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Now , in your work , I believe that you said you put on 1 , 000 com petition events . Mr . JANSON . That is correct .

Mr . BARNARD . Do you have some events that are aimed directly at small children ?

Mr . JANSON . We have classes within our competition events that are separated both by ATV size and by rider age . Then there are provisions for breakdowns within those classifications by rider abil ity .

Mr . BARNARD . How far do they go down ? Mr . JANSON . Our rider programs begin for 6 - year - olds . Mr . BARNARD . 6 - year - old ? Mr . JANSON . Yes ; that is correct .

Mr . BARNARD . And what kind of vehicles are they driving ; 70 ' s , 110 ' s , 200 ' s , or what ?

Mr . JANSON . They are limited to the 72 cc . The classification is up to 75 cc . There are several ATV ' s that fall within that category .

Mr . BARNARD . Wouldn ' t you think that children in that age bracket would have had some special training , special attention and special skills to perform ?

Mr . JANSON . Well , I don ' t think that there are special skills in that , but it is obvious that those individuals have been given in struction , their use is supervised , and it is required that they wear the proper safety equipment .

There has been a great deal of talk here about that point of age , and I think that this relationship or comparison to bicycles maybe is very relevant . We see the bicycle manufacturers , for instance , make units that have 12 - inch , 16 - inch , 20 - inch , 24 - inch , 26 - inch wheels , but nowhere on those bicycles are there age limits . It is the responsibility of the parent to determine which bicycle suits the needs and suits the size and the experience capabilities of that indi vidual . That is a function of parental responsibility , and the au thority and responsibility that must come from the parent .

Mr . BARNARD . All right , let us say that a parent goes to one of the retail outlets and asks all these questions . Do you think they would leave there with a feeling that their 6 - year - old child should be able to ride one ?

Mr . JANSON . I think our experience clearly demonstrates that 6 year - olds are capable of operating vehicles with proper instruction . Our statistics point that out clearly .

Mr . BARNARD . You think that the present complicated warnings that are in a book - in this book there happens to be 14 warnings , in the book , that I don ' t believe a 6 - year - old child , unless it has a tremendous IQ , would be able to understand , frankly .

Mr . JANSON . Well , I would agree . And that again comes back to that point the parent must be the responsible person . That vehicle is not sold to a child .

Mr . BARNARD . Well , let me ask you this . How do you — your acci dent rates are excellent . I have no problem with that . I can go back , though , that they are in somewhat of a controlled atmos phere . Especially yours are .

Mr . JANSON . We would agree .

Mr . BARNARD . How do you explain that in the last 2 years , and even in the first part of 1985 , all of a sudden we are having these