Post by Wyldcomfort on Apr 23, 2007 6:49:31 GMT -5
Hello again - just wanted to share my letter to the reporter that did the article last week and his response. Hope you all had a chance to write to him!! Thanks, Lindy
Sir, We have just recently done battle here in Oregon with the same, and may I add, very construed numbers and information. We obtained the entire CPSC database and studied all of the recent fatals in the state of Oregon and what we found was very alarming - in most every case, there was NO SUPERVISION. Another sad fact was most children under the age of 10 actually suffocated because no one was there to pull the ATV off. A proposed Senate Bill drew our attention to this group - a group with strong ties to special interest and conservation groups. We have also reviewed the numbers, looked objectively at the study currently being done with CPSC and I have to tell you - you are way off base. I can only assume you swallowed the hook, line, and sinker and rather than expose the real story, chose to run with the same thread so many before you have done. But, here in Oregon we are demanding change. Not only from our Legislators, but from the press. We have come together to defeat a very bad bill, exposed the untruths and special interest connections, and have worked with the State Parks and Rec., SVI, user groups, dealers associations, and Legislators to present a bill that will actually address the statistics. You see, this is the fastest growing sport here and in many other states. It is a wonderful family recreation. Kids are not dying while riding with their families - kids are dying when they are handed the keys and turned loose. Sure some kids are riding ATVs that are too large for them, and sure kids that are on the "right" sized machine are still dying. But how many children die that are under the direct supervision of a parent? How many children die while riding recreationally with their parents....? Rather than looking at the previous statistics to obtain cause, we throw it all in a pot and blame ATVs. Are you aware that most children die on private property and roadways (illegal in most states)? Did you know many don't even have helmets on? So we blame the bike, the manufacurer and the dealers because they are greedy - why don't we put the blame where it will do the most good?? Why don't we address the need for supervision - then we may just save a life or two. We are so busy chasing our tail and afraid to ask the one very simple but hard question "Where were you?". If parents are not held accountable, if there is not an assumption that it is a parent's duty to supervise a child - then why can you hold a very healthy family activity responsible?
I can tell you why children are riding adult sized vehicles. The reason some parents allow the child to ride too large of a vehicle is cost or availability - which I absolutely disagree with. BUT, another reason I, and other parents, allow their children to ride adult sized ATVs is based on size of child and fit. We were careful to choose lightweight appropriately sized vehicles for our children even though we had smaller cc's available. In other words, we spent $10,000 more to put them on the right sized ATV because they outgrew the largest of the children's vehicles. My children are adult sized and having a bike that is too small is also dangerous.
So now the CPSC is trying to get more youth model bikes on the market and you slam them. Why are larger youth sized bikes wrong when you have larger youth that need them. It is so simple and yet everyone is so unwilling to work together to come up with good options and when they finally give it a really good start - they get blasted. Did you ever consider the larger youth models will keep the kids off the heavier adult bikes? One size does not fit all.
So, in Oregon we are doing something a little different - we are working together. Senate Bill 101 is a Parks and Recreation Bill that requires supervision to age 16, requires safety training for all, and rather than an age restriction - requires best fit for all youth under 16. It is just a beginning and our plan is to continue to work together on an effective training program and better statistical reporting. So your choice is simple, be part of the solution to save kids or continue to direct the attention away from the most significant problem - Supervision. It seems so simple but you won't hear it whispered by the parents who have lost children - because far too often it would have saved their child.
Thank you, Lindy Minten
Sir, We have just recently done battle here in Oregon with the same, and may I add, very construed numbers and information. We obtained the entire CPSC database and studied all of the recent fatals in the state of Oregon and what we found was very alarming - in most every case, there was NO SUPERVISION. Another sad fact was most children under the age of 10 actually suffocated because no one was there to pull the ATV off. A proposed Senate Bill drew our attention to this group - a group with strong ties to special interest and conservation groups. We have also reviewed the numbers, looked objectively at the study currently being done with CPSC and I have to tell you - you are way off base. I can only assume you swallowed the hook, line, and sinker and rather than expose the real story, chose to run with the same thread so many before you have done. But, here in Oregon we are demanding change. Not only from our Legislators, but from the press. We have come together to defeat a very bad bill, exposed the untruths and special interest connections, and have worked with the State Parks and Rec., SVI, user groups, dealers associations, and Legislators to present a bill that will actually address the statistics. You see, this is the fastest growing sport here and in many other states. It is a wonderful family recreation. Kids are not dying while riding with their families - kids are dying when they are handed the keys and turned loose. Sure some kids are riding ATVs that are too large for them, and sure kids that are on the "right" sized machine are still dying. But how many children die that are under the direct supervision of a parent? How many children die while riding recreationally with their parents....? Rather than looking at the previous statistics to obtain cause, we throw it all in a pot and blame ATVs. Are you aware that most children die on private property and roadways (illegal in most states)? Did you know many don't even have helmets on? So we blame the bike, the manufacurer and the dealers because they are greedy - why don't we put the blame where it will do the most good?? Why don't we address the need for supervision - then we may just save a life or two. We are so busy chasing our tail and afraid to ask the one very simple but hard question "Where were you?". If parents are not held accountable, if there is not an assumption that it is a parent's duty to supervise a child - then why can you hold a very healthy family activity responsible?
I can tell you why children are riding adult sized vehicles. The reason some parents allow the child to ride too large of a vehicle is cost or availability - which I absolutely disagree with. BUT, another reason I, and other parents, allow their children to ride adult sized ATVs is based on size of child and fit. We were careful to choose lightweight appropriately sized vehicles for our children even though we had smaller cc's available. In other words, we spent $10,000 more to put them on the right sized ATV because they outgrew the largest of the children's vehicles. My children are adult sized and having a bike that is too small is also dangerous.
So now the CPSC is trying to get more youth model bikes on the market and you slam them. Why are larger youth sized bikes wrong when you have larger youth that need them. It is so simple and yet everyone is so unwilling to work together to come up with good options and when they finally give it a really good start - they get blasted. Did you ever consider the larger youth models will keep the kids off the heavier adult bikes? One size does not fit all.
So, in Oregon we are doing something a little different - we are working together. Senate Bill 101 is a Parks and Recreation Bill that requires supervision to age 16, requires safety training for all, and rather than an age restriction - requires best fit for all youth under 16. It is just a beginning and our plan is to continue to work together on an effective training program and better statistical reporting. So your choice is simple, be part of the solution to save kids or continue to direct the attention away from the most significant problem - Supervision. It seems so simple but you won't hear it whispered by the parents who have lost children - because far too often it would have saved their child.
Thank you, Lindy Minten