I put this off for as long as I could. I've avoided writing about a subject that's been bothering me for a couple of years now. I haven't wanted to write about this topic because I'm not sure how to write about it without it coming across as "lecturing."
Nobody likes to be lectured.
So, depending on who you are and how you take this, most likely my column in this issue will come across as lecturing. Sorry, but it needs to be said.
It was something I saw on my way home from work that caused me to rethink my reluctance to discuss this topic.
Three boys--probably somewhere between the ages of 10-12—were all riding together on one ATV and not one of them was wearing a helmet. Granted, they were riding on a rural road where there wasn't much traffic, but it was potentially disastrous.
Seeing those boys reminded me that sometimes we off-roaders are our own worst enemy. We make it easy for others not so fond of dirt toys to come after us.
I subscribe to a news feed that provides me with news about ATVs, side-by-sides—most everything to do with dirt toys. It comes to my inbox every day and nearly every day I read about some person who has been injured or even killed while riding. Many times those incidents are the result of an accident with the driver (as near as I can tell) not really doing anything wrong to cause the accident. But others are the direct result of the driver not driving safely, going too fast for the conditions, not wearing a helmet, crossing a highway where they shouldn't, stuff like that (or what the Consumer Product Safety Commission calls "riding improperly"). Stuff like what I saw when I was driving home from work the other day and three boys were on one ATV.
Of course I'm not suggesting all riders drive like that.
In fact, I'm one of the biggest cheerleaders for our industry when there's good/positive news about dirt toys’ safety and responsible use. You might remember a story we ran in the spring issue of Dirt Toys about that very subject ("New CPSC Report Reveals Decline In ATV Deaths, Injuries Over Most Recently Reported Five Years," page 51). In that story, the ATV Safety Institute pointed out, "All-terrain vehicle injuries have declined significantly over the past five years, showing 'a change in trend direction' according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission."
It continued, "The CPSC's 2011 Annual Report of All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV)-Related Deaths and Injuries, released in early March, shows the CPSC is reporting a decrease in the estimated number of ATV injuries for the fifth consecutive year.
"CPSC acknowledged for the first time in its annual report that 'the number of injuries per year has gone through a statistically significant decline in recent years (2007-2011).' The agency stated that the decline in injuries 'shows a change in the trend direction for ATV-related injury estimates.' The report also found injuries involving children younger than 16 has declined 27 percent from 2007 to 2011."
That is good news. It's not all doom and gloom as is proven in the article by the ATV Safety Institute. We need to shout out those results every chance we get.
And lest anyone think I'm advocating we all ride like we're going to church on Sunday, far from it. There are some amazingly talented riders who can push any machine to its limits. I push myself many times in different situations in an effort to get better. But I know my limits, as every rider should.
Three kids with no helmets riding on one ATV is not about "knowing your limits." Those are the kinds of situations that raise red flags to those trying to regulate our sport even more.
We have enough people on our back without giving them even more reason to tighten the squeeze.
Do we really want more regulations? Do we want more restrictions on where we can ride? Do we want more restrictions on how we ride? Do we want roll bars on our ATVs? Do we want to show up at trailheads and find billboard-sized signs listing all the rules and regulations for those trails?
I hope the new vehicle wraps won't be even more warning labels manufacturers are forced to put practically all over our toys. There are enough already.
If we don't want all this to happen to our sport, then we have to be smarter when we go riding or let our kids go riding. We have to be responsible. If we aren't, someone else will force us to be. There are plenty of people out there already working to force us to do things that won't allow us to enjoy our sport the way we like to.
And if you think I feel a little better for getting this off my chest, think again.
Tomorrow I'll read about someone somewhere who was injured or killed on an ATV or side-by-side.
That is something I would like to avoid.
