ATVs as 'deadly' as firearms: Expert

ATVs as 'deadly' as firearms: Expert
Date: Apr 11, 2005 8:15 AM
PUBLICATION: The Kingston Whig-Standard
DATE: 2005.04.11
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Community
PAGE: 1 / Front
BYLINE: Ann Lukits
SOURCE: The Kingston Whig-Standard

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ATVs as 'deadly' as firearms: Expert

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Canada's foremost expert on all-terrain vehicles says ATVs can be "as
deadly as a firearm" and no one should operate one - on or off the road
- without proper training.

George Smith, national co-ordinator of specialty vehicles for the Canada
Safety Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to safety, says he
"disagrees 100 per cent" with the growing movement by municipalities
across the country to allow ATVs on major roadways.

South Frontenac Township passed a bylaw this week allowing four-wheel
ATVs to use township roads year-round but at lower than the posted
speed. The 6-3 vote took place just hours after a 33-year-old township
man was killed driving his three-wheel ATV on a private laneway.

Police believe the driver lost control when his vehicle became airborne
as he crested a hill on Howe's Lake Lane, north of Verona. The man
smashed into a rock wall and was crushed under the ATV.

South Frontenac Mayor Bill Lake told The Whig that he voted for the ATV
bylaw because he sees no difference between an all-terrain vehicle and a
motorcycle.

He pointed out that people intent on breaking the rules won't be stopped
by a municipal bylaw.

But Smith said all-terrain vehicles are a lot different than
motorcycles.

"When you go to turn them [ATVs], they don't turn like a car," Smith
said. "Most have a solid rear axle on them and it depends on the weight
of the individual to make it turn.

"An inexperienced individual will not be able to handle it as well on
asphalt as they can on loose surfaces."

Smith also questioned whether recreational ATV users will obey the speed
limits imposed by the township. The bylaw passed in South Frontenac
Township restricts ATVs to a maximum 20 kilometres per hour in speed
zones of 50 kilometres or less and to 50 kilometres in zones higher than
50 kilometres.

According to Smith, the majority of ATVs in use today aren't equipped
with brakelights and only about half have speedometers. All-terrain
vehicles have large soft rubber tires and weren't built for the road, he
added.

"Four-wheelers are more stable at low speed," he said. "When you
get
them at higher speeds, I've seen just as many fatalities and injuries
from four-wheelers than we ever did from three-wheelers. A lot of them
can reach very high speeds - many can do over 100 kilometres per hour."

All-terrain vehicles were first manufactured in the 1970s and sold as
multi-purpose utility and recreational vehicles. In 1987, three-wheel
ATVs were banned in the United States for safety reasons and
manufacturers stopped making them. Canada never officially banned
three-wheel ATVs and Smith estimates that about 50,000 machines are
still in use in this country today.

The South Frontenac bylaw allows only the more stable four-wheel ATVs on
township roads but Smith still foresees complaints from ATV
manufacturers. Although the South Frontenac bylaw restricts the number
of people on ATVs to one, at least two of the seven companies that make
ATVs produce vehicles designed to seat two people side by side.

Smith suggested that municipalities could be misinterpreting new
provincial regulations introduced in 2003 allowing licensed drivers to
take ATVs on certain roads. He said the intent of the regulations was to
make it legal for ATV users to use roadways only as a shortcut from one
trail to another.

"To constantly use them on the paved surface, I disagree with that 100
per cent," he said.

Smith co-ordinates an international ATV training program that has 700
instructors in countries around the world, including every Canadian
province. The student rider course is five to seven hours long while the
instructor's course takes five days to complete.

About 70 per cent of people who take the driver course work in industry
and farming and the rest are voluntary participants who ride ATVs for
recreation.

"We have to get the message out that these [ATVs] are not toys, they are
motorized vehicles and handled improperly they are as deadly as a
firearm," Smith said.

At the moment, ATV training courses are only mandatory in Quebec and New
Brunswick: Quebec's program is for 14- to-16-year-olds and New
Brunswick's is for anyone 16 and under. Nova Scotia is considering
making courses, both written and practical, mandatory for everyone.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, ATV injuries
are more likely to happen to boys aged 15 to 19 than any other group.

South Frontenac joins a growing number of Ontario municipalities that
have allowed all-terrain vehicles on their roads since the provincial
regulations changed. The list includes the townships of Stirling-Rawdon,
North Frontenac, Addington Highlands, and the town of Renfrew.

Stone Mills Township is expected to give third and final reading to an
ATV bylaw on April 18.