Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ Letters to the Feds e ~ 00 Q') ....... ~ C'J C'J ;>~ ~ Or, what readers t hink of CPSC Commiss ioner Stuart "Ban 'Em" Statle;'S .an for a ban and re. .n of ATV.. Our mailbox is ove rflowing with' copies of let ters readers have sent to t he Consumer Prod uct Safety Commision; to co m m en t on Statler's pla n, write the CPSC at III I 18t h St., Wa.~h ingto n , D C 20207 with copies to COllgress m a n Do u g Barnard , H ous e of R epresentatives, Wash ing ton , DC 20515 an d to you r own congress ma n or co ngresswoman , In the m eant im e, h ere's a sam ple of letters readers have urritt en . . . Ed itor . Earth to Statler It is our o ra nization 's understand> ing tha t you, via C PSC, are determined to outlaw ATVs. . Please be advised that we are interest ed in the ac tiv i ties o f C PSC where they relate to motors port. We as k th at o u r voi ce be heard by your orga nization before a ny acti on is planned o r co ns ide red in th e a rea of motorspan. Regarding ATVs speci fica lly , th ese popular devices offera wide range o f enjoya ble riding ex pe riences . T h ei r inherent ad van tages, due to th eir co nfiguration, o ver o the r type s of vehicles for use in speci fic a pplica tions, do co me a t th e price o f so me unique h an dling ca racte r ist ics. Cenai n ly th is ca n be said o f an y co n veya nce a nd does not, in and of itself, legitim ize a n acc usa tio n of unsaf e. Differ ent, yes; unsafe, no ! It seems to us th at th e few people wh o have had difficulty riding th ese vehicl es hav e had th at difficulty beca use o f lack o f knowledge a bo u t three-wheeled vehicl e riding techniques. We su ppo r t a nd enco ura ge effo rts to ed ucate th e public a bo u t th ese veh icl es and their sa fe o pe ra tio n, We adamantly oppose any efforts to prohibit unrestricted manufacture and sale of ATVs. , BILL WILDT, P resident Mot o rsport Advancemen t Crusade Chicago, l L Dear "Ban 'em" Statler . I object strongly to yo ur ac tivities with ATVs. This is not how you should be spending my money. Peopl e don 't buy ATVs and motorcycl es for th e sa me reason they buy cha i nsaw s and hairdryers: When I bought m y motorcycle I accepted the risks invol ved . It 's something I choose to ' do . If yo u outlawA'TVs o r motorcycles yo u will be making me a n o u tlaw ,too. If yo u m u st do so met h in g, spe n d th e money tea ching people ri sk manageme nt. For exa m p le, I alwa ys ride with p rotective gear; helmet, boots, g loves, prope r clothing . I a lso hav e a ttende d four riding co urses. Please, let's ed uca te o ur fell ow riders a nd teach good rid ing techniques. But don ' t try to solve what yo u perceive as a p robl em by banning recreational products. , Would you a ttempt to ban cigare ttes? Personall y, I hate smoking, but I will not interfer e with other pea pl e's ri ght to smoke. T ha n k you for yo u r a uention and aga in , pl eas e reconsider yo ur acti ons a nd a u irude s toward public safety. Ri sk is a pa n of life, Let 's accep t th at and ed uca te people on risk managememo Let 's keep th e government out o f as much of o u r lives as possible. 30 .11& I- STEVE GROVE 11 dtl , l ette r to CPSC Th e Cons umer P ro d u ct Sa fe ty Com mission is c u rre n tly in vesti gating th e a p pare nt safe ty level encou n rer ed bv the users o f three -wheeled ATVs. ' Mu ch , publ ic press, mostly n egative . ha s been present ed recent ly o n what may be a n inh erent in srability in th e d esign o f th ese hi ghl y versatile a nd enj o yable vehicles. In m y ex perience o ver th e p ast two years of accid ent and injury-free ATV riding (a lo n g with m y wife a nd two sub-teen so ns), th e key to sa fe operat io n of ATVs is focused in two key area s: I. P ro per sa fety equ ipm ent and properdothingat a ll times whil e riding ATVs (helmet, goggles, gloves, boots and heavy clothing, such as den i m pants and lo ngsleeved shins) wi II p rot ect an ATV user from a wide vari et y of scra pe s an d bruises. 2. Proper rider ins tr uct io n a n d monitorin g o f ch ild ren's rid in g o f ATVs to ens ure that th eir rid ing activ ities are sa fe a nd th at th ey do n ot deve lop ba d ri di ng habits. (It wou ld seem rha t this is a co m mon sense elernent l) These two factors are impor ta n t to th e safely o f people and their enjoyment o f ATV s as recreational vehicles. o r as utili ty veh icles o n farms an d ran ch es, etc. I stro ng ly urge th a t rat her th an a hasty move to ban or reca ll ATVs, efforts sho u ld be focused o n user adh erence to th e two sa fety principl es I o u tlined above. Sim ilar programs have been very successful in ot her recreational areas su ch a s skiing and boat in g (bo th of which have ex tremely high level s of accidents, injuri es a n d de aths - without regu latory intervent io n , mandated design cha n ges , e tc.) and in firearm safety (t ha n ks to self- regu la tion by user groups such a s N RA and others). I urge tha t you not ac t in haste. LY N N DO UG LAS HOWELL' Walnu t, CA Letter to CPSC II I have been foll ow in g yo u r crusade against ATVs. I wrote a letter last week to ABC N ew s 20/ 20, for th eir biased show aga ins t ATVs a ired April 25. I just received m y Cycle N ews , Ma y I issue, a nd read the co lu m n by J ohn U lrich. I a m co ncerned abou t yo ur proposed banning or recall o f ATVs just because th ere are in juries a nd dea ths associa ted with th em . Th e an swer to th e sa fety o f ATV s is ed uca tio n and learning th e skills a nd proper technique of riding th em : If the pa rents, whi ch I a lways th ou ght were responsible for th eir ch ildren , we re made awa re th at o ne doesn 't j us t hop o n a n ATV without some instru cti on , th en th ey should, a s responsible parents. p rovid e t hat instructi on fo r th eir ch ild re n . As for the adults. rh ev a re su p pose d ly responsibl e for Ih eir'own act ions, a nd if Ih ey a n a fford to purchase an ATV th en I assum e th ey have th e in telligen ce 10 read t h e o wne r' s manual and oth er sa k ty inform ation relatin g to ATVs. Also, 'a lco ho l is a factor in so me ad u lt accidents, which vou ca n ' t fa u II rhe ATVs for. . Part o f th e safe tv ins tr uc tio n is th e proper wearing ot prot ect ive eq ui pm -nt: lnn~ . Iii ling helmut ridin boot s, shou lder pads. a nd o ther ciathi ng. Parent s wouldn 't send thei r kids o n th e foot hall field w ir h out proper gea r bu t they let th em ride ATV s wit h ou t the ' same a nd co m p lai n whe n they ge l hun . Blaming th e ATV manufacturers for the sa fety problem is lik e having a sw im mi n g pool in stall ed in yo u r back yard, jumping in th e wat er, and th en blam in g th e pool in stall er a fte r yo u d rowned beca use yo u never learned to s w im : Attack the rea l problem, whi ch is sa fety trai ning. nOI th e ATVs. Th ere is a segment of th e p opu lation that operat es ATVs and off-road motorcycl es in a proper mann er wit h proper protective equipment and it's not fa ir to th ese peop le - myself a nd my ch ild re n a mong them - by ba nninga ll ATVsand/oroff-road motorcycles . Governm ent shou ld sto p trying to protect us' from oursel ves . Thank you for your time to r ead m y views o n this mailer. DO UG WOLF R ich la nd , WA A lette r to Stuart M, Statler I read o f vour intent 10 ban a nd / o r reca ll three:w he el ATVs because you feel th ey lack " d ynam ic stabil ity " a nd ca use acci de nts a n d injuri es to defen seless lillie chi ld ren . Our famil y's fav or it e hobby is' ca m p ing and off-road riding, and our three children have had manv ho u rs o f accident-free fun taking turns on th e Honda ATC70 we purchased for them in 1982. We make sure they always wear a helmet , g loves, goggles, long sleeve jerseys a nd long pa nts, and in three years th ey h ave no t rece ived so much as a scratch, T his we a uri bute to proper i nstructions ' a n d ca utio ns about operating mo tor vehicles safely, having th em ri de on ly in sa fe open areas, a nd the a fore mentioned protect ive gea r. ' We ch o se a n d bought a th reewheeled veh icle rather than a m inimotorcycle because our children had ba lance problems learn in g to ride their bicycl es , an d th ey felt more co m fo rt a b le on something that wouldn't tip over as ea sily as a twowheeler! In June of 1982, when we bought th e lilli e Honda, our third ch ild, T a ylor, was born with birth defects th at neces sitat ed vround-theclock nursing ca re a t home. Going riding for th e day with.th e two o ther ch ild ren provided welcome relief from th e stra i n and stress o f ca ring for our n ew son. Now he has outgrown hi s medical problems, and is a norma l, healthy three-year-o ld who enjoys ver y much hi s short introductory. rides on o ur, three-whee ler. (T he H onda ATC70 ha s an adjustabl e thrott le screw, an excell ent sa fety Iealure for yo u ng riders like Taylor; th ~ ATC will go no faster th a n a slow walking pace w it h th e throttl e screw turned down. ) We co ns ider o ursel ves in re ll ig eru. lo vin g parent s, a n d a ft er a ll th e surgery and pain T ay lor has gone through, we wou ld not let h im (o r our other ch ild re n) even get near an ATC if we thought it would hurt th em of it s own accord. Owning a nd rid ing th eir th ree-wh eeler has taught our ch i ld re n responsib ilit y th ey hav learned ...yata Id "'3 . and i t has p rovided th~m with much pleasure as well. U n for tu na rely. a lmost every time we go ri di ng, we see a few " jerks" who ei ther ri de whil e drinking , ride with no prot ective gear on, . o r ride " over th eir heads. " Our ch ild ren are quick to spot th ese p eopl e a nd list what th ey are doing wrong . I be lieve th at th e job o f th eCPSC is to sponsor a nd enc o urage ATV rider education an d training, rather than regulate or recall th e vehicles themselves. THEA AND STEVE GAV IN a CA range, Big Brother and ABC I-Iere th ey go a ga in fo lks ! Big Brot her is once again flex in g their muscles, regard ing th e off-road community. Apparent ly th e governmen t isn 't gell ing th e riding areas closed fast en ough for a part icu lar group of people, so now th l')' are a ttac kin g and advocating a ban and reca ll of ATVs in parti cu lar thi s time, and probably a ll o ff-roa d vehicl es soone r th an later. On ce aga in 20/ 20 is trying to portra y o ff-h ig h way vehicles a nd users as " in herem lv" unsaf e o r evi l. I take th eir a llega rious very pe rs o na lly, because as a member o f th e o ff-ro ad co m m u n ity in genera l, an d a member of CO R VA (Ca lifo rnia Off- R oad Veh icle. Assn .) in particular, I a m com m i tted to us ing ATVs a nd a ll o n or o ff-road veh icl es in a sa fe, sane , so ber a nd responsibl e manner . An in structi onal program is under way to educate people to use ATVs in a responsible mariner and I'm sure Cycle N ews has a ll the info on these programs, loca tio ns and availabi lity. I know everyone of yo u has written a letter to th e Consumer P ro duct Safety ' Commission, but I a lso urge you to let 20/20 kn o w th at we responsible o ff-road vehi cle u sers are a lso co ns umers of th eir sponso rs ' products a nd wi ll indeed no longer bu y their p roducts, o r wat ch 20/20. Q uack ! Q uack l G RAN DMA DUCKB ACKER Ca li fornia Ms. Duckbacker's true name and address were w ithh eld by her request , , , Editor, Facts for CPSC Last even in g I had th e distinct disp lea sure 10 watch ABC 's 20/20 program e n t it led " T h ree Wheeled Threat. " I must say as a ci tizen who ordinarily will go along with programs if th ey a p pe a r to benefit th e majori ty, I'v e fin all y been cu t to th e ver y marrow . .Thi s program wa s hosted by Hugh Do wnes and ABC's a n ima ted Barbie Do ll , Barbara Walters. It wa s a bso lu tely th e m ost ridiculous, outrag eous d isplay of tota l bi as I have ever seen . Pl ease u nderstand that I am 100% in agreemen t th at safety not only 'o n th e highway, bu t off, is a responsi bility of a ll motorists, regardless o f what typ e of vehicle th ey drive. I a m 40 years o ld : I ca n no t use my lef t arm from th e sh ou lder down; and I have been driving three-wheeled . veh icles for four years. I ha ve driven the se vehicles wh ere four-wheel-drive trucks co uld not traverse a nd at speeds that would m ak e m ost inexperienced people tremble with fear. I' m stating these facts because I think there is a lpa rdllel here which people should be

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