CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER
Parents
Group Calls CPSC ATV Campaign Pure Public Relations, Won’t Save One Child
20 Corporate Crime Reporter 37(1), September 21, 2006
A group of parents who have lost children to ATV accidents today accused the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) of engaging in “pure public
relations.”
Concerned Families for ATV Safety accused the CPSC of weakening safety regulations
at the behest of the ATV industry.
“The CPSC's campaign is not going to save one child riding on an adult-sized
ATV,” said Sue Rabe, a co-founder of Concerned Families for ATV Safety.
In May 2002, Rabe lost her son Kyle when his adult sized Arctic Cat ATV rolled
over and crushed him to death.
Her group wants CPSC to pass a rule that would prohibit the sale of adult-sized
ATVs -- over 90 cc -- for use by children under 16.
Instead, the CPSC today brought in famous race car drivers – including
Richard Petty -- to the National Press Club to promote what the CPSC called
“a major
campaign to educate riders young and old on the safe use of ATVs.”
But Rabe said that “a child looks at Richard Petty and it makes the kid
want to race an ATV."
“It’s counterproductive,” she said.
CPSC chair Nancy Nord tried her best to send a safety message.
“ATVs are not toys, especially adult ATVs, which can travel at 60 miles
per hour and weigh up to 800 pounds,” Nord
said. “Children should only ride youth model ATVs – there have been
too many children killed while driving or riding as a passenger on adult ATVs.”
But Rabe said putting aside Nord’s rhetoric, the CPSC new campaign will
undermine safety because the CPSC is weakening the rules on youth-sized ATVs.
“Right now, the ATV industry and the CPSC have a golden rule – no
one under 16 riding an adult sized ATV,” Rabe said. “That means
no child under 16 on anything larger than a 90 cc vehicle. But the CPSC and
the industry want to change that so that children 12 to 16 can ride vehicles
that are larger than 90 cc – anywhere from 125cc to 175 cc. They are changing
the definition of ‘adult-sized ATVs.’ This will lead to more children
dying on ATVs.”
“It’s a huge step in the wrong direction,” Rabe said. “No
child under 16 should be on an adult sized ATV – meaning anything over
90 cc.”
Rabe, who lives in Turner, Oregon, is working to get the Oregon legislature
to pass “Kyle’s Law” which would prohibit the sale and use
of adult sized ATVs by children under the age of 16.
Rabe says that already North Carolina has passed a statute outlawing the use
of adult sized ATVs by children under the age of 16.
How would a state enforce a law against selling an ATV vehicle for use by children?
“Well, right now there is a law against selling tobacco and alcohol for
use by children,” Rabe said. “And most parents get the message.”
According to the CPSC, the number of four-wheel ATVs in use in the United States
has increased from just over 2 million to more than 6.9 million over the past
decade.
From 1982 through 2004, there were nearly 6,500 deaths involving ATVs.
In 2004 alone, an estimated 136,000 people were treated in hospital emergency
rooms for ATV related injuries – many life-altering.
In 2003, an estimated 740 people died nationwide in ATV incidents.
About 30 percent of all deaths and injuries involve children younger than 16.
It appears that the battle for ATV safety is shaping up as a battle between
parents who have lost children to ATV accidents, pediatric physicians, neurosurgeons,
and trauma nurses – against the ATV industry and the CPSC.
“The CPSC should come over to our side and listen to us,” Rabe said.
“We’re the ones who have lost children. The industry is making money
by selling the vehicle.”
Corporate
Crime Reporter
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