MORE KIDS DIE RIDING ATV"S THEN RIDING BIKES..

[1BADYFZ]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Children under the age of 16 are seven times more likely to ride bicycles than all-terrain vehicles, yet ATVs cause more deaths among youngsters than their peddling counterparts, according to a new study.

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Jim Helmkamp, who tracks ATV statistics as director of West Virginia University's Injury Control Research Center, found that on average, 171 children died each year across the country in ATV accidents between 2000 and 2004, compared to 157 deaths from bicycle crashes.

Statistics from the National Sporting Goods Association estimate 14.2 million children ages 7-17 ride bicycles in the United States while the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says there are about 2.2 million ATV riders under the age of 16.

The study was commissioned by the Concerned Families for ATV Safety, an organization founded in 2005 by parents who lost children in ATV accidents.

One of the founders, Carolyn Anderson of Brockton, Mass., said that for years, the ATV industry and Consumer Product Safety Commission have claimed ATVs and bicycles are comparable when they are not.

"They (industry) say ATVs aren't any more dangerous than a bicycle but we just wanted to put that to rest, for one, and to show that there is a significant problem and it's costing everybody," Anderson said.

Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said some people have made the comparison, but the commission does not.

"We share the same commitment as concerned parents for ATVs to reduce the number of deaths and injuries," Wolfson said.

The commission estimates there are 7.6 million four-wheel ATVs in use in the United States

[Richard Cheese]

makes you kinda wonder why the data from 2005 and 2006 weren't used?

also, what about pre 2000.....

that is the thing about research....you can twist it any way you want it too to convey what you want people to think

[Don29palms]

I am straight up calling on this one. Tree huggers, Eco-terrorists and now ATV kNazis. What next? Buggy Busters? They can all kiss my :worthless_without_pics: and go get

Edited August 7, 2007 by Don29palms

[JoeDuner]

Wonder why they don't have any number on tackle football injuries, or how about hockey injuries?????????? :worthless_without_pics:

[JoeDuner]

Now that they have Pep Boys quads, everyone buys them and the parents themselves don't even know how to ride. They turn the youngster loose and guess what happens with no safety training from an experienced rider?

[Richard Cheese]

Now that they have Pep Boys quads, everyone buys them and the parents themselves don't even know how to ride. They turn the youngster loose and guess what happens with no safety training from an experienced rider?

there have been three deaths of kids 12 and under here in the Bakersfield area since the beginning of the year.

here is a recap of one of them

a 12 yr old girl and her cousin were doubled up on a chinese 90 with no helmets, riding in an orchard.......

what? you can spring 400 bucks for the quad, but not 50 -100 bucks for a helmet........nominee for parent of the year right there.

check out this link that just shows how the media likes to portray our sport

if it don't bleed, no one reads

but yet you never see press clippings or video of the cleanups that you guys work hard at pulling off

[Mr. Edgy]

I am straight up calling :dance: on this one. Tree huggers, Eco-terrorists and now ATV kNazis. What next? Buggy Busters? They can all kiss my and go get

I,m with Don on this

If you push any number around long enough you can make it do whatever you want.

What gets me is the total amount of money spent in this sport / recreation, and no one sees the economic impact that these rules and regulations can have.

I agree that there are unfortunate occurances where someone gets hurt or worse yet dies.......however, we all know this is not the same as playing spades.

[Duneraider]

Have you ever noticed they never put up kids two wheel motorcycle stats?

I wonder if that is mixed into the numbers too.

[KawasakiBob]

Actually the number for the two wheel deaths isn't as high as quads.

I spoke many a year ago when they first implemented the age restrictions with some of the ATV Safety Institute people and their reasoning was simple.

They say when a dirt bike accident occurs, most of the time the bike goes one way, and the rider the other.

When an ATV accident occurs, they say more often than not the ATV itself rolls with the rider causing greater injury to the rider.

That was the whole reasoning behind the law.

In fact, they secret shop dealers for violations. We had ours shopped back 12 years ago and a salesguy recommended a new Yamaha Wolverine for a gentleman asking about what to get his 15 year old son.

We were fined thosands of dollars and almost lost our ATV franchise from Yamaha and put on probation.