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By: Jason Giacchino
Email: offthepegs @ atvsource.com
June 2009 - Off The Pegs
Lead Into Trouble
Yamaha
Raptor 90 Blue
Suzuki
LT-Z50
KYMCO Mongoose 70 |
Boy! Oh boy, do you ever get the feeling that
the ATV industry has a target painted on its
back? Just last month I used my column space to
discuss the disturbing trend of lawyers
targeting UTVs for liability lawsuits (read:
out-of-court big buck settlements), now the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has
essentially banned all youth model quads here in
the United States. After over a decade or so of
flying below the radar, we suddenly find
ourselves in the spotlight once more, and just
like the last time (the three-wheeler debacle),
it’s the responsible riders out there who end up
getting the short end of the stick.
So, how did this latest disaster come about? The
short answer is the sudden public panic
associated with even the slightest traces of
lead near children. Now, it’s not my job to
either confirm or dismiss such scientific
research. It should be noted that when I was a
kid, we drank water from lead pipes, played with
toys made of lead (and I don’t mean just in the
paint), and were no worse for wear. However, and
with noble intentions in mind, the Consumer
Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 set out
to address concerns directly by limiting the
amount of lead-content in anything designed for
children under 12 to 600 parts per million. The
Act, of course, was written to protect children
against lead traces found in the paint of
Asian-imported toys. Be that as it may, things
got especially ugly once the CPSC decided that
the law should include youth ATVs and
motorcycles!
Toys that can be placed in or around the mouth
is one thing-- targeting the terminals of an
ATV’s battery or valve stem is quite another. In
truth, if there’s a serious risk of your child
attempting to ingest his quad’s frame,
carburetor, electrical connectors or battery
terminals, perhaps lead poisoning isn’t the only
area for concern.
The Act is particularly devastating for several
reasons, the first of which is that it takes the
parent’s ability to decide for themselves what’s
okay for junior right out of the equation. Not
only does it prohibit the sale of any new ATVs
to buyers of any age, but it made it illegal for
shops to even work on existing units!
Additionally, the sale of parts has been
prohibited as well, so servicing your kid’s ATV
is about to become nearly impossible even if you
decide to do the work yourself. Now factor in
the estimated $100 million worth of youth
inventory that is, and will be, sitting in
warehouses thanks to the Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act and the daunting reality of just
how detrimental this decision will be to the
OEMs starts to sink in.
Operating already at a 30 percent loss to prior
years thanks to a shaky domestic economy,
imagine what this new law will mean to the
manufacturers, distributors, and sellers all
around the globe. Conservative estimates put the
dollar figure around $1 billion in annual
economic loss due to the wording of the Act.
Then, finally there is the future to consider.
After all, youth model ATVs and cycles are the
stepping-stone to the teenage and adult riders
of tomorrow. The long-term health and success of
our industry is based heavily on the notion of
family riding. Kids who start young are ten
times more likely to grow into adults who
continue to support the sport with their money,
time, and passion. Taking away the ability for
anyone under the age of 12 to enjoy the freedom
and responsibility that comes with riding is
quite honestly a lot like chopping down the
sport at its knees.
Others still fear that all the law will do is
force desperate parents into purchasing ATVs
designed for operators older than their children
as they will simply have no other choice.
Telling junior he can no longer ride his quad
due to lead is the fast path to forcing kids
onto machines either too big, powerful, or
difficult to handle. Sadly, once this starts
happening, the number of reported injuries will
climb and then we’re back to the liability
issues again.
The bottom line is that my ranting and venting
does little to make a difference, but together
we have a much higher chance of getting this
decision turned around. There’s power in numbers
and even if, like me, you have no children of
your own, I encourage you to email your state
representatives as soon as possible. There’s
also a site called MIC (http://www.mic.org)
that acts as a hub for the people looking to
have their voice heard on the matter. Time is
already against us; and, as it stands, the
future of our sport is in real jeopardy.
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