Promote Safe All-Terrain Vehicle Use in Your Community: A CSN Resource Guide

by Bailey Triggs

All-terrain vehicles are a fun way to have a summertime adventure in nature, but like any other form of transportation, they pose an injury risk when safety measures are skipped. Several recent accidents in Maine, including the roll-over death of a four-year-old child, remind us of the importance of ATV safety.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there are currently 44 states that have some form of ATV safety legislation. To help you better see how these laws compare across the country, at CSN we’ve created a series of ATV-legislation maps that break down the laws by: helmet and eye protection use; minimum age of operation; operation requirements: registration, title, license; on-road use restrictions; passenger prohibition; and safety education certificate requirements.

While increased legislation is an important step toward lowering the incidence of ATV injury, community education on the safe use of ATVs is critical to ensure laws are obeyed and injuries are avoided. To help you make an ATV safety plan for your community, we’ve included a list of trainings that have been conducted in several communities in our ATV Resource Guide. While we cannot endorse the effectiveness of any particular training, this list will give you a better idea of what others are doing in their communities to address this issue.

For CSN’s full list of ATV-related research, legislation, publications and trainings visit our Focus on All-Terrain Vehicle Safety: 2012 Resource Guide.