ment stud ies. wh ich charac teri zed AT Vs aa 'decep tivel y da ngerous machi ne s,' which 're q u ire a high
degree of skill ;' valua ble cons u mer in forma tio n which
aled .'
he felt wa!> bei ng co nce
(John Spain , Sr. ) " Well, I was o u traged. beca use
wh at I fo u nd was that pages a nd pages o f sepa ra te
in ci den ces wh ere peop le were ma im ed a nd hun: quo tati ons in there th at basica ll y said th at ' someone o f
John 's age does no t han ' th e-ma turi ty o r coo rd in ation ski11s to deal w it h this type vehicle. "
(An n o u ncer ) " Spa in felt he was sitt in g o n a sto ry
bigger tha n hi s fa m ily acci de n t, o r th e a larming
n umber of in juries he found in Lo ui sia na emerg ency
rooms. H e co n tacted 20 / 20, an d we bega n to invea n Kale . We ta lked to o ne m em ber o f th e Co n su mer
P rod uct Sa fely Commissio n: S tuar t Statler. "
(Stua rt Sta der! " Fro m wha t I' ve seen in m y five
yea n as co m missione r here , th is in one of the m ost
seri o u s eme rging safety co ncern s ever to h it the America n publ ic. "
(An no u nce r) " 20/ 20 found we f l ove r 100 law suits
ch a rgi ng th e mac h ines rb em selves are 10 blam e for
injuries a nd dea ths . Even so, th ere is a na tio na l craz e
for th e mot or ized three-whee lers . manufactur ed by
th e fo ur m ot o rcycl in g gla rus : H onda, Yamah a. Kawasa ki a nd S uzu ki .
"The re are 1.8 million of them in the U.S" and
today's sa les are cli m b ing. They cos t a nywhere fro m
$700 to $2300. Beca use th ey're des ig nfod fo r o ff-roa d
u se o n ly. they 're n ot a morna ncal ly covered by a n y
sa ferv regulan on s. T he ir big . soh , ba lloon Iires have
made th em especial ly pop ular in th e sa nd kit , h ke
the desert s o f Ca lifo rn ia. The." snow be ll. li ke th e icy
trail s o f Ala ska , a nd th e mud be lt . like th e swa mps of
Lo uisia na , where we went r idi n ' a nd slidin' ,
" T hey' re n ot just for fun . Manufacturers setl them
fo r ind ustria l purposes.Hke wo rki n g aro und o il rigs,
or for fa rm use . And th ey've bee n tes ted fo r co n ser vet ion u se by several sta tes. There' s even p rize money to
be made.' from th em : there's a professio nal ATV rac ing circ u it. T he riders are m o stly strong , a thle tic,
yo u n g people, wh o are protected by padded cloth in g ,
a nd h ave developed a hi gh degree o f skill wi th th e
A'TV s. HUI even thl"y ha ve occasjona l mishaps.
" T he craze doesn 't step ar the race co urse. An's
h av e become the focus o f 'weekend happen in gs.'
Hundreds of en th usias ts gat he r a t rem ot e loc ati ons,
prepared 10 ca m p o u t for wee ken d pa n ics, cen tered
aro un d th eir ki ds, a nd ATV!!o. T hey 're a fami ly a ffai r.
We found Dad servinK 35 thl" p it cre w for ('iJ!:h l-ye-.u o ld Raymond,"
(Ray mo nd) " I' ve done ii, for . , , Ih ree yea rs."
(An no uncl'r) " He 's one o f sco res of yo u ng "ter5 o u t
o n th is da y, prt'uing their skills to th e limit. T he
cha lle nge is 10 run the ma chi nes as hard , a nd as f..st,
and as dose 10 ti ppi ng over as po "sible . Raym o nd 's so
small th ai h e ca n 'l fuel o r sta n hi s mach in e without
help. Once iI' s fUell-d and fired off . he re turns to th e
ma yhem ."
(Scree n shows Raymond cra shi ng wit h a no ther
An'.)
(An nou nn:r) "The im p;u:t flip ped ove r th l' lillie
g irl 's th ree-whet"lrr. a nd "hook Raymond u p. But a n
adult quickly d usted Ihe m off a nd encouragffi Ihem
10 hQp back o n a nd roo r o ff aga in . Thl"Sl' kid !! a re
okay, bu t not evt'ryon e is so forlunat e.
" AI th l' Yuma Reg io na l Mt'd ica l Ce n ter Emerge ncy Room , th ey set:' as ma n y as 50 AT\' accid en t
victi ms o n a holida y wet'kend , Dr. Mich ael Riser.
wh o wor ks in th e Yuma eme rge ncy room , go t o n a
thr('('-wheeler to descri bl' o m' of th e most seri o us
tylX's o f inj uri es."
( Dr, Ri M' ) "The AT e ('".a rne o f( th e ground. th ey
r
wer e now aU the sea t, a nd wh en th l' ATClanded th t'y
ca me down hard o n Ihe sea t . wd ghling th dr spint' to
Iht' poi nl where th e bones o f th e sp ine co lla pSl'd."
(An nou nc er ) " In Minneso ta , Dunnl'tt e Moon , age
14. wa5 ba rely left a live with M'vere brain injuries
from her ATV a«ident. In Louisian a, La n n i Scroggs
a t age 24 is a quadri plegic from hi ~ ATV acci de nt."
(La n ni Scruggs) " I' J) pr obably neve r wa lk aK«n con serva tively
l'5tima led th rre havt' htTn 100.000 inj u rin sus ta ined
o n ATVs in Ihe last thr("(' years, a nd the inj ured art"
amon g the lucky o nes . Thrre are n o preci ~ ftgureson
Ihe numbl'r of dl"aths from ATI' acciden ts; K0vttnment figures suggest tha t a t leas l 125 people have died
ov('r Iht' P.lst th rf:t'. years, BUI iI's bdievf:'d th a t th ose
figures ar e low , For exa m ple. in jus l lhr ee Louisiana
hospitals that we ch ecked into, lh a t" were six fatal i.
lie s - and n ot a ll of th ow wt"r(' li stoo in thC'gOvt'rnmrnl reco rds . The victims rangt'd in age from six
months 1078 year s o ld ; sornr we rC'nperien ced r idC'l's,
o the rs wert' o n lheir firsl ridl' .
" O nr S('vm- year-o)d 'c h ild wh ose m om wouldn't
Jl"t h im hav~ a n ATV. hopped on one parkl'd a l a
frimd' s hou!>('. Rick Antl f')' rOde off on Ihe thr('("It
whl~le r. "
(Jeri Norman - Ri ck Antlt")", mother ) .. It f>Omeh ow fel) o n hi~ , a nd co m p resSl'd al l lhe air o u t o f hi 5
ch e"'l . They sa id that that wa s it."
(A n nouncl"r) "He..was dead . At a ge seven . Ri cky
miKht weJJ h ave th ought of the Ihree· wh eder as
nolh in g more tha n a rTK?tori led trj C)'c~ e. But it's fun damemally diff erem from lh e s ta nd~i m o f safety .
Dr , Ro ~t Wr iRht. a tec,hn ica l,cxper l on sia bili ty,
has !ii1udl ed A,-V5 for aCCid en t vlcums. H e sa ys"they
ha\'e a da ng l"
rou5 Iy-h ig h cente r o f ~d v it y,"
( Dr. Wri Rht ) " Yo ur cenler o f J;l'av il)' is abou l in
her e. the cente r o f gra"ity i" do wn hl"re, so the two or
yo u rid e about her e; wh ich mea ns you r center o f
gravi ty is v('ry hi g h a nd very far rea rwar d s. So th is
mea ns th at if yo u 're dr ivin ,l{ a lonK o n any kind o f
su rfan ', you acce lerate sud dl'n ly or hit a bu mp. yo u 're
~ o i ng to go on over bac kwa rds . And sinn; yo u 're
hold in J!: on to Ihe ha ndl ebar, as yo u ~tart to ~o ba ck
yo u e\'en mak e it woisr, brca u~ yo u' re go inK to pu ll
il o n back ."
(A n no u ncer) " \\'r ig ht "'-f. y ~ the ~lme p robl ems
were found a nd fixed in ear ly m()(ldsof farm m in or s
and ridi nf!: mO Wl"fS . T he AT\' ma n u fact urers say th'at
w hat m a y loo k likl' in sta bili t), is 'lC"lua lJ)' wh;.umak es
th ese Ih ree· wh l"elers a ble 1 la ke o n Ihl" l"U~H;;:ed
0
ter ra in ,
( Ku rt Ant o n iu \ - H o n da spo kl'sma n ~ " We brlit'Vl"
they're , 'er )' slabl e. We believe th e rid er e!lisenl ia ll y
influen ces th t' s ta bility of Ihe veh icl e. It 's ...·ery simi la r
to o ff-roa d mo tor cycles, b icycles, skat eboards; il
d ~sn 't tak e long to eas ily lea rn lh (' fundamen ta l
skiJls o f handJing a n ATC a nd ride il ,·t'r~" safely ."
_ ( A n nou ~ ~~ ) "The manu(actu rers ar gue tha t rid ('rs
tha i fa il 1 wear p ro tec uve gear. and who dr in k a lco0
hol a nd then ride. art' lar gel y respo nsi ble for th reewh eeler acciden ts.
" Bu t en gin eer in g studies. li ke th is o ne im rod uced
in to co u rt case. point 10 basi c stability problems. We
co n fro n ted H onda with so me o f the evidence. For
exa mple, even o n a m od es t incl ine , it d oe sn't ta ke
m uc h 10 fl ip a mach ine,"
(Vo ice) " J( yo u 're us ing th is o n all ter ra in , t'spe cia ll y if you 'r e using it o n hi ns to climb a nd turn .
doesn't tha i seem exceed in gly unstable?"
(Ant o n ius ) " I do n'tthi n k th ey tip o ver readi ly o n
incl in es; aga in i t depen ds o n th e "kill o f the rid er,"
(An nouncer) " Honda s.a ys tha t sta bif it y w h en
parked is irreleve ru , beca u se these a re user-active
..
ma ch ines . a nd the ma nual tell s the n o vice ho w to
negot iate Irick y si tua tions. BUI one- third o f the acci de n ts ha ppen to chil dren . And look at the ins tru ctio n s to Ket, a sta lled machi ne goi ng ag a in, on a hill
(ca me ra zoo ms on lon g par agra ph o f ins tructions] ."
(An n o u ncer) " Ca n a yo u ngs ter co mprehend some th ing li ke thi s, in term s of eVen read in g it , a nd
seco nd ly, in a cr isis kin d of situa tio n . a n th ey
rem em ber , wi th th a t type o f in stru ct io n s, wha t to do
if o n a h ill and the mach in e ha s sta lled a nd i" th reat.
eni ng to ro ll back o n th em ?"
(An io n ius ) "Th a t's p art of the educa tio n p rocess.
Peo pl e ride these in ver y hi ll y areas, this broc h u re is
design ed pri mar ily for pa rents; a nd for teen -a gers. It
m ay be ver y diffic ult to un derstand for a n f'ig h ( or
n ine-yea r-o ld , b ut th e eigh t o r n ine-year-old shou ld
be receiving in str uctions from hi s par en ts. friends
and neigh bor s."
:
(An n o u ncer ] " Dr. Wr ighl po ints o ut an o the r type
o f ATV pro blem . T he ir safr ty la belin g a nd warni ng
system. he sa ys. is deficient . Take th e seat. which can
ea sil y accommodate two , eve n th oug h lh is is su p posed to be a o ne-person vehic le.
"The warning messa ge is about th e silt" o f a posrage stamp, a t th e bac k o f th e sca t, which is easi ly a nd
Irequeml v co vered by so me type o f rack or lugga ge
ca rr ier . Now th at doesn ' t sou nd like a warn in g tha i is
P UI th ere for possi ble misuse. "
(Am o n i us ) " We p u t th ai la bel in ma ny, ma n y
p laces in th e owner 's manual , we a lso put in o n th e
veh icle. it ma y n ot be a s la rge as we lik e, a nd l think
tha t 's th e ki nd of thing we're wo rk in g o n with th e
C PSc. Th.1t if it will h elp red uce acciden ts, My Lo rd!
We'll mak e the la bel bigger !"
(An no uncer ) "Despite the cha rges o f engim"t"ring
and design Oaws, the ATV ind ustry is co u n ting o n
sa fety fil m!! a mi ed ucation proJ!: a ms to red uce th e
r
sp ira lin g number s o f injunes and de aths . T hey \ 'e
sla rtro a nationwide ATV dri ver's ed program. I
sui led u p a n d too k th e sa fely rourse. H ow ever , Ihere
are o n ly a han dful o f rid ers aaos'i thl' co unt ry th ac
have suc h trd in ing a vai la b lt" now , an d it 's em ire!y
voluntar y."
(Terrl' nce Sca n lon - CPSC) :',We'V{" tol d lh e
in d ustr y 10 gl'1 bus y im mediatdy a nd to do so me
,'oluntary :'iitandards o f Iheir o wn; wt"ll be monitorin g thoS{" a nd see wha l p rOKr is mad e,"
l'5S
(An no u ncn) " Federa l rC"gulat iom o r .a reca ll o f
thret'-whf't'lers rem ains a possi bili ly. An Olher agen cy,
th e Na lion a l H ighwa y Tra ffic Saft't y Ad mi ni stra tion . ha s n 'c:lll rd C' IrS. t''''t'n whl'n tht'n' wt'n' ft·",'t·r
dea ths a nd injuries. Wh en th e 1.8 mill ion Pintos
Wl're reca ll l"d beca use o f gas leak s a nd fire. lh t"re had
bee n 38 d ocumented acc idents and 27 dealhs. The
sa me number of An's ( 1.8 m illion ) art' in use, but
th ere h ave lx"t"n 100,000 accidents and a t lea st 125
dea th s."
(Slua r t Sta t ler ) " T he real q ues tio n is wh y don 't
th e"'e m anufacturers . bas ica lly four for eign manufacturers . recog ni zl' th l' serio usness of this p roblem a nd
cea se productio n im med ial d y, a nd possibl y reca ll
everyone o f th o!ie 1.8 millio n th at are o u t on th e
market. "
( . .. en d o f f>t'gmen t, pa n ba ck to proR ra m host s
.. . )
(Bar ba ra Wall ers ) " All right Tom, wh y don' t they
rea ll them?"'
(Tom) "They 're p ro fitahl e, they're IXJPu lar; Iht")"re
the hotte st itl'm go ing in rt'Creational vehicle s: the
sup p ly can not mf'f't Ihe dem and ."
(Barbara Walters ) " Is th e gm'ernmenl go ing to do 0
a ny lh inK? O r d Ol'S this jusl 1( on ?"
(T om ) " They 've got lik e a ha lf-million doll ars set
as id t' to study Ihi s problem. wh ich p robably would
take a bo u l a year. )n lhat year 's tim t' you 're Roing to
have' roughl y a half·million more ATVs oUI o n th e
roads and back nail s."
.
(Bar ba ra Wahl'u ) " T hey're Ihal po p u lar?"
(Tom ) "T hry n:rt"
dinly are."
•(Barbara Walt ers ) "Un less , ma)'bt-. thi s progra m
ca n makl" a difference ." •
- (Tom) " Well lh e CPSC has th e powe r 10 act o n a n
emergen cy ba5is a nd m OVl' im me d ia tely o n some ·
_
thinl':' but ii'S up 10 lhem."
(Bar ba ra Wallers ) "UI'S h ope' the ydo.lt's a m a ltC'r
o f life a nd dealh . isn 't iv"
(Tom ) " For so me people, cer ta in ly."
•
(Barba ra WaItC'l'1) "T ha nk. yo u. Tom."
Letters to ABC
H ere's a look at some of th e letters
sent to ABC by our readers,who forwarded copies to us .. . Editor.
. Dear ABC 20/20
We viewed yo u r segment of ATVI
ATC sa fety April 25 and it left us a
little co ncern ed .. N ot of the sa fety of
th e ATV, but o f th e one-s ided way th e
report,wa s presented . My wife a nd I
have a seven -yea r-o ld bo y wh o ha s
been racing three-wheelers for a bo ut
a yea r in both stoc k a n d m odifi ed
classes. We as a famil y a gree ATVs
ca n be one o f th e m ost dangerous
form s of recreation o ffered unless yo u
are properly trained for th em .
We would like to o ffer th e view er s
th e other sid e of th e story, which you
didn't present, We would like for yo u
to bring a crew to Tampa to film a
___.nj g p! pLtPIl;l;. 1Yft.etl I~ci ng '-"it_h_ ?!1 .
-
to 10-year-olds riding a nd controllin g th ese so-ca lle d death machines
in a safe, sane manner. These kids
h ave been taught the meaning of
sa fety a n d show it from their safety
eq u ipment to th eir riding skills. You
won 't see th em blast off from a sta nd in g start on a n o pe n desert into ano the r-ride r: yo u won 't see them raci n g down a dri veway carrying a gas
ca n in o n e hand ; you won 't see th em
drinking or riding , without sa fety
eq u ip me nt ; or riding a bike to o large
. for th em. .Your report was geared
only to th e bad side of the sport.
'The major problem with th e ATV
is 'n ot th e ma chine but th e people
using th em. Does th e gov ernment
th ink m otorcycl es a re an y sa fer ?
Woul.d a moto rcycle stand on that
, sla nted hill by i tself? Would a bicycle? Some veh icles are m eant to be
used a nd balanced by the rider.
Accept our cha llen ge! Give -th e
people a ch anc e to make th eir o wn
judgment on th e w hole sto ry. In closing, one last thought, production
three-wheelers start a t 59cc (m ade by
Yam aha ), equipped w ith safety
switches and adjustable throttle sto ps
for th e protection of the young, inexperienced rider . In every portion of
your show which in vo lved the young
rid er , they were a ll riding a I IOcc or
larger bike . Parents sho uld remember,
bigger is not better.
Now who needs to be recalled,' th e
ATV or the parents?
TERR Y W. SCOTT
Lutz, FL
Letter to Barbara Walters
As we wat ched yo ur program about
the popular three-wheel ed veh icles
known as ATVs, we co u ld n' t help
but be sadde ned by th e mi ssed o p por'tu n ity to educat e th e publi c.
- It seemed .yo u o n ly used th e element o f your presentation th at ed uca ted people a bo u t th e fact th at threewheeled vehicles present a 'u n iq ue
riding cha lle n!';e due to the ir inherent handling characteristics, as a th in
veil cover ing yo ur real purpose of
o u tlaw ing th ese vehicles, Your'piece
wasa blatant attack o n the element of
th e motorsport com m u n ity .tha t enjoys this particu lar vehicle ch all enge:
To illustrat e, we pointoUlthat you
continually em p h as ized th ill ATVs
are not stable, You fail ed to mention
that th e word " stable" is a compara tive one. You neve r said what yo u
were co m pa rin g th eir siab ility to
(Other three-wheeled vehicles? Skis?
Airplanes?). Mankind has neverdeveloped any vehicle that has perfect sta bility, yet you deliberately gave the
impression that some sort of standard
exi sts, defining sta bility an~ ATVs
don 't meet this standard.
One can only specu late a bo u t your
real motives for su ch a venomous
attack on ATVs. Cl early , you weren't
just using th e publi c airwaves to alert
the public to th e sp ecial riding tech n iques required by ATVs. Ra th er,
yo u want th em remov ed from our
soc iety, We sus pe ct that yo u r rea l
motive wa s pressure from en viron m ental eli tis ts that don 't w'ant to
sha re th e p u blic land th at those veh icles a llow die gen eral public access
to.
In any even t, yo ur p rese n ta tio n
wa s an unfair co nde m nat io n o f a
portion o f mo to rspon, · T h us. o u r
org-ani za tio n is as k in!'; for o ne m in :
ut e of free time on your p rogram to
a llow th e mot orsport co m m un ity an
o p pon u n ity to co m men t.
T ha n k yo u for yo ur co ns idera tion
of th is proposal.
BILL WILDT
Pr esident
Motorsport Advan~ement Crusade
.
'.Cpi<;.ago, IJ,..,
20 /20'5 ATV roast
I represent th e ATV users in Cali..
forni a, and was very upset with th e
one -sided view in which the ATVs
were covered ,
I have been involved with (he educa tion of ATV rid ers for five years
w ith th e Sant Ba rbara-ATV Club and
Pismo State Beach Dune Patrol, the
Specialty Vehicle Institute o f Arner. ica , th e Ameri ca All Terrain Vehicle
Assn " California Off Road Veh icle
Assn. 20/20 has been in 'co ntact with
Mik e Bishop, founder o f th e Dune
Patrol an d th ey did hav e knowledge
o f th e ATV Ridin g Workshops that
we were doi gn during th e production
o f th e broadcast. You were n ot interested in a ny posit ive in forma tio n!
N a t to go into any in form a tio n
a bo u t ed uca tio n th at is avai la ble is a
.grea t di sser vice to th e viewing public. T h er e was a n excellen t chan ce to
gi ve in form a tio n, th at would help
p eo p le when Paul G olde of th e SVIA
wa s interviewed , The program was
so p ath eti cally overlooked th at the
general public did not even hear th e
n ame or how to find th e assi stance if
. th ey wanted to learn better riding
techn iques.
On th e contents of the program:
The fir st injury was a ch ild rushing
.w i th a ga s can when h e hit a bump.
The grandparent is responsibl e for
a llo w in g that behavior along with
th e child for hi s own ac tio ns. The
vehicle was not designed to be ridden
one-handed a t a fast rate of spe ed!
The . accident in vo lvi ng th e two
children at Butterc;up was more than
'likely your fault a lon g with th e parents a nd children. If th e ca me ra wa s
not th ere the people would have had
their m inds on what they were doing
instead of being on film. The vehicle
was only th ere for th e ride.
A fatalit y of a six-month-o ld infant.
The parents must be totally responsible for their child's welfare, It is
unfortunate but true.
The accident that the doctor described was not a typical injury. More
credible injuries would be broken
co ll ar bo n es, arms and others that
heal quickly.
The instability test . An educated
rider knows i h e workings of their
own vehicle and the balance point.
The engineering study was incomplete, a rider was needed. The angle
was too slight for the vehicle to overturn on its own. The vehicle was
staged for special effects, how true is
that for reporting? Look at motorcyclesl
Body movement is important to
effectively maneuver an ATV, and
that is why a large seat is needed, not
to ride double.
Indeed, if you were really concerned with the accidents and mishaps
of ATVs, you would have done a better job of representing the majority of
ATV usersl
,Lastl y, Barbara Walters' closing
statement was ~otall y uncalled for ,
with obviously no rea l study involved.
Education is the key!
SHARON BISHOP
,
President
California All T errain'Vehicle Assn.
Sant;! Barba ra . CA
ATV safety
Wher~ a re th o se independent -
th inking journal ists who aren't biased
by th e sen sa tio nalis m o f n egative
in form ation co ncern ing ATVs and
th eir use? Where a re th ose self-rel iant ·
ed ito rs' who don 't cover up facts but
use them to responsibly inform th e
public abo u t the necessary precautions for sa fe ATV use? Where is th e
a ir time and print that promote rider
safety before unfortunate mishaps
tai.nt AT~ fun? No!.on ABC's 2g120.
27
