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Now , please bear in mind that for that period of time , these were only the reported deaths in the absence of mandatory reporting . No one really knows for certain how many hundreds , perhaps thou sands more persons were seriously injured , nor do we have any solid fix on the number of people who were killed in ATV crashes during this period . In my personal professional opinion , ATV ' s are dangerously deceptive , deceptively dangerous vehicles . It is my hope there is enough public interest in this serious problem to en courge a responsible Government and a prudent industry to work together towards the immediate elimination of the grave dangers associated with these vehicles .

We have not studied all State laws pertaining to the use of ATV ' s . However , the only regulation of ATV ' s by Alabama State law is their restriction to off - road use unless they are extensively modified . But it is of more than casual interest that these large , potentially high speed motorized vehicles can be driven by children of any age without adult supervision as long as they remain off public thoroughfares .

No safety precautions , helmets , age limits , or training courses are , to my knowledge , required or are prerequisites to the oper ation of ATV ' s . Some responsible dealers may encourage use of safety helmets and speed control devices that come with some of the vehicles , but none of these are required by law for off - road use . ATV ' s are available in a variety of sizes and models . However , sev eral generalizations about these vehicles can be made .

First , there is an inherent lack of stability in the vehicle due to the triangular wheel - base design . Second , ATV ' s generally lack a rear suspension system capable of absorbing shocks resulting from bumps . And third , the driver must lean opposite a turn in contrast to two - wheel vehicles where one leans into a turn . Of course , ATV ' s are more stable than two - wheel based bicycles and motorcy cles , a characteristic relatively appealing , albeit somewhat mislead ing to the safety - minded parent who would not otherwise allow a child to operate a motorcycle type vehicle .

We obtained manufacturer ' s advertising brochures on nine models of three - wheel ATV ' s and five models of the newer four wheel ATV ' s produced by three major manufacturers . The weights we found ranged from almost 170 pounds , one of the smallest models that was characterized as being built for youngsters to 405 pounds . Even the child ' s special model outweighs by far most child passengers , adding great potential for crush injury .

Of the four - wheel models reviewed , the weights range from 106 pounds to 434 pounds . Now , there is little or no information avail able to us on the top speeds that can be obtained by the ATV ' s we examined . None of the 14 vehicle manufacturers ' brochures listed actual top speeds for these vehicles . Letters of inquiry that we wrote to customer relations departments of three major ATV man ufacturers concerning this subject failed to produce any useful in formation . Two of the models reviewed had speedometers that were marked to 70 miles an hour . Several sales reps indicated speeds in the 30 to 40 miles per hour range were possible .

On some of the smaller models , there are speed limiting gov erner - type devices , and at least one manufacturer has a cord type device that an adult can control from a distance to cut power to