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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Kids, ATVs don't mix: pediatricians
Seek ban for those under 16
Canada's pediatricians have taken a stand on the use of all-terrain vehicles, recommending anyone under 16 be barred from operating them.
In a statement Thursday, the Canadian Paediatric Society warned children and young adolescents "lack the knowledge, physical size, strength and cognitive motor skills" to operate ATVs safely.
The society cited sobering statistics to back up its recommendation. From 2003 to 2007, an average of 179 Canadians died each year from ATV-related trauma. Almost 40 per cent of these deaths involved people 19 and younger.
No province prohibits children under 16 from operating ATVs, although some restrict younger teens to youth-sized models. In Manitoba, kids under 14 require adult supervision to operate an ATV. All Manitobans are required to wear a helmet when operating the machines.
A provincial spokeswoman said Thursday the government had no comment on the society's minimum age recommendation. She noted the province is reviewing regulations concerning ATV use, but she could not say whether age restrictions are part of that review.
Some in Manitoba question whether setting an age requirement is the route to go. They say enforcement of such a law would be difficult.
"Our view is that rather than considering a ban that we focus on education and training," said Judy Murphy, president and CEO of Safety Services Manitoba.
So far this year, her organization has delivered safety lectures on ATV and snowmobile use to 5,000 students.
Murphy said kids on farms grow up operating ATVs. "I don't think you're going to be able to enforce away that reality. What we want to do is to encourage a culture of safety and encourage the proper and appropriate training for those people."
Doug Chorney, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said not all off-road vehicles are created equal. Fast machines with a high centre of gravity pose a much greater danger for kids, he said. And if there is a rollover, a youth might have difficulty lifting the machine off themselves, he added.
"I personally have never had a quad on my farm and won't for that very reason," he said Thursday.
But Chorney owns a slower utility-type vehicle resembling a golf cart he uses for hauling vegetables and other farm tasks. "My daughter drove it when she was younger," he said.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 31, 2012 A5
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