Minneapolis – As the school year draws to a close, kids (and parents) search for fun, safe activities to enjoy during the summer months. With nearly 20 years of experience building youth vehicles and the largest youth line-up in the off-road vehicle market, Polaris offers a range of side-by-sides and all-terrain vehicle options for kids who are looking to ride into the summer season.
Scott Taylor is a product director at Polaris Industries and oversees Polaris' youth off-road vehicle lineup. A parent himself, Taylor understands the constant struggle to find fun and safe activities that will keep kids busy during the summer months.
"We spend a ton of time meeting with kids and parents when we are developing our youth vehicles,” Taylor said. “We want to know what our customers—and these young riders—are thinking. What do they like? What features are important? How can we make a vehicle better? The No. 1 thing we hear from parents is safety. 'I want my kid to have fun—safe fun.' It is about striking the right balance of providing an enjoyable driving experience, but also enabling parents to control the vehicle's abilities to match the skill level of a young driver."
With that goal top of mind, Polaris has the industry's more extensive range of youth vehicle options, giving parents the power to select the model that is right for their child's age, size and experience level. The seats and steering wheels in Polaris youth ACE, RZR and RANGER models also are adjustable, so a vehicle can grow with the child. Taylor and the Polaris engineering team also incorporate an array of safety features into the youth vehicles, such as seatbelts, ATV safety tethers, geofencing and speed-limiting capabilities.
"All of our youth vehicles are equipped with front and rear lightening and some even have LED lights as standard equipment,” said Taylor. “Also, we are one of the few powersports companies with EFI youth vehicles that allow for easy, worry-free starts.”
Last year, Polaris used Ride Command technology to introduce new safety features in our RANGER 150 EFI youth vehicles. The RANGER 150 EFI was first-to-market with safety technology like geofencing, digital speed limiting and passcode-protected safe start.
When asked about the response, Taylor shared, "the reaction from parents and grandparents has been incredible. They love being able to decide how fast the RANGER 150 vehicle can go within certain boundaries and establish a passcode in order for the vehicle to start. Being able to have these controls at the tips of your fingers is game-changing in the world of safety."
In addition to the various safety-focused features and technology, every youth vehicle comes with a DOT-certified helmet, along with a safety-focused DVD that helps educate young riders about safe-riding practices.
Check out Polaris’ entire youth vehicle line up at https://offroad.polaris.com/en-us/youth/.
