[55028]

So there will be fewer guys/gals saying "... yeah my dad put me a machine at....". One side will say look at the injury, death and economic damage we have prevented. The other will see social control based on statistics and the good of the whole. The justification for societal control over the role of the family, the destruction of the individual. Oh no to much coffee.... so what was the incident that sparked this legislation? Did it involve a lack of parental control? A lawsuit blaming someone for an others action? What's the rest of the story?



We're never going to have a 125 or 250 Moto GP Champion if this trend continues......

 

[35244]

But it is for "the children"!

 

[testcase]

"Cuz we know how to raise your kids better than you!"

 

[1747]

wake me up if it passes. next thing you know they'll make it illegal to sell cigarettes to kids. Wait...

 

[Buzglyd]

They're about to make it illegal to spank your kid so you better get some beatings in now.

 

[33129]

When I was 12 I was 5"10" and weighed 155 lbs., was into baseball, gymnastics, and just about every other athletic activity on the planet. I had the reflexes of a cat. I was bigger, stronger and in better condition than most of the putzs I see at the MSF classes. Put us under glass, keep us there untill we're 18 and then let us live. All will be right with the world. I saw last night on the tube where Spartan children began their military training at 7.

 

[The_AirHawk]

It's already Illegal in Arkansas to allow a child under the age of 7years to ride passenger on a motorcycle. No allowance for height or weight, Parent's ability, harness, etc.



No Ridey Mo-mo.

 

[longride]

It's already illegal. If your kid ever tells the DCFS that you smacked him, just see how fast you end up in court.

 

[60492]

Okay; I love kids as much as anyone, and I hate to see a kid get hurt in any way, by anything. But my first wife and I raised 6 boys and a girl, and we didn't lose any of them, nor did we wrap them in padding and tie them to the doorknob.



It is PARENTS' duty and responsibility to take care of their kids damnit. It's not the job of some snotty fart in a state capitol. If and when the parent(s) fail in their duty, and if and when they do so by blatantly ignoring the child's safety or welfare, then, by God, punish them for "child endangerment" or some other legally definable crime.



Otherwise get to Hell oout of the family's affairs!

 

[BrowningBAR]

Just think of this as Tier 1.



Tier 2, you get to sit on the machine...without it running of course.

 

[57335]

Next they'll say baseball, skateboarding, rafting, swimming and dodgeball are too "risky" for kids under 12. What'll they be left to do... stay indoors and play videogames, have underage sex, meet stalkers in internet chatrooms, or get obese eating pizza rolls because they have no "childhood" to enjoy.



Gotta love a country that prides itself on freedom, yet doesn't trust us enough to actually let us live it. I'd love for all legislators to be crack addicts who don't have enough time to care what we do because they're off fiending for their next fix.

 

[58680]

Big Brother / little quadraplegics

As a Libertarian, an obnoxious strident one at that, I abhor and fight against government intervention in our personal lives, and especially in our parenting.

On the other hand, I understand and share the motivation for those who would pass such laws. Having worked trauma rooms for nearly all my adult life, I have seen dozens, truly dozens, of young scrawny necks snapped and lives irrevocably changed from quadraplegia caused by the roll-over of ATV's. It's not as bad now as it was in the '80's with the 3-Wheelers, but it is shocking how common this injury is... in San Diego during the winter when Glamis and the dunes are swarming, it is truly a rare weekend that passes in the ED without Life Flight bringing in one of these sad sad cases. Big heads with big leveraging helmets on them and little pencil necks without much muscle mean that even a very low speed rollover can leave them in a chair for life.

So while I don't want Big Brother telling y'all you have to, I BEG those of you with kids to teach them well, watch them closely, hope that they're not the reckless idiot I was at that age, and if you're so inclined a little prayer couldn't hurt either.

I know, the point of this post was to inspire the Big Brother vs. Bikers battle, not to get a lecture from the V4 loser jerk on safe riding and parenting, this is irrelevant, obnoxious, idiotic etc.

So flame me, ridicule me, tell me you'd like to stick a V4 up my Honda-loving backside with a Duc boot; tell me not to tell you how to raise your kids, tell me it could never happen to you or yours, I don't care.

I'll say it again.

Teach them well, and watch them like a mama hawk, I don't want to meet them in my Trauma Room.

 

[30575]

here is canada there has been talk of making helmets mandatory for kids riding toboggans. No mention of whether it is safe to ride an atv.

 

[longride]

If it only saves one life, it's worth it.

 

[60492]

If we did everything that would "save one life" we would give up automobiles first thing, then just about everything else in life after that.



Living is dangerous. If it would save one life, give it up.

 

[seruzawa]

Amen, brother. It's for the children, after all.



But if they are really serious about protecting kids they would ban things that kill and maim far more kids than ATVs do:



Swimming pools, bicycles, soccer, football, automobiles, bath tubs, parents.......



It always seems to be someone ELSE's activity that the fascisti want to ban.

 

[nolaandy]

Not only can we not depend on responsible parenting, there have been many cases (and more on the way, I'm sure) where a young child is killed or injured and the "caring" parents sue the maker of the vehicle. I suspect, cynic that I am, that the manufacturers had some hand in supporting this bill. Self-preservation.



I was raised racing bicycles, riding street bikes, and building hot rods. I was also raised with a healthy dose of safety rules and instruction. I know many folks who bought their kids off-road vehicles whose entire instruction was how to start the darned thing.

 

[50585]

Some of our most talented riders started at a very early age. When you literally grow up riding dirt bikes and ATVs, you usually become a much more natural rider who can demonstrate vehicular control that is tough to match.

 

[schizuki]

"I wanna ride, I wanna ride, I wanna ride..."



"Well, you can't, so shut up and play with your Nerf."

 

[BrowningBAR]

We need licensing and registration for having children.