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|  发帖时间 - 2004/7/27 15:51:28
| The recent deaths of two boys whose all-terrain vehicles collided in a Western Maryland field are prompting a closer look at state regulations by those who urge age limits for ATV riders.
Maryland is among the majority of states with no general minimum-age limit for ATV use, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Riders on state forest trails must be at least 14 and wear helmets, but there are no such restrictions when riding on private property.
Since 2002, the Washington-based Consumer Federation has been advocating laws barring ATV use by children younger than 16, a group that accounts for about one-third of ATV-related deaths and injuries.
The ATV industry urges a more lenient standard, recommending that states bar children younger than 16 from operating adult-sized ATVs, defined as those with engines bigger than 90 cubic centimeters, on public land. Children as young as 12 would be allowed to drive 70cc to 90cc machines under the manufacturer's model legislation.
The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission endorses the industry's recommended age limits. Since 1988, it has relied on the industry to voluntarily comply with a consent agreement not to sell ATVs for use by children younger than the minimum age recommendations.
Yet ATV-related deaths and injuries to children continue to rise. From 1997 through 2001, the number of estimated injuries associated with ATVs in the United States and Puerto Rico more than doubled to 111,700, according the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Reported deaths reached 467 in 2001, compared with 241 in 1997, the agency said.
Commission spokesman Ken Giles said the increased injuries, which cannot be explained entirely by higher ATV sales, are "of great concern" but the solution isn't easy. The commission is considering barring sales of ATVs for use by children younger than 16, but the federal government has no authority to regulate ridership, Mr. Giles said.
"What happens when you get that vehicle home?" Mr. Giles said. "That's where you have to at least ask the question, 'Could something be done at the state and local level?' "
Zachary Beard, 11, of Boonsboro, Va., and Cody Pollard, 8, of Woodbridge, Va., were killed July 3 when Zachary's ATV crashed head-on into one carrying Cody and driven by another 8-year-old. Both machines had 229cc engines, more powerful than those the government and manufacturers consider appropriate for such young children.
Barbara Beckett, state coordinator for the National Safe Kids Campaign, said such accidents sometimes focus attention on a problem, but that regulation isn't always the answer.
Maryland had 32 deaths from ATV-related injuries from 1982 through 2002, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Four more died from ATV-related injuries last year, according to the state medical examiner's office.
The deaths in Boonsboro have shaken Jane Smith of nearby Jefferson, who runs a regional children's safety camp for the Frederick County Farm Bureau. She said her 9-year-old granddaughter just got an ATV, and she is considering contacting state legislators about ATV regulation.
"Every fatality or even a bad, bad accident bothers me. Lots of times I can't sleep," she said. "What is it with children that they have to go fast?"
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