[Bogger]

My submission....................

I would like to thank you on behalf of all responsible riders for helping to paint us all with the same brush. As a family we own 6 ATV's and frequently ride as a family. My 11 year old daughter rides her own quad...a 125cc breeze, manufactured for her age group. My 7 year old son rides on my quad outfitted with a properly secured passenger seat and we all wear helmets at all times.
Can they be dangerous??? absolutely! the majority of the footage you used in your story showed riders driving too fast for conditions and not wearing helmets.
Did you know????
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information2, between April 1, 2001 and March 31, 2002, a total of 6,224 Canadians fell on or from stairs or steps in their homes and were injured seriously enough to require a hospital visit.
So should we outlaw the use of stairs in canada? Obviously there are many people who do not know how to properly use them.
You leave out many details which are widely known to the ATV community however not common knowledge.
1. Many ATV's are modified, lift kits, upgraded tires, ect. Given this fact I feel that the manufacturers safety standards are just fine, people would continue to change them anyhow.
2. many of the injuries result from younger children being allowed to operate too large of a machine without proper knowledge/training/experience.
3. Way too many people ride without helmets.
These facts may never change unfortunately and as ATV's gain in popularity inevitably so will the injuries associated with.
Did you know????
There were 13,411 injury cases in 2006 related to golf cart use in the US (could not find a canadian stat) but 10% of the population in canada so probably safe to say 10% of the injuries....actually lets say 5% due to our shorter golf season. Thats 670.5 injuries related to golf carts in 1 year.... what safety standards are the manufacturers of golf carts held to? maybe we should outlaw the use of golf carts.
The dangers you identified in your report are very real and most ATV users (alright maybe not most, but us responsible ones anyway) realize the risk and take measures to mitigate that risk as much as we can and it is very frustrating to see a respected news authority use 1/2 truths and bias information to make a public case against the use of ATV's.
How many injuries each year result from activities such as Hockey, Skiing, swimming, biking, rollerblading, football ect???????
the deaths/injuries are unfortunate but like you yourself pointed out there are 2.5 million riders resulting in 150 deaths annually...0.006% mortality rate, if you took into account how many of those 150 were riding too fast for terrain, not wearing helmets, under the influence of alcohol or the big one a child riding an adult machine that number would be MUCH smaller.

Thank you

Ian Simpson
Certified Health & Safety Coordinator, CCA Gold Seal Safety Coordinator.