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For Immediate Release
June 18, 2003
Contact: Bill Kresnak
Phone: (614) 856-1900
Fax: (614) 856-1920
Federal Comment Period on ATV Safety Ends July 5
PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The All-Terrain Vehicle Association
(ATVA) reminds ATV enthusiasts that the deadline for
submitting comments on ATV safety to the federal Consumer
Product Safety Commission is July 5.
Comments should be captioned "ATV Hearing" and sent to: Office
of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission,
Washington D.C. 20207.
On June 5, the commission held a hearing in Morgantown, W.Va.,
to gather information on ATV safety, and to hear comments on a
proposal to ban the sale of full-sized ATVs for use by
children under 16. Among other things, the panel could be
laying the groundwork for a displacement limit of 399cc on ATV
engines.
At the hearing, more than 35 people testified, with about half
charging that ATVs are unsafe, and the other half saying ATVs
are a viable form of individual and family recreation.
The ATVA and its sister organization, the American
Motorcyclist Association, testified that no new federal
regulations are needed. Instead, they sought more
rider-training opportunities and more areas where enthusiasts
can ride under controlled conditions.
The Morgantown meeting marked the first time since 1985, as
far as the commission staff could remember, that the panel had
gone outside Washington, D.C., to conduct a hearing on product
safety. Those 1985 hearings also involved ATVs, and two years
later three-wheeled ATVs were banned.
ATV critics told the three-member commission this month that
installing rollbars, seatbelts, and governors to limit speed,
banning kids under 16 from riding ATVs, and requiring ATV
riders to wear helmets, stay off public roads and never carry
passengers are just some of the steps that they believe could
improve ATV safety.
Dr. Jack Bergstein of the West Virginia University Department
of Surgery argued that laws are needed to ensure riders follow
those recommendations.
"Changing behaviors in people is difficult," Bergstein said.
"The best way is to mandate changes where people don't have a
choice."
But Doug Morris, director of the ATVA, testified that a review
of ATV-related accidents indicates that vehicle misuse and
ill-prepared riders appear to be the fundamental causes of
crashes. Educating riders about the need to wear helmets and
other safety gear, not carry passengers and stay off public
roads are key measures that could reduce crashes, he said.
Morris also noted that existing commission guidelines setting
machine size limits for riders under 16 actually impede safety
training.
That's because federal guidelines call for those under 16 to
ride ATVs with engines no larger than 90cc. As a result, young
people who are too large to safely ride such small machines
aren't able to take a safety training course.
Others who testified against further regulation of ATVs
included the BlueRibbon Coalition, the National Off-Highway
Vehicle Conservation Council, the Specialty Vehicle
Association, the ATV Safety Institute, the Specialty Vehicle
Institute of America, the National 4-H Council, the
Pennsylvania Motorcycle Dealers Association, the Pennsylvania
Off-Highway Vehicle Association, the West Virginia
Recreational Vehicle Association, ATV dealers and individuals.
For more information, or to sign a petition, go to
http://www.ATVAonline.com/.
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