1000 SW Jackson Suite 230
Topeka, KS 66612-1274
(785) 296-1223
(785) 296-8649 (FAX)

Coordinator:
Jan Stegelman

Executive Committee:
Randall Bolin
NHTSA Region VII

Dennis Cooley, MD
Medical Advisor
American Academy of
Pediatrics, Kansas
Chapter

John Drees
Douglas County
SAFE KIDS Coalition

John Halbran
Kansas Safety Belt
Education Office

Jim Keating
Kansas State
Firefighters Association

Elena Nuss
Kansas State
Fire Marshal's Office

Cindy Samuelson
Kansas Hospital Association

Safety Experts Say ATVs Too Dangerous for Kids

Safe Kids Kansas reminds parents: no children under 16 on ATVs of any size

Each year, in the United States, more than 100 children ages 16 and under are killed and approximately 45,000 are injured on all-terrain vehicles. An ATV crash is 12 times as likely to kill a child as a bicycle crash, and helmets provide only limited protection. No safety device can protect against the spinal and abdominal injuries commonly caused by ATV rollovers, collisions and ejections.

"Children under 16 should not be allowed on ATVs, period," says Jan Stegelman, Safe Kids Kansas coordinator. "There's no way to make ATV riding a safe activity for kids."

Safe Kids Kansas does not consider "child-sized" ATVs safe or advisable either. "If you're not old enough to drive a car on a paved road with traffic control devices, you're certainly not old enough to drive a powerful, open-seat vehicle at high speeds over dirt trails and wild terrain," says Stegelman.

The number of ATV-related injuries per year doubled between 1993 and 2001, and the injury and death rates are highest among riders under 16. In 2003, children accounted for nearly one third of all ATV-related injuries.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is developing regulations intended to make ATVs safer for children - for example, limiting speed on youth models, requiring warnings about the dangers to kids riding adult ATVs, and requiring free training classes for age-appropriate users. "These regulations won't make ATVs safe for children," says Stegelman. "ATVs are very dangerous to children no matter what precautions you take. You could wear a helmet when you jump out a window, but that wouldn't make it a safe activity."

For more information about outdoor recreation safety, visit www.usa.safekids.org.

Safe Kids Kansas, Inc. is a nonprofit Coalition of 67 statewide organizations and businesses dedicated to preventing accidental injuries to Kansas children ages 0-14. Local coalitions and chapters are located in Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Clay, Coffey, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Ellis, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Marion, Meade, Mitchell, Montgomery, Nemaha, Osage, Pottawatomie, Republic, Rice, Riley, Saline, Smith, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Wilson and Woodson Counties, as well as the cities of Chanute, Emporia, Leavenworth, Norton, Pittsburg, the Wichita Area and the Metro Kansas City Area. Safe Kids Kansas is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury.

www.kansassafekids.org