Minneapolis - Polaris Industries, the leading manufacturer of off-road vehicles, today asked all off-road enthusiasts to help drive The RIDE (ROV In-Depth Examination) Act into law by visiting www.stoptherovmandate.com to send messages to their Representative and Senators.
After Congress received more than 90,000 messages from off-road enthusiasts concerning the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) proposed mandates for off-road, side-by-side vehicles (ROVs), U.S. Representatives Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) introduced The RIDE Act in the House of Representatives. The bill, H.R. 999, would postpone the ROV rulemaking until the CPSC’s proposals are studied and evaluated by independent organizations. In support of the bill, this past February, Polaris launched new tools to help off-road enthusiasts easily send messages urging their U.S. Representatives to co-sponsor The RIDE Act. Thanks to the off-road community’s support H.R. 999 currently has 51 bi-partisan co-sponsors.
On April 22, 2015, U.S. Senators Dean Heller (R-NV) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced The RIDE Act in the Senate, bill S. 1040. Both bills will be considered by their respective Committees in the coming weeks prior to possible votes on the House and Senate floors later this year.
“Having The RIDE Act introduced in the Senate demonstrates that the off-road community’s voice is being heard, but it is important that we continue to speak out,” said Paul Vitrano, VP, global government relations for Polaris. “Polaris urges everyone to either contact their Representatives and Senators directly or use the tools we have created to send a message asking for their support of the bills.”
Moving legislation is a multi-step process and Polaris urges off-road enthusiasts to stay engaged and supportive. Each step in the process requires new action and more petitions urging support. With bills now in the House and Senate, there’s a whole new group of individuals to urge to support them. Polaris has updated www.stoptheROVmandate.com so site visitors can click to send a letter to support both Senate bill S. 1040 and House bill H.R. 999. This is the next critical step in the effort to pass The RIDE Act into law.
The CPSC’s proposed rulemaking would mandate handling and performance capabilities of all future ROVs, and require excessive and potentially unsafe restraint systems. The RIDE Act would address concerns that the CPSC’s proposals would unnecessarily limit design freedom in the off-road industry and negatively impact off-road customers by requiring an independent study of the proposals prior to enactment. Off-road enthusiasts looking for more information about The RIDE Act can find it at https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/999 and https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1040?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22s+1040%22%5D%7D.
