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Good morning , I am Joseph Greensher , M . D . , Chairman of the American Academy of
Pediatrics ' Committee on Accident and Poison Prevention , Chief of the Pediatric
Department at Winthrop - University Hospital in Mineola New York and Associate
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the State University of New York at Stony
Brook .
I am here today on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics , an international .
association of 27 , 000 pediatricians who care for infants , children and adolescents .
We have a longstanding commitment to protecting children .
The Academy in 1953
established the first organized effort to secure information on product - related
injuries to children .
We are greatly concerned about the increasing price our children are paying for the
thrill of moßility .
The desire to be carried at a speed greater than our legs allow continues to spur the
imagination of inventors and industry , leaving in their wake a stream of broken
bodies and an unacceptable death toll .
You have already heard testimony and more will be forthcoming today on the injuries
associated with three - wheel all - terrain vehicles ( ATV ) . The Academy ' s Committee on
Accident and Poison Prevention is concerned about the developmental appropriateness
of the ATV ' s for use by younger children and concerned whether there are sufficient
assurances that teenagers can use these vehicles without undue hazard of injury . Operation of these vehicles requires coordination , dynamic balance , quick reflexes ,
good visual and auditory perception and also a good sense of judgment . Such charac
teristics and developmental maturity are often lacking in the younger age group .
Given the variation among individuals with regard to skills and judgment , it is