Kill the Bill !
How many reasons can you think of that make House Bill 3592 a really bad idea?
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Chapter 90 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 1e the following section:—
Section 1F. All terrain vehicles motorized bicycles (including but not limited to dirt bikes) shall be subject to the registration, title and insurance requirements of this chapter. Sellers of such vehicles shall distribute safety information including state laws, safety requirements and training programs prepared by the registry of motor vehicles. No person under 18 years of age shall operate such vehicles without having completed a training program certified by the registry. No person under the age of 16 shall operate an adult sized ATV (over a 90cc engine). Adult sized ATV’s cannot be sold for use by persons under the age of 16 years of age. No person under the age of 14 shall operate ATV or snowmobiles. If a person operating any such vehicle violates in part or in whole this section a report shall be filed under Section 51A of Chapter 119 against the parents or guardian. If such person is convicted of violating in part or in whole Section 1F, the parent or guardian shall be subject to a 30 day suspension of their operator’s license. Upon the registration of the all terrain vehicle or motorized bicycle the parent or guardian shall sign an acknowledgement of the suspension and the filing a report under said section 51A.
Maybe the proponents of this legislation are unaware that this could very well harm more children than it could help.
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By preventing parents from buying an appropriate sized machine for their kids and preventing them from learning with their children in a nationally recognized ATV Safety Training course, it is inevitable that some kids are going to be tempted to sneak a ride on an adult machine. This is a recipe for tragedy.
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Failure and refusal to permit the establishment of legal riding areas, designed, supervised and maintained for a safe and rewarding experience can leave only illegal, unsafe, unmaintained and unsupervised places to ride and learn. This is another significant ingredient of the recipe for tragedy being considered.
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A safety course certified, 16 year old, on a 90cc ATV ??? Its not clear how these limits were arrived at but it definitely didn't come from reading any of the, approximately 500 pages, of reports on the subject published by the U S Consumer Product Safety Commission. After almost a decade of intensive analysis, the US CPSC has concluded that:
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It is dangerous to put a large youth on a tiny machine.
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Engine size is not an effective measure for ensuring operator safety but engineered, mechanical limits on maximum speed provide a reliable means to keep a vehicle within the ability of the typical youth in his age bracket and also within the ability of an adult to maintain direct supervision.
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In compliance with guidelines registered with the CPSC by the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America and standards measured by the National Institute of Standards, The ATV manufacturers produce ATV's suitable for children as young as the 6 to 9 year old age bracket. (These machines are not capable of moving faster than an average adult can run. It would be nice if bicycling were that safe!)
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Data collected nationally suggests that many more children are killed or seriously injured from incidents involving the riding of animals (horses?) than riding ATV's and the most dangerous form of youth recreation is bicycling. Why then isn't a child abuse report mandated when a young teenager is allowed to ride a ten speed on a public way without proper safety gear and direct supervision? (God forbid that someone would allow their young child on a pony ride at the church bazaar ! Take that parent's automobile license away!)
There are several more things seriously wrong with this proposed law and it has very little to do with Child Safety.
Stay tuned:
