Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

REP CRAIG Congressman Larry Craig of Idaho questioned the CPSC's tactics in dealing with ATV safety issues; Craig owns several .ATVs. Hearing on ATV .safety Congressman blasts CPSC approach Th ese are the opening rem arks of Congressma n La rry Craig in th e H ouse Co m merce, Consumer and Monetary Affairs Subco m mittee hearings on ATV safety and the Con sumer Product Safety Comm ission 's handlin g of the ATV safe ty issue. Th e hearings ran [rom 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p .m. w ith two IO-m inute breaks, and were-in conclusive . . . Edit or. " WASHINGTON , DC, MAY 21 Thank yo u, Mr. Chairman. The recent increase in deaths and injuries related to th e popular three-wheeled, all-terrain vehi- . 40 cle (ATV ) is of g rea t co ncern . The sta tis tics of n earl y 100,000 inj u r ies and about 160 dea th s o ver th e past three years a ppear to be a la rmin g. I share your desi re to hold this hearing, so we ca n ascertai n the circu m sta nce s surrou nd i ng these sta tistics a n d to eva lua te h ow th e Consumer P roduct Safety Co m mission (C PS C) is responding. Bu t, Mr. Cha irman. I am just as co nce rned . if n ot m ore so. abo u t 1242 dea ths wh ich occurred in 1983 rela ted to boa tin g accidents; half a m ill ion peop le per year req u iri ng hospital emergency treatm ent d ue to bicycle acci dents - 300,000 of wh ic h 'a re chi ld re n under the age of 14. 105 c hi ld re n d ied in 1983 because of bicycles. And how a bou t th e estimated 300 deaths which occur per yea r fro m horseback riding accide nts? And yet, I have not heard on e word o u t of th e CPSC o n these tr agic deaths a nd injuri es. I have not see n o ne press release from the CPSC exp ressing th e su p p osed "in h eren t" dangers of these products. Nor have I seen, heard, or read about any of these equally unfortunate deaths and the circumstances surrounding them i n the media. I am also unaware of any congressional hearings investigating these events which have deprived our fellow citizens of li ving a full life, by this subcommittee or any other in Congress. Over 1000 deaths associated with boating in just one year compared to 160 deaths over three years, and yet they seem to go unnoticed and unchallenged. It seems, Mr. Chairman, that despite the best intentions of Congress and Federal regulators, we cannot produce a risk-free society in which only the h a nd of God de cides who stays a nd who goes. Nor should we . We can no t leg isla te a ri sk -fre e, or u topian society; and we cannot regula te o ne. Nevertheless, Co ngress has found it necessa ry to esta blis h certai n Fed e ra l agencies to protect us from o urselves a nd the products we prod uce . I do no t be lieve, ho wever, i t was the intent of Co ngress to create such Federa l regulators simp ly to be t urned loose o n businesses. Congress has a res ponsi bili ty to e nsure that th ese age ncies do not overstep t he ir gro u n ds. We ha ve a responsi bi li ty to ens u re these agencies do no t excee d ' th eir Congressi onal ma nda te, a n d we certain ly ha ve a responsib ili ty to c:n su re that th ese agencies do not encroach o n the freedoms a nd liberties provided o u r citizens a n d o u tline d in our Constitution. Two years ago, th e C PSC o utlawed th e us e of urea form aldehyde foam in sul ation bas ed on info rmation and tests it had th at the p ro duct was ca rci nogen ic . It s ba n was later struc k do wn by a V .S . Appellate Court, which was unconvinced tha t th e CPSC labora tor y test on rats showed th a t th e ins u la tion was cancer-causing. After spend ing nea rl y $2 mill io n in tax pa yer dollars. th e C PSC got no thing i t h ad as ked for. bu t eve rythi ng it h ad ho ped for. It nea rly destroyed the urea forma lde hyde ind ustry a nd knock ed do wn resa le va lues o f Ame rican homes ins u la ted wi th th e p roduct by S15.000 . T his particula r in dustry was fort u nate enough to fig h t this government agency , -wi th mi ll io ns o f ta x dollars a t thei r d isp osa l, because it, too , had the ' financial reso urces . But what about our na tio n 's small businesses? What recourse wi ll they hav e whe n the C PSC o r a ny other Fed eral regu la tor decides it's t heir p rod u ct tha t deserves to be ba n ned? Shoul d we a llow un-elected bureaucr a ts to go aro und squashing businesses like bugs o n a sidewalk? In regard to toda y's h earin g a nd th e CPSC h andling of the AT V sit ua tion, there a re so me who have claimed th at th e agency may not be m eeting its co ng ress io na l ma ndate of p ro tectin g th e American publ ic from unreaso na ble risks of injury associa ted with consumer products. This claim was made despite a letter sent to our subcommittee j u st about th ree weeks ago from the Office of Technology Assessment which said, " T he information gathered by CPSC im presses us both with respect to the thoroughness' of the ir prelim inary in vestigation and the soundness of their approach. " That letter not wi thstanding, it is m y bel ief , Mr. Chairman, that the CPSC in general, and certain Commissioners in particular, may have exceeded their regulatory authority and shirked theirresponsibility in an unwarranted a n d undocumented attack o n the ATV , its u sers and manufacturer s. In the p rocess of this selec ted persecu tio n, it m a y well be reveal ed tha t the CPSC a nd so me o f it s Commi ssio ners have vio la ted Fed eral law which me ri ts a n in vesti gation of th e age nc y by the V.S . Department of Justice. Section 6(b )6 of the Consumer Product Sa fety Act states, " W he re the Commission in it ia tes the p u blic d iscl osure o f information th at reflects o n th e sa fety of a co ns u mer product o r class of p roducts, whethe r or not such information would en a ble th e publ ic to ascertai n readil y th e i.de n tity of a manufacturer o r private la bel er, the Commision sha ll esta blish proced u res designed to ensure th a t suc h in fo rma tio n is accurate a nd not m isleading." O ne CPSC Com m issioner has publicl y claimed th at th e ATV vehicl e is the most ha za rd ou s p ro duct he has seen in his five yea rs a t the agency. H e has publicly asserted over a nd over again tha t th e veh icles a re inherentl y dangerous without ha vi ng the documentation to back such claims. H e has h inted a t th e ATV's design a nd perceived insta bility as the ca use o f accidents. again w itho u t docu me ntation. H e has sent o u t h is own biased news re lease to the press under the guise of seeking public informa tion , and he gloa ts before a co n ventio n of la wyers that th e CPSC ca n recall products eve n if th e p recise na ture of the defect is n o t pi npo inted. H e ha s , accused the i nd us try of burying the ir head in the sa n d a n d threa tene d to ban th e producti on of ATVs wh il e recalling th ose alrea dy so ld . In this co u n try, Mr. Chair man, that type of a tti tu de is mo re inherentl y dangerous th an a ny machine o r p ro d uct man ma y ever p roduce. In addition , suc h public sta teme nts ma y den y a ny o p port u n i ty for the co m m ission to seek successfu l litigation aga ins t th e manufacturers should, a t th e co ncl us io n o f its in vest igation, i t deems n ecessary. H o w m any more m illion s o f dollars will the C PSC spend to lose a no the r rou nd in co urt? T he C PSC is just n o w start ing its officia l inves tigation of ATVs, a st udy that is n o t expected to be com p leted unti l September 1986. In th e m eantime. the C PSC has been using in jury and death statistics which a re very q ues tionable. Suc h sta tistics incl ude the death of a n eig h t-year-o ld bo y from New Engla nd who was p layi ng in the snow la st winter. H e wa s o n a tobogga n bei n g towed - beh ind a n ATV d riven by his brother on a snowcovered. paved road . T hey we nt arou nd a co rner a nd the tobo g gan , sl id into a tr ee killin g th e litt le bo y. T his is n ow a n ATV sta tistic , nota toboggan sta tis tic. If m y fa the r got h is ATV stuck in the mud, got off th e machine to p u ll i t o ut a nd di slocated h is shou lder in th e process - h is inj ury ' wo u ld be listed as an ATV injury. T hese are th e type o f misco nstrued figures used by th e C PS C as justification for th eir vengeances o n the ATV user a n d industry. If small children a re being killed and hurt o n the ATV, le t's recall th e parents , not th e m achine. T his is the in fo rmati o n u sed by o ne Com m issio ner to damn a n industr y. This is the same Commissioner , who will helpdecidewhatfinal action sho u ld be taken by the CPSC a fter their investigation is co ncl uded . H ow ca n we possibly expect him to participate in a fair and honest manner? Finall y, Mr. Chairman, I would lik e to sp ea k briefl y a bo u t today's h earing. We a ll know tha t the ATV industry has had more tha n i ts share of bad publicity in th e med ia. We know that action taken by certai n members of the CPSChave pl aced the industry and its users i nto a position where th ey have not had a fair cha nce to res pond . I thought today's h earing would gi ve th em that chance. But it seems . even the Com me rce, Consu mer. a nd Monetary Affa irs Subcommittee has been taken advantage of. After reviewi ng toda y's wi tn ess li st, I notice th e vic ti ms of AT V accide nts will go fir st so the T V ca meras wi ll run , reco rd th eir side of th e tr agi c eve nts , a n d be gone by th e time the ind ustry a nd use rs are supposed to testify. Victims of ES M Government Sec uri ties a nd Bevill , Bressler , & Sh u lma n d idn 't test ify first i n o ur la st hearings, Wh y a re we cha ngi ng fo rma ts now ? It 's unfai r. Mr. Cha ir ma n. . I no ticed we ha ve a witness who is a college professor a nd chairma n ofthe Dep a rt ment of Mec ha nica l Engineering a t the City College of New Yo rk, I ass ume he will give the su bcommi ttee the very deta iled and techn ical fa u lts in th e design of th e ATV , as h e di d in a laws uit , desp ite the fac t he had never ins pected, resea rch ed , ri d de n. or o wned a n ATV, unt il j ust before he testi fied in co u rt . And yet. Mr. Chairman. H o nda Motor Corp. o f America offered to bri ng back from Japan Mr. Takah us i, th e ge nt lema n who designed, engineered, a nd rece ived the pa tent o n the ATV, to testi fy befo re thi s su bco m m ittee a nd yet, noinvi ta tio n was extended. I find tha t ha rd to bel ieve a nd it's u nfai r. I a lso find it ha rd to believe that an epidemiological stu dy o n inj uries associated with the use of ATVs, the o n ly-officia l st udy done by a ny go vernment a n d reported in a Cen te r for Di sease Con trol weekly rep ort, goes unnoticed by this su bco m m ittee. The reason th e stu dy, co nd ucted by th e State o f Alas ka's Depa rtment of H ealth and Soc ia l Serv ices, has recei ved so li ttl e a tte ntion ma y be d ue to its findings which d ispute much of what th e C PS C has been claiming. Mr. Chai rman, th e o n ly officia l repo rt in th e nati on , a nd th e peop le resp onsibl e fo r it a re not wit h us tod a y to share some o f the ir ins ig ht wi th us. It 's un fa ir. It a ppears t he ca r d d eck h a s bee n stacked even before the p layers got to th e table. O n i ts face, th e witness list looks so one-si ded th at th e only people missi ng are Jane Fo nda, Sissy Spacek, a nd J essica La nge. And they proba bly would h a ve been h er e if o n ly they had made a mo vie o n ATVs. . So far, we ha ve ta lked o n ly a bo ut the tragedy surro und i ng these machi nes. Let's shift gears - let 's tal k a bout the 600 ATVs owned a nd operated by the V .S. Fores t Service o r ho w the V .S. Border P at rol u til izes the ATV to he lpsecureou rborde rs . , . or a bo u t th e ATV is the o n ly veh icl e the V.S . Army Corps of Engineers will a llow to d ri ve across ea rt he n da ms li ke we ha ve in Idaho , a nd how search a nd rescu e tea ms use th e ATV to reach pl aces no ot he r mo torized mach ine ca n go to help save li ves not ta ke the m . T he L ouisiana Sta te P en it entiar y at Angola; the Sa n Bernard in o County Sheriffs Department; the Mississ ip pi Farm Bureau; the Phoenix P ol ice Department; the Ala bama Department of Conser vation a nd Na t u ra l Reso u rces; Ed Pratt of Con nec ticu t; Mike a nd Bob Morgan of San Antonio , Texas ; Susan H albert of Anchorage, Alas ka; Charles Swason of Zimmerman, Minnesota; a nd Margaret J ones of Anaheim , Ca lifornia, a ll have so meth ing in co m mon : They o wn, ride, and safel y use ATVs. They all fea r our gover n men t wants to take them a way. Mr. Chairman, I think their feelings and those of thousands of other Ameri cans ca n best be su m m ed up by a sta tem ent made by Keith G auer, an ATV rider from North Carolina who said, ''I'll be damned if I'll let them take m y three-wheeler.", Thank yo u .

• Cover