In the mid-1980s a group of concerned parents lobbied American lawmakers to ban ATVs, referring to them as, “eminently hazardous consumer products”, and claiming that, “the ATV industry has failed adequately to warn potential users about the hazards presented by ATVs, and television and print advertisements picture ATVs as family fun vehicles which pose little danger to their operators”. These are quotes from the documents filed with authorities. At that time more than 60% of these vehicles were three-wheeled ATCs and required some skill to ride fast. Consequently, a lot of injuries were associated with their use, and sadly, too many involved young children whose average age was just 11 years.

The government (the Consumer Product Safety Commission, established in 1972) responded in January 1987 by offering relief in the form of a ten-year long rule asking ATV manufacturers beginning in 1988 to do three things. One, they were encouraged to stop making ATVs with three wheels and to make them with four. Two, manufacturers agreed to step up in-dealer communication about age restrictions and to monitor their dealers to ensure they sold ATVs age-appropriately. This meant 16+ years age could ride all ATVs, 12-15 year ages were limited to 90cc vehicles, and 6-11 years old to 50cc. And the third decree was that manufacturers and their dealers were to be vastly more proactive in communicating safe ATV use, including providing free safety videos to be given to the purchaser, information on where to get rider training, more explicit product labeling, and ultimately more than $8.5 million in media efforts communicating safety awareness, including helmet use, which only a fraction of young users practiced.

Signers of the 154-page rule included the Big Four plus Polaris. The result of the decree was that within three years the serious injuries of riders 16 years of age and less had halved. Which is remarkable. However, by the end of the duration of the agreement in 1998, injuries had climbed back to pre-consent levels and remain high today.

Part 7