Another Group Call for ATV Law Changes

Consumers Union is calling for a ban of anyone under the age of 16 from riding an all-terrain vehicle (ATV).

From their news release:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, urges the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Congress, and States to pursue prohibiting the use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) by children 16 years old and younger and to offer States incentives to improve the safety of ATV use. The announcement of the CPSC's education program to highlight the hazards of ATV's is commended, but it is not enough to prevent children from dying on these dangerous vehicles.

"Self regulation by the ATV industry has led to one thing-an increase in injuries and deaths," said Janell Mayo Duncan, senior counsel for Consumers Union. "Congress, the CPSC, and States need to take more comprehensive action to make all-terrain vehicle use safer. "Recreation should not be life-threatening," she added.

Many states have seen an increase in traumatic brain injuries in children riding an ATV.

A study published in the May 2005 Journal of the Oklahoma State Medical Association which reviewed ATV-related traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries and deaths in Oklahoma for an 11-year period, from 1992 through 2002. The study found that almost 400 people received a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury, including children as young as 3 years old.