom
safety materials, a national print advertising
campaign; an interactive CD-ROM adventure for
children called “ATV Rally;” American Honda
“Stupid Hurts” Campaign, a safety awareness
effort by American Honda; and ATV Hotline, a
toll- free 24 hour ATV hotline that can be
called for safety and training information
including age recommendations for ATVs.
- Dealer Directives which prohibit ATV dealers
from selling adult-size ATVs for use by children
under the age of 16 and annual random
investigations of dealers to assure that the age
recommendation directives are followed.
Special Reports
The SVIA has also done special reports. People
who are interested can get a copy of the group’s
Summer 2007 Special Report at its website at:
http://www.svia.org.
The report provides a definition of what an ATV
is and information on ATV sizes, youth models,
ATV market information and the SVIA model state
ATV legislation.
SVIA is sponsored by Arctic Cat, BRP,
Crossrunner, Honda, John Deere, Kawasaki, KTM,
KYMCO, Polaris, Suzuki, Tomberlin and Yamaha.
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