ATVs and Kids: Dangers Abound

(CBS)  It's peak season for many outdoor sports, including all-terrain vehicle (ATV) riding. As millions of riders hit the trails, there are renewed warnings about the safety of ATVs.

"Early Show" Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen cited the Consumer Product Safety Commission, saying in the month of April alone there were 40 deaths on ATVs, 12 of them were children under 16. In May, 13 children were killed. As summer moves along, they expect deaths to go up. The CPSC is urging riders to take precautions to stay safe.

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All-terrain vehicles are fast, Koeppen said. They can reach speeds of more than 50 miles per hour, and they can go just about anywhere. There are more than 25 million ATV riders in the U.S.

Kyle Rabe was an ATV rider. He started riding when he was 3 years old. He was using an adult-sized ATV by the time he was 8.

Sue Deloretto Rabe said her son loved riding ATVs.

"But if I knew then what I know now," she said, "he would have never been allowed to ride an ATV."

Kyle died at the age of 10, as he rode home on an ATV from a friend's house.

Sue said, "The ATV, they speculate, hit a rut and tipped sideways and just landed on him sideways."

According to Concerned Families for ATV Safety, each year roughly 100 children under the age of 16 are killed on ATVs, and 40,000 children are injured. Many of those crashes involve children riding adult-sized ATVs.

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Ty Van Hooydonk, of the ATV Safety Institute, says in the hands of a child ATVs are potentially fatal.

On one ATV shown by Koeppen, Van Hooydonk pointed out the clear warnings that the vehicle is not meant for a child.

Hooydonk said, "This machine clearly is not meant for anyone under the age of 16."

The warning labels may be there, but a recent investigation by the federal government found not everyone is paying attention. During undercover checks at dealerships in four states, the Government Accountability Office found seven out of 10 dealers willing to sell adult-sized ATVs for use by children.

During an "Early Show" undercover investigation, Koeppen found much of the same behavior.

Five out of 10 dealerships were willing to sell "The Early Show" a large ATV, even though they said we were buying it for a 14-year-old.

One salesperson told "The Early Show," "At 14 he could handle it. That's what I'd buy him because this here (the youth size) he'd be bored of in a week."

Koeppen asked Van Hooydonk what he thinks about what they found at the dealerships.

He replied, "That should not be happening. And those dealers should be reported to the manufacturer. It's absolutely incorrect."

The ATV Safety Institute says parents should only buy their children smaller ATVs specifically designed for kids 6 and up, and it's crucial that they take a training course before getting on an ATV.

Van Hooydonk told Koeppen, "You have instruction on how to drive your car, and you want to have the proper instruction when you go out and ride an ATV as well."

After her son's death Sue Rabe started the support group Concerned Families for ATV Safety.

Rabe says, "We'd like to bring awareness to parents, so they don't say like we did 'if only I had known.'"

Her group would like to see laws in every state keeping kids under the age of 16 off ATVs. The atv industry has proposed model legislation that would require training courses, proper gear use and ban children from riding adult -sized ATVs.

Koeppen said ATV courses are available. She said manufacturers are now required to offer courses for free through the dealership where you are buying the ATV. However, even if you have an older ATV and you want to take a course, many of them are free and they are all across the country on any given weekend.

[katTx]

I am a mother who's son was severely injured on a ATV. He will forever have disabilities. People may call us names and point fingers all they want but no one is a perfect parent. We all make mistakes. Sue is using her unimaginable experience to try and help others keep from going through the same. It's all about education and prevention. I pray for those who ridicule and condemn as if they are perfect. God Bless you and your family Sue...Kathy Preston

[LonnieDickard]

http://theatvprotector.com/cd/
We do not advocate the use of ATV'S by riders under the required age or lacking the proper equipment,traning and experience for the unit.
treat all recreational vehicles with respect.
http://theatvprotector.com/cd/

[LonnieDickard]

http://theatvprotector.com/cd/
We are so sorry for all those that have lost loved ones.
I can't believe the comments, I can't even grasp the thought of losing a child and then listening to people try to crucify me after my loss. I am an old country boy, that kind of treatment would not turn out well for you. 'nuff said. We have had dealerships,we ride and we wreck. We get harshly repremanded for acting a fool on ATV's.
You TEACH your children how to do EVERYTHING, safe and proper. Take all precautions and do what you can to protect them. Accidents happen in the best of settings and children will get away from you and do what they want, They are individuals and will do what you have told them NOT TO, some more often than others. Love them, keep them as safe as possible. ATV's are only one danger in the world. http://theatvprotector.com/cd/.

[unfinishedmom]

Thanks Tom Rabe, very well said, a parent takes the blame when their child dies even if they are not around when the accident occurs. And just like the mother whose child was buckled in the car seat when the alcohol related accident occurred. Believe me that car seat was investigated but every device has a flaw. How do I know that cause I was a Emergency Room Nurse, Sue Rabe has helped so many mothers who has lost their child to a ATV accident. And the year of 2004 mothers were frantically trying to locate other mothers who had lost a child like she did. I was watching a clip on you tube where an adult had 5 children riding on a ATV going thru a water sprinkler, just a fun day riding slow and just maybe something could go wrong. AWARENESS is not a BAD THING, and yes the dealers need to be made accountable along with the parents. Now that we know the dangers of the ATV but sorry to say it was too late for several of these parents who grew up on farms allowing their children to drive tractors, stock trucks, combines, plow, disc etc but the truth is they knew that the farm work had to be done and wants you were big enough to reach the pedals you were helping so the farm would get paid for. Things have changed and now one mother and a organization is sharing their stories. Thanks Tom and Sue Rabe, Kyle is a beautiful soul.

[unfinishedmom]

Wow! Making Adults/Parents aware is what Kyle's mother is doing. Giving the keys to your 16 year old child is something ever parent out their the thought "I hope they are safe". Someone told me once "lady what do you expect us to do, never ride in a car, truck, airplane etc." Accidents happen every second of the hour and will continue to happen but making the public more aware that this vehicle has been causing deaths in young children. ATV's are not toys, but to children they sure are fun and exciting. Watching them they are driving sensibly but the reality is the machine has some defaults when it hits a rock or rutt it tips flip and rolls on top of the victim, it does not matter what age there is going to be injury's or death ask your emergency room nurses or Doctors. They have seen children who come to the ER buckled in their car seats that have died what went wrong. They have seen alcohol related injurys and wearing no seat belt walk away from the scene that hit the child in the buckled car seat. Losing a child is the worst thing any parent can endur, no parent should ever have to bury their cildren and if someone like Kyle's mother shares a reality and it saves a life I want to thank her.

[Tom_Rabe]

Thank you.

[stormme]

Correction: one posted did mention the dealer.

[stormme]

I think it is important to note that some parents lose their children because other adults allowed them to ride an ATV without their knowledge. In these cases, educating and making all people aware of the danger is vital to stopping that behavior. It is interesting that you attack parents so quickly but noone has commented on the dealer who was more than willing to sell an ATV for the express use of a 14 year old, knowing it was against manufacturer warnings. Should parents take it upon ourselves to know the dangers and not allow our children on the vehicles? YES. Should the ATV selling market be held accountable for fostering and spreading misinformation to better their bottom line? YES. Should tougher laws be put into place? YES. Reducing and eliminating child deaths because of ATV use will require all of these areas to be addressed. I think attacking anyone will be counter-productive. In the end, we should all be on the same side with the goal of keeping children safe.

[CompletelyFrustrated]

Dealers are only in this for the money, but it seems that the undercover reporting done by CBS had a much lower rate than the feds did for dealers selling ATVs against the age recommendations.
the 8/10 may be in areas where kids use these as transportation because of rural areas, it does not make it right, but this is where the parents need to be smart an read the warnings.

Maybe ATV needs to follow the same laws as mopeds, skill , age and the vehicle must be registered, again not all states require registrations for off road vehicles, but that may help.

Let a few renegade parents pay fines for neglecting the rules and see what happens.

I would put that money right back into training programs.

Can't drive a car without training, why not make training mandatory fo rthese too!

[nataliemcamp]

My son was killed while riding an ATV when he was on summer visitation at his fathers. I think EVERYONE should do their part in saving the children. If I see kids riding a big ATV down the side of the road, yes, I call GSP. I just wish someone had done the same for my child.

[CompletelyFrustrated]

I am a parent and yes we have ATVs, but when I came to our kids they had their own size and age appropriate quads and the proper safety equipment, and when they rode they were supervised.


This woman is an idiot - the age warnings virtually cover the fenders of the ATVs. There is a big warning about not allowing children under 16 on the big quads.

]No this woman formed a support group??? THis has been run on CBS and other news stations serving as a warning to parents about ATVs. PARENTS NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR OWN STUPIDITY! Just because your kid is "big enough" does not mean that they have the mentality or good judgment to ride responsibly unsupervised.

Idiots break or violate the rules of operation for ATVs all the time, it is high time that they are held accountable not the manufacturer or the dealer. The warnings are clear - obey them or pay the price!!!

[tsigili]

Misguided parents are entirely too quick to allow kids to use vehicles, that they should not be using, from battery powered ATV's for very young kids, to full adult sized vehicles.

Then when the kid gets killed or severely injured, they are surprised. Go figure.

[wendywhen]

Dear Sue Rabe - you said you didn't know that he was too young to be on an adult ATV - I think you are a liar. I think you DID know because the warning sticker has been on the warning label for years. In addition, the warning label is in a prominant place and all over the manual. A RESPONSIBLE parent heeds warnings and reads the instruction manual. I believe that the real reason your son died is because you were not a responsible parent. Stop hiding behind ignorance and admit that you were not a responsible parent.

[Tom_Rabe]

Dear Wendywhen. I think the point your missing is that a lot of the awareness today about the dangers of ATVs is because of Sue Rabe's work trying to alert parents. Eight years ago, there was no Sue Rabe in the media and all those stickers we read were the same as the multitude of warning stickers you can see almost anywhere you look. They're born more out of a desire to dodge liability than to promote safety. At least that's what I always used to think. Sue's mistake, was that she trusted me to decide if Kyle was a competent rider, which after several years of riding, I was sure he was. You would of had o know Kyle. Where we live, with neighbors miles away, the four wheeler is kind of what a horse used to be. He was just riding on dirt roads and through fields to go visit his closest friend. If it were any more than that, he would have been supervised. We are responsible parents. We are responsible for the death of our child. Maybe I should have been put in jail like others suggest. At the time, I thought tasting cookies and milk on his breath as I gave him CPR and helplessly feeling the warmth drain out of his body as I held him in my arms, was enough. Kyle was everything to me. I know that Sue Rabe has saved other parents from going through what we did. Don't be too hard on her.

[nataliemcamp]

Wendywhen, We are truly so glad that you are/or will be such a responsible parent. But my son had an ATV and I thought it was fine for him and did not realize the dangers until after he had it a couple of months. He would get more and more daring. I finally disabled his and took it away from him, but it still did not save him. He was at his fathers and rode someone else's and was killed. I don't really think we should be judging people, but reaching out, yes, even you, to save the children. Maybe instead of posting here, you should post in your local paper about the dangers you see in having an ATV... it just might save a life instead of hurting one that is already hurting.