Post by Wyldcomfort on May 31, 2007 0:38:13 GMT -5
Hello all, Wanted to pass on meeting information from NOMAC. I hope all in the Portland area can attend. I have also enclosed some other news articles. SB101 is waiting to go to the House Floor. Please attend tonight if you are able - represent those of us who can't make it!!! With this Federal plan we are looking at smaller riding areas when we should be pushing for more as our sport is rapidly growing. Cramming us into small areas is not safe, fair, or acceptable. Thank you, Lindy
IF YOU HAVE ONLY ONE MEETING YOU CAN GO TO, MAKE IT THIS ONE!!!
Tomorrow night & Thursday night are the dates for the meetings about riding areas in the Mt. Hood Forest. The proposed area has been cut down to a small size & we need to be there to protest the changes. The opposition WILL be there!!!
Wednesday 5:30pm in Sandy, 14600 Champion Way (Forest Service building in front of Fred Meyer)
Thursday 5:30pm in Hood River at the Best Western 1108 E Marina Way
NOMAC
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No 'Sam's law' needed
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 9, 2005
Little Sam thingyroft's death undoubtedly is tragic, and it may well raise questions about a parent's judgment in allowing a 4-year- old out riding alone an all-terrain vehicle, or ATV. But it would be a double tragedy if the boy's misfortune were used to justify another regulatory overreaction by lawmakers.
thingyroft, of Kersey, apparently drowned in the South Platte River sometime after going out on a solo ride Friday. Searchers found his body Sunday, snagged on a cottonwood limb reaching out over the water. It's unclear exactly what occurred, but the case is bound to intensify calls for regulating the use of ATVs by children and teens.
We hope politicians will refrain from exploiting the boy's death to push for more state or federal regulation of ATV use. But we doubt they will, given the current fad for passing this child's law or that child's law in response to various tragedies. Such laws are good for tugging at heartstrings. But because there's no way to legislate immortality, to usher in a risk-free world or to prevent occasional lapses in human judgment, efforts to do so are bound to end in futility and tyranny, since the only way for the government to ensure complete safety is by exercising total control. And a government with that much power itself becomes a danger to public safety.
The growing popularity of ATVs and other off-road vehicles for recreation, work and just getting around in some (usually rural) communities has naturally led to a concomitant increase in the number of injuries and deaths, especially among younger riders. And that trend has self-styled safety advocates pressing hard for a regulatory response. A number of states have laws restricting use of ATVs by children and teens. And the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in June ordered a review of ATV safety rules, with an eye toward possibly coming up with new federal standards.
That review came in response to pressure from groups such as Concerned Families for ATV Safety, and was ordered in spite of a CPSC staff recommendation that a federal standard was impractical, potentially costly for consumers and dealers, and might be difficult to enforce. Such groups argue that the government should do something to stop young people from riding adult-size machines, which may be too fast for their skill and maturity level. Some want the federal government to bar dealers from selling the machines to adults who might allow them to be used by someone 16 years old or younger.
But that kind of omniscience is asking a lot of an ATV salesman. No regulation in the world will prevent a stupid or irresponsible person from acting accordingly. And besides, thingyroft was on a child- sized ATV, specifically designed for small riders. So no regulations would have prevented this tragedy, except, perhaps, for a complete ban on the smaller machines, which would rob thousands of American families of a recreation option simply because accidents can happen.
Potential dangers lurk everywhere in this world -- even when people are out having fun. And the irresponsible use of any piece of machinery, whether an ATV or a motorcycle, an ultralight aircraft or an automobile, a power tool or a lawnmower, can result in injury or death, as ubiquitous warning labels indicate. Instead of outlawing all such machines, a better approach to dealing with the potential dangers is in educating people and hoping they will exercise caution and common sense in their use. And such efforts have already been undertaken by ATV clubs, by manufacturers and by safety-related government agencies.
Hopefully, Sam thingyroft's death will serve as a reminder of what can go wrong to conscientious parents. But to go much beyond that is unreasonable, in our view, and an invitation to excessive government control over our lives.
IF YOU HAVE ONLY ONE MEETING YOU CAN GO TO, MAKE IT THIS ONE!!!
Tomorrow night & Thursday night are the dates for the meetings about riding areas in the Mt. Hood Forest. The proposed area has been cut down to a small size & we need to be there to protest the changes. The opposition WILL be there!!!
Wednesday 5:30pm in Sandy, 14600 Champion Way (Forest Service building in front of Fred Meyer)
Thursday 5:30pm in Hood River at the Best Western 1108 E Marina Way
NOMAC
**************************************************************************
No 'Sam's law' needed
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 9, 2005
Little Sam thingyroft's death undoubtedly is tragic, and it may well raise questions about a parent's judgment in allowing a 4-year- old out riding alone an all-terrain vehicle, or ATV. But it would be a double tragedy if the boy's misfortune were used to justify another regulatory overreaction by lawmakers.
thingyroft, of Kersey, apparently drowned in the South Platte River sometime after going out on a solo ride Friday. Searchers found his body Sunday, snagged on a cottonwood limb reaching out over the water. It's unclear exactly what occurred, but the case is bound to intensify calls for regulating the use of ATVs by children and teens.
We hope politicians will refrain from exploiting the boy's death to push for more state or federal regulation of ATV use. But we doubt they will, given the current fad for passing this child's law or that child's law in response to various tragedies. Such laws are good for tugging at heartstrings. But because there's no way to legislate immortality, to usher in a risk-free world or to prevent occasional lapses in human judgment, efforts to do so are bound to end in futility and tyranny, since the only way for the government to ensure complete safety is by exercising total control. And a government with that much power itself becomes a danger to public safety.
The growing popularity of ATVs and other off-road vehicles for recreation, work and just getting around in some (usually rural) communities has naturally led to a concomitant increase in the number of injuries and deaths, especially among younger riders. And that trend has self-styled safety advocates pressing hard for a regulatory response. A number of states have laws restricting use of ATVs by children and teens. And the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in June ordered a review of ATV safety rules, with an eye toward possibly coming up with new federal standards.
That review came in response to pressure from groups such as Concerned Families for ATV Safety, and was ordered in spite of a CPSC staff recommendation that a federal standard was impractical, potentially costly for consumers and dealers, and might be difficult to enforce. Such groups argue that the government should do something to stop young people from riding adult-size machines, which may be too fast for their skill and maturity level. Some want the federal government to bar dealers from selling the machines to adults who might allow them to be used by someone 16 years old or younger.
But that kind of omniscience is asking a lot of an ATV salesman. No regulation in the world will prevent a stupid or irresponsible person from acting accordingly. And besides, thingyroft was on a child- sized ATV, specifically designed for small riders. So no regulations would have prevented this tragedy, except, perhaps, for a complete ban on the smaller machines, which would rob thousands of American families of a recreation option simply because accidents can happen.
Potential dangers lurk everywhere in this world -- even when people are out having fun. And the irresponsible use of any piece of machinery, whether an ATV or a motorcycle, an ultralight aircraft or an automobile, a power tool or a lawnmower, can result in injury or death, as ubiquitous warning labels indicate. Instead of outlawing all such machines, a better approach to dealing with the potential dangers is in educating people and hoping they will exercise caution and common sense in their use. And such efforts have already been undertaken by ATV clubs, by manufacturers and by safety-related government agencies.
Hopefully, Sam thingyroft's death will serve as a reminder of what can go wrong to conscientious parents. But to go much beyond that is unreasonable, in our view, and an invitation to excessive government control over our lives.