Government ponders boosting ATV safety

WASHINGTON -- Children are warned against riding all-terrain vehicles meant for adults. But many ignore the advice, lured by the exhilaration of speeding along a dirt road or four-wheeling in the woods.

The combination of inexperienced drivers on a fast and powerful machine has led to more injuries and deaths, prompting the government to explore ways to make ATVs safer.

The chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission has ordered a review of voluntary standards and safety proposals for ATVs, with particular attention to protecting young riders. In the past, Hal Stratton has supported industry guidelines and rider education, rather than more federal involvement.

The review follows years of sobering statistics about ATV accidents and a lobbying campaign by safety groups, parents of ATV victims and some U.S. lawmakers.

Youngsters under 16 accounted for about one-third of the nearly 6,000 ATV deaths and 125,500 hospital emergency room visits reported since 1982, according to the commission. In fatal accidents where the engine size and driver age are known, 86 percent involved children on adult-size ATVs.

The commission will study design standards for vehicle speed and stability.

At the same time, the agency is expected to rule this summer on a request to ban the sale of adult-size ATVs intended to be used by youngsters.

A report by commission staff in February advised against such a ban. Restricting sales would not necessarily keep children off the larger vehicles, the staff said, because the government cannot control what adults do with their four-wheelers after buying them.

Stratton has said such a ban would not reduce the number of injuries, noting that most accidents result from improper behavior such as riding on paved roads or without protective gear.

DeLoretto-Rabe, who joined an advocacy group that met last month with Stratton, criticized the chairman for taking so long to order a review and expressed skepticism that that anything would come of it.

"Why has it taken him three years to say, 'Let's look into this deeper?"' she said.

Among the areas Stratton ordered examined are whether pre-purchase training and certification should be required, if manufacturers should develop an ATV model suitable for 14-year-olds and whether ATV dealers should provide child injury data at the time of purchase.

Rachel Weintraub, assistant general counsel for the Consumer Federation of America, which supports a sales ban, said she was worried a broader review of safety measures could delay any action intended to reduce accident rates.

The Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, a trade association representing major manufacturers, said it would cooperate with the agency during its review. At the same time, the group still is pushing for state laws and is encouraging parents to keep children off larger ATVs.

The government commission estimates more than 6 million four-wheelers were in use in 2003, twice as many as five years earlier.