Santa brought an ATV built especially for them. - Be safe

October 3, 2006
Imagine the excitement on Christmas morning when the kids run into the living room, look out the window and see that Santa brought them exactly what they asked for -- an ATV built especially for them.

“If past years are any indication, 2007 is going to be another record year for orders from Santa’s workshop and we’re working hard to fill them,” says Kale Wainer of Arctic Cat.

If jolly ol’ St. Nick decides to get an ATV for your kids, take the time to make sure they will be safe drivers. Farm Safety 4 Just Kids (FS4JK) is an organization that promotes safe farm environments to prevent health hazards, injuries, and fatalities to children and youth. Tammy Baier, a representative of FS4JK, says, “It is important that youth learn safety from an early age. Currently, ATVs play a major role on farms across the country. We teach safe operating practices at an early age so it stays with the operator throughout adulthood.”

“We feel so strongly about safety, Arctic Cat offers special incentives to teach ATV riding skills or to reinforce current riding skills,” says Wainer. First-time purchasers without any previous ATV riding experience will receive a $100 coupon from Arctic Cat after completing the training course (U.S. owners only, one incentive). Arctic Cat provides free rider training courses to appropriate immediate family members for each ATV purchase. Others can take the training course for a small fee. See an authorized Arctic Cat ATV dealer for details or call (800) 887-2887 for training course information.
[full article]

Why does there have to be a safety class for everything now? When I was growing up, safety class was my dad smacking me in the back of the head when I did something stupid, and it's worked great.
Are todays parents willingly giving up the task of teaching their kids safety or do they just not realize it's their responsibility?
Judging by the people I've seen with young children, I guess it is a pretty good idea to have these classes though.

Some states require safety classes for anyone under a certain age now which also probably helps them learn the new laws that are currently in effect. It is always the parents responsibility to make sure their child knows the proper way to ride, however, it can't hurt to pound the stuff in their heads a little. After all, you can lead the kids to safety..but you can't make 'em be safe.

And we all know...."Knowledge is power"

Some interesting statistics on ATV injuries and death's.

http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foi...ef/atv2004.pdf

Please, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I'm just wondering why is all. Kids are going to be kids and do stupid things, no matter how much safety training they've had. I think direct parental supervision (parents in sight and just a few steps away) will be the only thing that will actually do any good. That is if the parents aren't dumber than the dirt they're riding on.

Very true. While I like the idea of safety training, none of it will do any good unless the parents/guardians are there to enforce what they have learned.

Sorry I have not been around for a while, just been doing a lot of hunting and trapping, it is starting to get cold up hear going below zero at night know. Just wanted to say good on yah Mike. The problem with kids is the parents. All you have to do is look around a mall or go to the movies and see all the little boys and girls trying to be grown up. Shit where are their parents and why are they not in bed at 11pm on a school night. Man when I was 14 I only wanted to go trapping and hunting, I did not worry about what I looked like or how cool my freinds were or not. All I knew was that god and my parents loved me, and thats all that matters in life. Kids will do what ever they want if no one is around to giude them in the right direction. The first place they look for that is home and lets face it most homes are no place for kids. Kids have become a thing of status, look at me I have a kid. I have tow little girls, and they know when they have done somthing wrong, and they get punished, and they have this thing because of it called respect, the same thing I had as a kid and the thing that most kids lack these days. The fur harvesters up here (trappers ass.) have these bumper sticker that we hand out to our members that say "kids that hunt, fish and trapp, do not rob little old ladies" I love that saying. The reason why they do not, is that they have some guidance in life with a loving and caring adult there showing them somthing and spending time with them. teach your kids about the great things in life like hunting fishing and AVT's. Let them know that video games are ok, but school work is more important. But most of all be there for your kids listen to them love them hug them kiss them and let them know that you will always be there for them no matter what. That is what we can all do for us and our kids. Tudball. P.S. where the hell did all of that come from, wow I should write for hallmark...

Very well put Tud

You definitely put it well.

Interesting stuff........Colorado didn't look too bad......Kentucky didn't look too hot though. Hubby has a friend who lives in Kentucky.......knowing the friend, it explains the high death rate there (he can't drive an atv to save his life either)

safety is a big thing now-a-days , back when i was a kid i learned from my mistakes ( broken bones ,stitches, torn ligaments, etc) it is better to learn from others mistakes it is less painful that way. most of the safety rules-laws were made because of a death.