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impossible to recommend an age at which children are capable of safely handling
motorized vehicles . It would not be unreasonable to limit use of these vehicles to
those over 16 years until we can gain more data .
I must tell you that the ATV ' s caught us by total surprise . Our committee was still
innocently working away on recommendations for unlicensed two - wheeled motor vehicles
for moff - road " use . Here too , the manufacturers are not regulated by any federal
safety standard .
Some vehicles are small enough for a 4 - year - old and many are
intended for use by children in elementary school grades . It has become a challenge
to just become knowledgeable in the variety and variability of the different types of
vehicles - - minibikes , minicycles , tricycles , dirt bikes . What all of these vehicles
do have in common is an increasing incidence of injuries and deaths associated with
their use .
Riders of minibikes were found to have four times as many injuries per vehicle com
pared with riders of bicycles ; their low profile and short wheelbase made then
inherently unstable and poorly visible . The popularity of small motorized vehicles
is indicated by the fact that we are importing about 10 , 000 small " motorcycles per
month with engine capacities of 50 cc or less .
In 1982 there were an estimated
12 , 000 children under 14 years of age treated in emergency rooms for minibike and
trailbike injuries . Since 1980 , the CPSC has collected over 24 death certificates
implicating these vehicles - - half of these deaths were children under 14 years of
age .
We were as shocked and surprised as all of you must have been when the data on ATV ' S
which is being presented today became available . The rising toll of emergency room
treated injuries to 67 , 000 in 1984 , the 104 deaths involving ATV ' s since 1982
reported by the CPSC dictated a need for urgency . Particularly disturbing to us was