Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

rnense feeling of accomplishment, because someone else thinks it's dangerous, DENNTOTH Service Manager Honda of Salt Lake Salt Lake City, UT - Letter to ABC LET ME GfT TUIS Hfl.AI6HT, EVEN THOV6H MoRE PEoPLE 6ET /'llLEP fAQ{ 'If All. US/Nf:> HOUSEHOlD APPLIANceS, '(Q)! WANT To 8AN ATVs? HOVSEJ.lDlO AI'/'I.I.ulCfS APiP COSMETlt: ACt:ESSQflIES ME N~rnES. MY S MIO &IKE5 AilE rse WORK of nlE DEVIL. VI~T ...Government Approved Unsafe Devices,.; :/iCYde, Martini , Chicken Broaster, CUisinart. .. - HE'{, nU5 LOOKS LIKE FUN .,. . \"I"t~ I i I I i -'1 -;-" " 7 28 I' ve been rid in g ATCs for 16 years . For at lea st the la st eigh t years my family and friends ha ve been enjoying our ATCs as o ften as possi ble. We've used them to sec and lea rn a nd appreciate much of the geography, geology, ar cheo logy , and na ture of Utah a nd Wyomi ng. We've used them to teach our ch ildren (and learn ourselves) basi c safety rules and caution. to assume different responsibilities, to follow directions; th e importance of maint enance, ihe importa nce of safety equipment. We 've lea rn ed respect for th e rights of others and th e necessity for active supervision of ch ildren and the inexperienced. We\'e each lea rned to recognize personal lim itat ions and not to be as hamed of them in ourselves . not to rid icu le them in o the rs. I'v e watched w ith pr ide as my chi ldre n ga ined selfco n fide nce , th eir ac tions a nd reaction s grow ing to mak e th em selfreliant o n th eir ma ch in es. I've wat ched th em teach o thers man y o f th e important basics o f rid in g an d th en I'v e backed th em up by makin g sure th at a ll safety rules are un derstood befo re the machines a re sta rted , T he re a re th ose 'peop le who don 't a dhere to the safety rules. So me dr in k or use d rugs. So me don ' t w ear helmets or p ro tect ive cloth ing. Some do n ' t tak e precautions wh en dose to o the rs, So me don 't ac tively supervise th ose .... J , 1 who need it or th ey d on 't su pervise until it 's obvio us lv riot needed . So me ride do u ble wh en th ev should not. So me carry th in gs th a t'int erfere with proper co ntrol. Some rid e on h igh • ways and paved roads wh ere ATCs were not bu ilt to go, Som e ride too fast for th eir or th eir ma ch in es' L im itations. Some try 10 ride un uspended machines the wav thev've seen fullv suspended macliin es rid en. Some don 't wait to gain ex perien ce before tryin g those maneuvers only th e very experi enced ca n do. Some a llow ch ildren to ride ma chines tliat are too big for them to control, and often with littl e brother or sister as a passenger. So me ca n't ass ume respons ibi lity for their o wn ac tions or inactions a nd look for someone else to bla me it o n! H ow ca n these peopl e be allowed to do th is? . . These peop le shou ld be banned im med ia tely! • Ma ybe, before,we ban any th ing, we sho u ld inform and responsibl y-andrat ionallv tea ch wh at we kn ow , T each by exa m p le. Teach b~' ridi cule if need be, We don 't have rhe rigl u to excl ude th ese peopl e th eir freedom to ride. No o ne has th a t rig h t si mp ly beca use it m ight be dangerous. We do n 't have to be afraid o f stepp ing ou t o ur doo r a nd tryin g a ny thing that is fun, excitin g , ed ucationa l a nd bri ngs a n irn - As Chairman o f th e Off H ighway Mot or Vehicle Recreation Co m mission for th e Stat e o f Ca lifornia. I was mo re th an cu rious wh en I h eard vou were going to do a story o n ATV Safety issues, I co ntacted th e producer o f th e segment, Bill Leichten srien, a nd offered th e use o f o ur Sta te O ffro ad Vehi cle Recrea tion Area a t P ism o Beach. I had h eard th e film cre w was th ere at th e fa cility, but n o a ttem p t was made to co ntact either me or th e park ra ngers, We would h ave giv en yo u so me hard fa cts a nd sta tis tics to wo rk with. We had a real sa fety problem in . 1982, with th e in flu x of th e ATV exp losio n, people would unload their machines and iak e off into th e sand dunes with n o knowledge o f th e terrain , no safety gear and usually a lcohol influen ced. We form ed a gro u p of co nce rned riders, patterned after th e ski patrol s seen in many mounta in a reas . The Pi smo Stat e Bea ch ATV Dune Patrol has been working hard for o ver three years to educat e people as to th e dangers of o ffroad use. We sta rte d o u t printing up handouts to gi ve peop le to help th em hav e a n enjoya ble, safe visit. As th e need arose. we structured ATV Riding Skills Workshops, to teach the n ew rid ers th e proper. sa fe wa y to use thi s form of recreation. All o f o ur rid ers are volunteers, co m p letely in th is because o f ge n ui ne dedication to th eir fell ow man . T he refore, a fter viewing th e ATV segment o f your April 25th show, th e members o f th e Pat rol felt insu lted th a t yo u r o n ly so lu tion was ReGIII! Recall ! Recall ! I thi n k th e report was very well pr oduced ; th e co ntent, h ow ever , wa s p oorl y researched. The publ ic awareness you provided was beneficial, in th e fact th at mo re p eopl e will think twi ce a bo u t riding without a helmet a nd treating th ese machines like a toy. Th e.terri fic letd own to yo ur view ' in g publ ic. after yo u h ave mad e th em awa re, is yo u on ly sh owed 12 secon ds of th e SVIA Safety Sch ool'. a nd d idn ' t tell how or who to co nta ct regard ing enroll me nt in these exce llen t classes. To lu th er a na lyze t he p rogram f have made these points in ch ro no logirul order: I. T he section -t hat showed th e Spain bo y. was pure sensation"alism, H e admitted h e was " ru sh ing" wi th a empty gas can down the road wh en the three w heeler just flip ped over. H ad he been goi ng a prudent speed and had bo th hands on the controls the accident wouldn 't have happened. If the th ree . wh eelers are so da ngerous. why does gran dpa still ha ve a barn "cluttered" wit h them ? 2. Th e p iece wh ere th e lillie bo y ru ns in to the little g irl wa s a classic exam p le of poor parenta l supervi sio n. H ow lu cky you were to ge t th at shot, and h ow lu ck y th e kid s were to esca pe unhurt . I bel ieve th atit proba bly wouldn't hav e happened had th e film cre w not di stract ed him. You sta te h e is on a " big" bik e, but it is o ne of th e sma lles t made . H e ob viously know s how to rid e, it is not easy to ri de up o n two wh eels like you show him doing . T he m a in rea son th e kids were o kay is the presen ce o f sa fety eq u ip me n t. Before th ere were three wh eel ers, kids were running int o eac h ot her w ith bicycles, m ini bik es, ska teboards, rollerskat es, ad in fin itu m . 3. The p art where "Dr." Rieser demonstrates the " com m on " spine injury cause is stra igh t out of the Twilight Zone, We have over 660 acc ident reports from our StateOperated Veh icle Recrea tion Areas a nd not o ne happened the way. this doctor demonstrated. You would have to drop o ff a large cl iff and land wrong to com p ress a vert ebra, not m erel y lift in g a tire a nd sett ing down on th e seat! 4. You ci te th e figure 100,000 acc idents as an est ima te. Did yo u kn ow tha t the "estimate" wa s arrived a t bv research o f less th an 100 ac tual acci'dents including . so meone clean ing o u t h is garage an d falli ng over a parked AT V? 5. You sta ted th e dead ra nge from six m onths to 78 yea rs o f age. I'm sure th e ba by wa s not ridin g th e bike a lo ne a n d th erefo re a viol ation of th e owne r's manual rules, Operator Only, No Passen gers, 6. The caseofRick y Antl e wa s very ske tch y, to say th e least. His mother said th e three wheel er " so mehow" landed on top of him, compressing th e air out of hi s ches t. He was forbidden to rid e one, so who instructed th e boy how to ride? If a ny o f you just jumped o n any stra nge veh icle. how proficient would you be? 7. The sta bi li ty test had so me validity, but h ere aga in if yo u know where to pl ace yo ur weight, yo u ca n prevent it from flipping over by mo ving yo ur weight forward. 8. The side -h ill rollover wa s oneof the m ost co nt ro versia l of a ll your demonstrations. My staff reviewed th e ta pe in slo w mot ion and determ ined th e ma ch ine sta rted to roll a fter it a tta ined a n a ngle o f 39°. If you put a rider o n the bike yo u would be a lbe to a tta in at least 55-60° a ngle before rolling and if he is moving you ca n use centri fuga l force to stick to a h ill o f a lmos t 80°, It hap pens a ll th e time in the sa nd dunes. 9, The p art a bo u t th e large seat in viti ng people to ride double is true. but if th e sca t were sma lle r, how co u ld th e ri der sh ift hi s we ig h t aro u nd? Weight transfer is essent ia l for co ntrol. . 10. The miniscule time that you gave the Driver 's Ed section was the 'a bso lu te worst thing yo u could have done. You let people kn ow th ere is a problem and then do nothing to let them know how to rect ify it other th an recall , recall , recall. II. T he a na logy o f th e Pinto 's gas ta n k an d th e ATV sa fety issu e is p reposterous! I t doesn 't tak e into consi deratio n th e sever ity o f the accide n t. You sta te that there was a lmos t o ne death per accident wit h the P int o a nd on ly 125 dea ths per·IOO,ooOaccidents with ATVs. 1don 't get the connectio n. o ther th an to sho w spectacula r foo tage of cars exp lod ing, an d the A Team docs it better, a n yway. 12. T he frosting o n the cake was Ba r bara Walt ers' impassioned p lea for Iorci ng a recal l. Ho w can she ma ke su ch a n important judgemen t wit hout receivi ng a ll the in form at ion avai lable? . I thi n k what you owe vour view ing pu bl ic is a rebu tta l to show wh at is bein g done thro ug hou t th e U ni ted States. I would be honored to h elp yo u to ac h ieve this proper recogn ition o f th e thousa nds o f people, both go vern me nt a nd privat e secto r, who arc tfring to provide th e Ame rican publi c with a sa fe, enjoya ble fam ily typ e o f recreation . MIK E BISHOP Chairman Off Hi ghway Motor Vehicle Recrea tion Co m m ission Ca liforn ia Department o f Parks a nd Recreation Santa Barbara, CA

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