Friday, October 5, 2007

Limit the damage


For those who have wondered from the sidelines why there's a fuss about off-road vehicles roaring over the landscape, these numbers answer the question.

Some 43 million Americans use all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles to make 12 million visits a year to 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The effect, according to Rangers for Responsible Recreation, is that off-road vehicles traveling through and over remote areas are the biggest threat to the nation's recreation lands.

In a better-late-than-never move, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management want to limit off-road vehicles to prescribed areas. Many off-trail areas once used by ATVs and dirt bikes will be closed.

Damage to nature's landscape is not the only concern growing out of the widespread popularity of off-road vehicles.

Accidents on ATVs are taking a heavy toll in injuries and deaths with hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries nationally.

In Idaho alone, 90,000 off-road vehicles are registered—an enormous increase over the 1,800 registrations 23 years ago in 1984. Since 1982, 89 have died in ATV-related accidents, with 25 percent of those killed under the age of 16. Just this month, a 6-year-old was killed when thrown from an ATV driven by his 14-year-old sister.

Although new laws are only being discussed, the obvious need is for required safety training for ATV users, especially among those too young to even be licensed to drive on the state's roads. Restrictions on the age of operators would also be wise.

Reasonable restrictions on ATVs will limit damage in the backcountry and help operators survive to ride another day.




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