This discussion has been around forever and now Premier Nanny Notley and her NDP government are about to introduce new laws pertaining to our recreation as we know it today, one being the helmet law. Personally I don’t think that our government should have to be making it a law as it should just be smart thinking to wear one, and yes, even in a SXS! In my mind if you are riding without a helmet, you’re an idiot. Laws are made to protect the stupid people so I myself and as UTV Canada will fully support any proposed helmet law. I feel that anyone climbing onto an ATV or getting behind the steering wheel of any UTV should be strapping on a helmet to protect the one and only melon that you were born with. I just shake my head when I see people out on trails doubling kids or even adults on ATV’s and no one is wearing helmets. Witnessing this over the past long weekend, I thought to myself that this mother would probably insist that her kid wear the cheesy little bicycle helmet while peddling around a 25-30 Lb bicycle but would think nothing of wearing a proper helmet while riding a 600-800 pound ATV tearing down the trail at 40-50 miles per hour. That kid’s head would explode like a watermelon if that quad ever came over on them! I wanted to stop that woman and hand her a Darwin nomination and award but ran out of them that day.
Premier Nanny Notley also wants to introduce age restrictions on the operators which I think is absolute crap. My kids grew up on ATV’s and snowmobiles and my grandkids are doing the same except they have all added dirt bikes and SXS’s to the list of offroad recreational motor toys that they now have fun with. Albeit a few scrapes, bumps and bruises, they have all survived quite nicely. My kids were taught safe operating practices and the importance of the proper safety gear and they have taught their kids the same skills and practices. My 14 year old grandson Seth is as good of operator on any sled, bike, ATV or SXS and I’m more comfortable riding with him than I would be with some grown adults I see out on the trails these days. Just because you are older doesn’t mean you are smarter! I feel the younger that you get these kids out on these toys the better. It’s a lot easier to train safe operating procedures and the importance of wearing the proper riding gear when they are young and eager to learn to ride the age specific product that the manufacturers all make for young riders. Under Premier Nanny Notley new laws, we will be faced with numerous crappy options with the first one being trying to train some snot- nosed know-it-all 16 year old looking like a circus bear riding a 90cc quad or the second option, just handing the same snot-nosed, know-it-all 16 year old the keys to your 600-700-800-1000cc quad or SXS. Who would you rather train? Just because you’re older doesn’t necessarily mean you’re smarter……
Ride Safe, Ride Sober
by Reid Nehring
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I am all for the helmets, but as for young ones riding I say yes they should be allowed to ride. Maybe have to take a course once a year to prove they know what they are doing. But to ban them is wrong!!
I fully agree on the helmets. It takes a complete idiot to not wear one. I think that size/age specific quads and SXS should be enforced. If a kid doesn’t fit in a category that’s made for them….tough luck. It will be a life lesson that you cant have everything in life. If one of these young kids on a oversized quad gets brave and heads into a trail system with a small hill and the quad walks over on them they don’t even have a hope of kicking them selves away from that quad as it comes over and crushes their usually unprotected head. Then that same quad tumbles down the hill crushing his friend/brother/sister that following on their dirt bike or quad. I saw tickets being handed to parents last weekend for their kids with full gear on 50cc bikes cruising around camp, because they had no headlight or tail light as other 14 year old kids ride by with their dads renegade 1000 with no helmets and shorts on. There is something truly wrong with common sense thinking.
No age restrictions, and no yearly courses. This new government already takes enough of our money and squanders it. Another cash grab for something as moronic as this is uncalled for. Helmet laws, sure. Age restrictions because of mouth breathers, hell no!
Helmets! Helmets! Helmets! and for that matter it shouldn’t be a “law” like the helmets but ATV riders need to wear more and for that matter “any” protective gear. The main reason why I never broke a bone riding dirt bikes my whole life and why my kids haven’t either is because nobody rides until you are suited up in ALL your gear from head to toe. Helmet, Chest protector, elbow and knee protection and boots. Probably 80% of ATV riders young and old wear none of this. This is the stuff that keeps us safe. Its like sending your child out to play hockey or football with no protective gear at all… Sounds stupid I know but people do it EVERY DAY on ATV’s. “I don’t race” is all I ever hear. Accidents happen whether you are going fast or not.
As for the age restrictions I agree with it within reason… Should a 6 year old be allowed to ride an 800 lb. 1000cc quad? Absolutely not! Should a 6 year old be able to ride a 90cc quad with a certified helmet and the right protective gear… Absolutely! My kids were riding dirt bikes without training wheels at just over 2 and a half years old. But before they got to ride they were suited up from head to toe in ALL of their protective gear. Were there accidents?… There most certainly were but nothing they couldn’t walk away from. Age restrictions make sense within reason. I think if you are under 10 you shouldn’t be able to ride anything bigger than a 250cc. Generally speaking. Dirt bikes and ATV’s are great Family fun and entertainment and its one of the few things that we can all do as a family. To take that away from us would be travesty. Last thing kids today need is another reason to stay in the trailer at camp and watch a movie or sit on a ipad. Get them out exploring on off road vehicles!!!