Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

CPSC seems determined to force recall and ban Government attacks A TVs By John Ulrich and Rex Reese WASHINGTON , D.C. . AP RIL 3 The Consumer Product Safety Commission has launched a full-scale investiga tio n o f ATV sa fety problems an d seem s determined to ban th ree-wheelers in the n ear fu ture. In lead ing the four-member CPSC in its decision to begin an ATV sa fety crusade, Commiss ion er Stuart M. Statler said, " I' m seri ously co ns ide ring th e possibi lit y o f seek i ng a ban a nd possibl y a reca ll o f the vehicles o u t th ere. Serious co nside ra tio n n eeds to be gi ven in th e months a head of adv isa bility o f seekin g a halt to future three-w heel ATV produ eti on a nd possibl y recall in g a ll such vehicles previousl y so ld ." The CPSC's recent co nce rn over ATV safety has been m et by p roposal s o f in crea sed rider tra in ing and safet y a wa ren ess pr og rams from th e Specialty Vehicle Institute of American (SVIA), a non-p rofit trade group fu nded bv ATV manufacturer s H onda , Ka wa sa ki, Suzuk i and Yamaha. Bu t th e SV IA 's co nten tio n th at ATV in j ur ies are th e result o f rider mis-use and lack o f safe ty equipmen t haven 't im p ressed com m ission ers, who seem to be convinced that three-wheelers a re in herent ly unstable w hen movi ng. Speaki ng about the SVIA pl an s rela tive to h is percep tions of ATVs' "dynam ic srabi l it v. " Statler said "They tell us th ey're going to do so methi ng a bo u t it, an d th en leave ou t th e m ost im portant pan . I don' t sense any feel in g o f reso lve or co mmitment o n th e part of th e ATV industry." Comm issio n C hai rman T erren ce Sca n lo n sai d "The tim e for tal k is ove r; th e time for action is at hand ," T h e Co m miss io n, m eetin g i n Was h ington, adopted seven o f n in e CPSC-staff-proposed co urses o factio n for dea ling with th e issue of ATV safet y, stopping shon of immed ia tely issuing mandatory desig n regulations, forcing a reca ll or halting fu ture production , a ll of which were co nsidered. Bu t accordi ng to CPSC documents relea sed under th e Freedom of Inform a tion act, the adoption of the seven measur es does no t rule out future severe government action regarding ATVs, I n a memo to th e Commission dat ed February 20, C PSC Co rrective Aetions Division Compliance Officer Elizabe th H a ught lis ted avai la ble o ptio ns , inclu ding .. . . . actio ns un der Secti on 15 of th e CPSA (Consu mer P roduc t Safety Act ) seeki ng a determ in at io n tha t one o r more types o f ATVs present a su bsta n tia l prod uct ha za rd and seeki ng p u blic not ice, rep a ir , repl acem ent or refund of the purch ase pr ice o f th e prod uct." Con tin u ing in the me mo, H aug h t said "The sta ff believes it wo u ld be more a ppropriate for the Commission to con side r th ese op tions aft er furth er information ha s been develo p ed t hrough . .. h earings and add itio na l research .. .' There is no guarantee that th e Commission won 't tak e ex treme lv harsh m ea sures so me time in th~ fu tu re; in a March 7 lett er to co ns umer protectio n agenc ies in eac h sta te, Co m m iss io ne r St atler a sked s ta te o fficia ls to " . . . help us deal w ith th is risk by a leru ng you r co ns titue ncy to send me an y in fo rma tio n a bo u t ATV in stability, hearing of an acc ident, su ffering a n injury, etc; as well as a ny pers on al o bser va tio ns, based o n use, as to th e ATV' s co n fig u ra tion, loss o f co n tro l, handl in g cha rac ter istics, spee d , or overa ll safety." The fu ro r over ATV safety er u pt ed w ith th e release o f CPSC st aff estim at es th a t injuri es a nd deaths relat ed to ATV use hav e soa red over recent years, as ATV popul ar ity in creased. Accordin g to CPSC esti ma tes , 66,956 peop le were in jured o n ATVs in 1984, with 48 deaths. The injury fig ur es a re p roj ected from numbers received by a sample of h ospita l eme rgen cy rooms across th e co u ntry a nd do not represent a n a ctu al co u n t of injuries. ATV in d u str y spo kesmen have poi n ted o u t that th e CPSC's own investigations show that man y ATVrelated inj uri es involve riders who don 't wear any safety eq u ip mem (suc h as helmet , gloves, boots, ect.) and m is-use of ATVs (in cl u di ng ridi n g double, rid in g o n pav ement, u n su p ervised riding by ch ildren , etc.) Accord in g to th e CPSC 's N ic k Mar ch ic a , Ac ting Man a g er for Emerging Product H azards, the CPSC ha s d irected its staff to ta ke th e fol lowi n g steps durin g fiscal year 1985: - Con d uct a preliminary hazard a na lysis to o bta in deta ile d in formation o n ATV usc. - U ndertake a huma n engineering and med ica l a na lysis of ATVs and th eir usc. -Hold a series of p ublic hearings. The fu ll commission wi ll hold three field heari ngs in fisca l year 1985 a nd one hearing in fiscal 1986, p lus on e hearing in Wa sh in gt o n , D.C. - Mo n i to r the ATV in d ustry's training and ed ucation efforts, reservin g the right to assist or strengt he n the industry effo rt a t a later date if neccessary. (According to March ica , CPSC staff ha d suggested tha t the agency moni tor, ass is t and streng th en in d ustry tra ining a nd ed u ca tion efforts: bu t comm issioners deci de d they wan ted C PSC staff to be a wa re of w ha t the ATV ind us try is doi ng, not ac tive ly assis ting or trying to get the industry 10 do more. ) - Sha re info rm a t io n w ith user groups an d sta te, federa l a nd local o fficia ls. - Mo nitor th e d evel opment of vo lun tar y s ta ndard s for AT Vs. (" By o u r definit ion," said Marchica, " th is me ans th at th e sta ff wo uld basica ll y be awa re o f what the industry is doing. We had reco mmended to th e co m m issio n iliat ' we participate in the devel op ment o f volu nt ary standards, T he difference is, when yo u p articipat e , yo u do a lo t o f wo rk in th e development of a vo lun ta ry sta n dard, yo u go to meetings , yo u 're th e advoca te for cer tain performa nce as pects o f th e voluntary stan dard . What (the co m m iss io n) to ld us to do was to moni tor th e process. T hey to ld us to att end meetings that wo u ld be occuring at the voluntary standard level. ",. -P u blish promptl y a n Adva nced Noti ce o f P ro p o sed R ul e m ak in g (AN P R ): pursuant to Section 9 of the Consumer P rod uct Safety Act , to, accordi ng to Marchica , "obtain addi tional informa tion from a ll interested so urces co nce rn ing the hazards associa ted wi th ATVs. This ANP R will id entify each poss i b le regu latory op tio n th at may be co n side red under th e Com mis sio n' s Secti on 7 or Section 8 authority, in cludin g a per form an ce sta nda rd, a wa rn ing sta ndard , a labelin g sta nda rd , a parti al ban , a . ban, or a co m b in a t io n o f these options ," Ma rchi ca ad de d th at th e Commissio n sta ff " w ill cover th e wh ole gam ut of regul atory o p tio ns availab le to us under Secti ons 7 a nd 8 o f rhe Consu m er Product Safet y Act," Marchica sta ted that accordin g to law, befor e th e C PS C beg in s a ny of th ese ac tio ns, th e p u blic ha s to be notifi ed th at th e co m m issio n is in ten d ing 10 u n derta ke a ny p roposed ru le-m akin g process. Advanced p ubl ic not ificat ion , savs Ma rch ica will be "wi thi n th e ne'xt twomontils; it wi ll be as earlv as . Apr il, but no la ter tha n Iune. "The ANP R will also m enti on that th e Commission may co nsi der o ther regu latory o r en fo rce me n t optio ns," said Ma rchi ca , "suc h as th e use o f Secti on 12, ' Im m ine n t H azard.' or Sectio n IS, 'Su bsta ntia l Product Hazard,' a nd Secti on 27E, ' Prod u ction of T echnical a n d Performance In fo rm a tio n ' of th e au th ori ty under th e Consumer P ro du ct Safety Act. "Wh at we a re do in g ," said Ma rch ica , " is ex p la ini ng that the Commi ssion has a ll these regula tory tools available to it, and we w ill sec w ha t happen s as a res u lt o f the AN P R . By start ing th is process, we'll be ge lli ng - i n for mat io n th a t w i ll assis t th e Com m iss io n in structuri ng th e scope o f its p lan ned public hearin gs. All o f this will begin in th e p rese nt fiscal yea r. (The Com mission) a lso ga ve us gu ida nce for the next fiscal year, wh ich begins in O cto ber, th at we shou ld co ns ide r a n in forma tion a nd edu ca tion ca mpaign, wh ich is option eig h t o f o ur package. T h e wa y we w ill co nsider th is is by includi ng it in to our fiscal year 1986 operating p lans, a n d what wi ll happen is th a t prior to O cto ber, the Comm ission as a body will decide what work it wants to do for fisca l 1986. One o f the thi ngs th ey want us to provide th em is an informat ion a nd educa tion project on ATVs." Marchi ca stat ed tha t 90 da ys after the AN P R is issued, th e Commission will eva luate th e information it ha s received up to th at time. T he co m miss io ners will th en " determ ine th e n eed for a compu lsory process to obta in informa tio n ne cessarv 10 sat isfactori ly bui ld all agency record o n ATVs in order to proceed with reg u latory or en fo rce m ent optio ns as necessa ry. T h is review docs n ot p reclude th e staff from seeking co m p u l. sory p ro cess on an ad-hoc basis a t a n ea rl ier date if n ecessa ry." Marchi ca exp la ins th at 90 days aft er th e AN P R is iss ued, if th e co m missio n doesn't believe th a i it has received a ll the in form ation tha t co u ld possibly be availa ble, " spec ia l orde rs" ma y be required to ge t furth er deta ils "on a manda tory basis." March ica sai d th at th e Com mis sion is a t th e info rm at ion-gath ering stage so it "can decide wh ich regula - tory tool will be used , whether it be a sta n dard, or a ban , or a label or an 'imm in ent h azard ' determinat ion, or a recall actio n . They are keeping th eir o p tio ns ope n," While th e CPSC ha s not made a speci fic co m mi tment as to wha t it wi ll do abou t ATVs, Ma rchica n ot ed , " T his ANPR tell s th e world tha t the Co mmissio n is very co ncerned, (and) as ks tha t a vo lu ntary standard be put in place. Beca use o ne o f th e th ings we 'll h ave to do if the Commission co mes up with a m andatory stan dard is we'd h ave to evaluate th e ex isting vo lu nta ry sta nda rd a n d th en sec if th at wou'ld be adequate. As of today, th ere is no volunta ry sta nda rd on ATVs; th e indust ry ha s to ld u s th at they arc will ing to 'sta rt a pr ocess." . According to Mar chi ca , one o f th e first th in gs th e CPS C will be do ing before it go es a ny furt he r is 10 se t up a task force to ca rry o u t th e an nou nced steps. The task for ce leader an d staff w i II be chosen from ins ide th e CPSC. T he n ature of info rmation th at the CPSC is seek in g for its evaluat io n , says March ir a , is expected to co me from a wid e number of so urces users and us er groups, indust ry spokesm en , sta te agen cies, an d co ns um er advoca te gro u ps. " We want to co ver as much as we can so we'r e h earin g all aspec ts o f th e ATV co mmuni ty. We don 't want to hear from manufacturer s, we'r e lookin g for user grou ps, sta te and loca l peop le wh o hav e regulations in pl a ce. We'll as k from th em how th ey feel about what's go ing on. I th ink there's a ro le here • for th e federal go vern me n l." Where to write SaveATVs from the government You say you don 't beli eve that ATVs are inherently evil and dang erous? You say tha t yo u believe p eo p le us ing co m mo n sense a nd safety pr ecauti ons can hav e a p erfectly fin e time w ith ATVs? You sa y yo ur idea o fa good tim e is not go vern me nt design or regu la tio n or recall o f ATVs? Then do so mething! Wr ite a letter ! Get yo ur friends and fellow rid ers a nd co-workers a nd fam ily to wr ite a letter , w rit e two lett ers, wri te a bu nc h o f le tters ! Flood the govern me nt w ith mail! T ell them wha t ATVs mean to you, yo u r fami ly, yo u r life. Ask th em to enco urage ed uca tio n and training! Yo ur Co ng r e ss m an o r Co ng r ess woman (Get h is or he r name from your loca t tibr ary or city hall) Washin gton, DC 20515 Congressman Doug Barna rd Rayb urn House Office Bldg . Room B-377 Washing t on, DC 20515 Phone 202 /22 5 -4407 M r. Terrence M . Scanlo n Chair man, CPSC 11 11 18t h St. Washington. DC 20207 Pho ne 20 21634-7700 Mr. Stuart M . Sta t le r Commission er , CPSC 1111 18th St. Washington, DC 20207 Phone 20 21634-7700 Send cop ies of your tene rs t o: S pecial ty Vehicle Insti t ut e of America (SV IA ) 3 15 1 Airway Ave . Bldg. P-l Cost a Mesa. CA 92626 Phone 714 / 24 1-925 6 3

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