Hit Them With The Right Safety ATV Riding Rules When They're Young

By Tony Mikael

The foundation, like I always tell my kids and friends with kids who love to ride ATVs, should always be laid right. Without the right foundation, it's hard to build a strong and sustainable structure on it. I am not talking a building here but rather, I am referring to teaching the kids how to ride their ATVs right.

The emphasis is on teaching the right rules when they're young....when they're JUST starting out. In some parts of the country, as I have come to understand, ride their ATVs like we ride a bicycle in other parts. It's normal and everyone does it, therefore, it's become a way of life. I think these little kids get on and off their ATVs or worse, their parents ATVs without adult supervision!

Some of the kids don't wear even the most basic protective gears...like a helmet. Don't be surprised when you see that most of these kids ride their ATVs without a helmet because their parents don't wear them as well. Parents ought to educate their kids about proper ATV riding gear the VERY MOMENT the kids start riding their quads. In fact, I would go as far as to say that we should tell the kids about how helmets help protect their heads the very moment they SEE an ATV and expresses an interest in owning and riding one. But the sad part of all this is that, some parents are not observing the rules themselves.

If this might shake you up a little, do you know that many accidents related to ATV riding happen to kids under the age of sixteen? Do you know that many of the parents did not teach the kids about the importance of wearing the right protective gears when riding their ATVs simply because it's something everyone does around there anyway? The importance of wearing a helmet when riding an ATV is elementary and although it's already an everyday life habit, I think the mindset should be changed. If this is not done, how are we to change the scary statistics?

For instance, out of the 6000 ATV-related accidents, 1/3 of them happened to kids under the age of sixteen and what's even worse is that some of them were actually riding their parents or some other adult's ATV! Despite it being the norm, perhaps it's time to change now. It's also extremely important to hit them right from the start because it's harder to change a teenager who has been riding ATVs for as long as he's known, than to teach a youngster how to be responsible.