| Driving an all terrain vehicle, ATV, is one of the most | | | | conditions in which children drive. |
| dangerous things you can allow your child to do. The | | | | Concerned Families for ATV Safety is another |
| Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, which | | | | organization with knowledge of these vehicles and |
| regulates All Terrain Vehicles, studied 33 sports and | | | | children. Founded by parents whose children have |
| activities which children engage in, including | | | | died in ATV accidents, Concerned Families works to |
| skateboarding, wrestling, football, bicycling, | | | | educate parents and legislators about the associated |
| snowboarding. Of the 33, the activity with the | | | | risks for young children driving. They'd like to see a |
| highest risk of hospitalization was ATV driving. It was | | | | driver's license, and additional training and certification |
| 61% more dangerous than the second place activity, | | | | in handling All Terrain Vehicle's as the requirement for |
| football. | | | | driving one. |
| About 100 children die every year in ATV accidents | | | | In the past few years, Chinese manufacturers have |
| in the US. Another 40,000 have injuries serious | | | | built smaller, lighter, cheaper ATV's, targeted at |
| enough to be treated in emergency rooms. | | | | children, as a way to gain a foothold in the American |
| Why is driving an ATV so dangerous for children? | | | | market. The prices are substantially lower than adult |
| Because the drivers are children! The American | | | | size vehicles, sometimes only a few hundred dollars. |
| Academy of Pediatrics' statement notes that driving | | | | But those savings come at a price. One |
| aa all terrain vehicle safely requires as much skill and | | | | sporty-looking child's model sold for $250-350. It |
| judgment as driving a car or truck, and it flatly | | | | looked good, but it lacked some important things. |
| recommends that children under the age of 16 be | | | | Like front brakes. And protective padding on the |
| prohibited from driving them. Every state in the US | | | | handlebars. The handlebars were so sharp that a |
| insists on a minimum age of 16 for a driver's license. | | | | young driver thrown against them would be injured. |
| This minimum age reflects our understanding that | | | | The CPSC took action, and the manufacturer recalled |
| driving a car or truck requires certain levels of | | | | the vehicle. |
| physical strength, and some degree of judgment. The | | | | Parents' first job is to keep their children safe. This |
| younger a child is, the less likely she or he will have | | | | means no driving an ATV until they have a driver's |
| developed these capacities. A young child driving an | | | | license. Your children may complain, but they'll be alive |
| ATV at very low speed on smooth, flat terrain with | | | | and able to complain. |
| 100% visibility might do fine. But those aren't the only | | | | |