Medical community backs ATV limits
I read your report on all-terrain vehicles ("Bill would put curbs on ATV use," Globe South, Aug. 24) with interest. Your only mention about who has endorsed S2772 was limited to the American Academy of Pediatrics and Massachusetts Prevent Injuries Now Network. I am disappointed that you did not represent the opinion of the medical experts, as this is a public health issue.
As you might be aware, Bill S2772 was originally filed by Representatives Matthew Patrick, Barbara L'Italien, and Thomas Kennedy, carefully redrafted by the Joint Transportation Committee, and recently unanimously endorsed by the Senate. Its purpose has become very comprehensive, with emphasis on protecting the children of the Commonwealth as well as the environment. It also considers penalties and registration fees that would enable enforcement.
Consistent with position statements of all major medical societies, as well as existing Massachusetts motor vehicle laws, local safety advocates and the medical community originally advocated for a ban on sale and use of ATVs by children younger than 16. We also opposed the substitution of "training/education" programs and "supervision" for children in lieu of an outright ban. When the bill was redrafted by the Transportation Committee, efforts were made to accommodate all interests. The resulting compromise consists of:
A ban on the sale and use of ATVs by children under age 14.
Provision that 14- to 16-year-olds may ride ATVs with an engine size of 90cc or greater as long as they are closely supervised by an adult.
Mandated safety equipment.
Exceptions for children riding in sanctioned events.
The experience of ATV-injured Massachusetts children mirrors that of reports in the medical literature. In fact, just in the end of June, the week the Senate took up this bill, four children younger than 16 were seriously injured in ATV accidents and treated at Massachusetts hospitals. In July there were 14, and to this date in August, 10 and counting.
We are especially grateful to Senate President Therese Murray and Senator Stephen Baddour for their extra hard work on this bill.
The ATV industry continues to remain self-regulated when all other industries that affect public safety are regulated by government and legislation that makes good sense. You have undoubtedly heard from the self-regulated ATV industry and its supporters, who claim as you have reported that adult supervision, helmets, and training classes are the only way to limit youth injuries on ATVs and that a law will not change behavior.
It is clear that the industry's self-policing methods have not made any substantive impact on reducing pediatric injuries. Despite the Consumer Products Safety Commission consent decree and voluntary standards, pediatric injury rates still remain near 30 percent of all ATV-related injuries, which have grown by 15 to 20 percent per year.
The medical literature is rich with data that refute the ATV industry's suggestions that parental supervision, safety training, and helmet use can change the injury risk. In fact, the only thing that has been shown to affect outcome favorably is legislation.
A year ago, a law banning ATV use by children younger than 14 was enacted in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Over the following year, injuries and deaths for that age group decreased by 50 percent. Only training and supervision were mandated for 14- to 16-year-olds, and, not surprisingly, injury rates for that group have not fallen.
As this bill made its way through the Senate, many healthcare providers sent letters to their legislators in support. Endorsements have come from 27 organizations, including the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts chapter of the American College of Surgeons. Every trauma center and every children's hospital in the state, as well as law enforcement and environmental groups have also been supporters of the safety provisions of this bill.
As a trauma surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, I am looking forward to the day that I do not have to tell another set of parents that their 8-year-old has died as a result of an ATV crash.
Dr. Peter T. Masiakos, MGH Pediatric Trauma Surgery 