197

- 10 ASSUME , CONSERVATIVELY , 5 RIDERS PER VEHICLE . THUS , WITH SALES OF 780 , 000 UNITS ANTICIPATED FOR THIS YEAR , THEY ' LL BE APPROXIMATELY 4 , 000 , 000 RIDERS . YET THE INDUSTRY , AT BEST , WILL TRAIN 40 , 000 , OR ABOUT 1 % . WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER 99 % ? AND THE CATCH - 22 IS THAT EVEN IF PROPERLY TRAINED , USERS OF ALL AGES HAVE BEEN FLIPPED AND TOSSED , MAIMED AND KILLED , BECAUSE OF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VEHICLE ITSELF THAT ARE SIMPLY BEYOND THEIR CONTROL ,

B

E

IF THE INDUSTRY IS DOING ANY WORK TO MITIGATE DEFICIENCIES IN THE 3 - WHEELED CONFIGURATION OF THE ATV ITSELF , IT ' S BEING KEPT A SECRET . IN FACT , IT WASN ' T UNTIL RECENTLY THAT THE SVIA GRUDGINGLY AGREED EVEN TO WORK ON A VOLUNTARY SAFETY STANDARD . ON APRIL 2 , 1985 , IN A LETTER TO THE COMMISSION , THE SVIA PROCLAIMED ITS " PROGRESS " AND WILLINGNESS TO HAVE ITS DRAFT WORKING DOCUMENT " . . . EXPANDED AND REVISED TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL ITEMS AND LANGUAGE THAT WOULD RESULT IN A TRULY NEW SET OF INDUSTRY PRACTICES , " BUT CONSPICUOUSLY MISSING FROM THE LIST OF

SUBJECTS TO BE WORKED ON WAS THE PARAMOUNT CONSIDERATION NEEDING TO BE

ADDRESSED - - THE MACHINE ' S STABILITY WHILE IN MOTION . THE INDUSTRY STANDARD WOULD ADDRESS ALL OF 22 LISTED ITEMS INCLUDING " HANDLEBAR SHIELDING , " " TIRE GAUGE , " " SIZE , WEIGHT AND LOCATION OF RACKS . . . ( AND ) HITCHES , " AND " FLAG BRACKET " - - EVEN THOUGH THERE ' S NO INDICATION THAT ANY OF THESE ITEMS WAS EVER RESPONSIBLE FOR A SINGLE DEATH OR INJURY . THE LIST EVEN INCLUDED " STATIC STABILITY " DESPITE THE FACT THAT NO ONE HAS ALLEGED , TO MY KNOWLEDGE , THAT AN ATV MAY BE DANGEROUS WHEN IT ' S

AT REST ,