I’m Outraged, Well Maybe Not, At California’s Ban On Riding Atv’s Until Age 14
Passed into law in 2010, assembly bill 134 in California has altered the ability of children to ride on ATV’s, all terrain vehicles. Previous legislation allowed any person who could reach the controls to operate an off-road vehicle, motorcycle or ATV. Because of the significant number of injuries that have occurred to children each year, resulting from off-road use, the legislature took action.
ATV use has been a serious cause of injury since their introduction in the 1980′s. Inherently unstable and powered for climbing and speed, these vehicles have caused injury by rolling over on the rider, and by riding falling off them at higher speeds. adults are not imune to these injuries, but children are the primary victims, inexperienced and unfamiliar with the controls and power.
On January 20, 2009, a bill was introduced by assemblyman Blakeslee, that makes it a crime for a parent to authorize a child under 14 to operate such a vehicle. Furthermore, this bill adds additional penalties and fines for more than one conviction. By securing and appropriately removing ATV, motorcycle and off-road vehicle access to children, the legislature has attempted to slow in incidents of significant injury that occurs when using these devices. The bill swiftly moved to enactment and was signed by the Governor.
Unfortunately, this legislation robs children of some great childhood memories. To protect them from quads and ATVs which are known to be dangerous even to adults, the law has also limited access to other fun activities I enjoyed as a child. Take go-cart riding as an example. We made our own and put a lawn mower engine on it and had a blast, even though we had to push start it to get it moving. I saved from my allowance and paper route for over two years to buy a mini-bike. We use to take our mini-bikes to the field and ride them around for hours. I can recall the thrill of driving something powered when I was about 10. I never got hurt, and you are robbing my child of that privilege – well now that I think about it, I did break my wrist and had a cast during the summer for 3 months. I guess my injury could have been worse.
Is the ban too strong? At first I thought so, but as I do think back, there was a lot I did that was not too good, like riding on public streets, on private land and crashes all the time. I agree that our children must be protected. In the long run, no matter how much fun I had, I could have waited until 14. I guess the legislature may have been right on this one.
About the Author
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Some tech info on my mini bike engine
