ATV users must be held accountable

Commentary by Mac Olsen

The all-terrain vehicle fatality and injury reports are appalling and it’s time for the provincial government to impose severe restrictions on their use. Scanning reports from the CBC News website shows why. Let’s begin with November 2007, when a 12-year-old boy died in a quad accident in Nampa. His eight-year-old cousin was riding with him when the quad flipped over and pinned them underneath. The younger boy managed to get free and go for help. Paramedics tried to resuscitate the older boy, but they couldn’t save him. Police said it appears inexperience and the terrain were contributing factors. In early March 2008, a couple riding an ATV in northeast Calgary lost control and rolled, throwing them into a fence. The female suffered life-threatening injuries. Neither rider was wearing a helmet and it appears alcohol was a contributing factor. On May 14, a two-year-old boy from Taber died after the ATV he was on crashed into a rock. A 32-year-old man was driving the ATV and he had two 12-year-old boys and a three-year-old boy with him as well. None of them wore helmets. On May 19, two girls ages 14 and 17 got into an accident in southeast Fort McMurray. The 14-year-old girl was driving the ATV and she struck a ditch, throwing both girls into a tree. They were airlifted to Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton in critical condition. However, the 14-year-old girl died two weeks later. Police were investigating whether alcohol played a part in the accident. Given these injuries and fatalities, the government should ban all children under the age of 16 from operating ATVs. Even though safety courses are offered, inexperience and a child’s size are factors in these tragedies. This may inconvenience farms that rely on their young children to perform tasks in the fields. Parents may insist they can train their children to safely operate ATVs and that they supervise them too. Nonetheless, the injuries and deaths described above demonstrate some children are unable to handle them. It’s better to be safe with all children by imposing an age limit than to be sorry and lose even one child’s life. Let’s not forget the adults. Why did a 32-year-old man take so many children on their ATV with them? Nobody in their right mind would have done this, let alone take a two-year-old. Given the ATV accidents and deaths that result from alcohol, offenders should be banned permanently from owning and operating them. They should also spend the rest of their lives in jail for their negligence. A sentence of 5-10 years is not enough for them. I have seen ATVs operated irresponsibly. While driving on Highway 2 in summer 2007, I saw four young children riding on a quad between the road and a fence. I guess these children ranged in age from 8-10 years and they were very small for the ATV they were on. More recently, while driving west of Slave Lake after dusk, I saw lights coming from the opposite direction. As they got closer, I determined it was an adult on an ATV and they were riding on the edge of the highway at a very fast speed. If I could have identified the offender, I would have reported them to the police. So, Premier Ed Stelmach, stand up for ATV safety by imposing age restrictions for children and severe penalties for those who use them negligently.