More ATVs, kids and injuries

Well, this time a little girl died, caught under a full size ATV. Tragic!

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Children+driving+ATVs+recipe+disaster/3330313/story.html

This time though, the relative safety of dirt bikes is acknowledged in the MD's comments. Slowly but surely, the obvious becomes... well, obvious:

Creery said there was a much higher public health risk from ATVs than dirt bikes, although the speeds they travelled were similar. He said riders could usually push off dirt bikes that fell on top of them, but would probably be crushed beneath ATVs that weighed as much as 600 kilograms

Although I firmly believe ATVs are much more dangerous than dirt bikes (an annual death rate as high as 40 : 1) I'm still saddened not to see anywhere in the now "specialist in ATVs" comments about age-appropriate machines.

The bottom line of the entire article is that kids should not drive any kind of ATV, which is stupid, given that there are age-appropriate machines with say 50cc engines and small. Still bigger and heavier than a dirt bike, but smaller and more appropriate.

Let's face it: moronic parents kill kids, not the ATVs.

Sad but true.

Those freaking loud dirt bikes

...well, mine included apparently :) I was rated at 95dB. I shall repack the muffler and it should drop under 94dB.

But I'm seriously considering downgrading my noise level to... well, Zero: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2535474

This is really bad news to all you "environmental extremists" out there trying to ban trail riding everywhere because of noise...hmm! Yeah, maybe there is some double-speak that makes noise from Zero, but I doubt it...

I'm refering to those environmental fanatics that drive their SUV with a mountain bike in tow all the way to the forest, for a 1 hr ride.

ATVs, kids, dirt bikes and injuries

A few more accidents involving children and ATVs, unfortunately one of them tragic. http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1772442

The only sensible conclusion was of the OPP officer who noted that "these are large machines and we're dealing with small children".

Other comments range from completely banning children from motorized vehicles, to, check this out: banning children under 14 years of age from operating any motorized ATV, even on private property. So, they could drive a proper car but not a small ATV.

Again, a lot of uneducated folks (they can be MDs but they're obviously not educated on motorized off-roading). I don't suppose they ever saw a kid-size 50cc machine. I doubt they pay attention when in their local Canadian Tire which usually carries a bunch of the smaller ones. And what does age have to do with size of engine operated? Isn't it that size is what matters? My trained 9 year old can drive his motocross bike a lot better than many 14 year-olds will ever be able to, especially on their first attempt.

Again, lots of people start talking "motorized vehicles" and bundle dirt bikes with ATVs with race cars...

Dirt bikes are reasonably safe under direct supervision and, of course, when the right size is used. It's worth mentioning that while a 2 year old can ride a 600lb 900cc ATV simply by standing on his/her butt and pushing a button, it is practically impossible for them to control any dirt bike that is not their size.

If fitted for their size, a dirt bike will not go any faster than a mountain bike downhill, so I must ask again, why do so many people get the wrong impression?

I definitely want my kids to keep riding dirt bikes in the relative safety of the forest as opposed to riding their bicycles anywhere near traffic.

Just for the record, I don't personally like ATVs - I consider them much less safe than dirt bikes, simply because they create the impression that anyone can easily drive them and that's not the case. Just checkout the comparison videos at the bottom of our page: http://wiki.funontrails.com/about-dirt-bikes