I am not picking on all terrain vehicle owners/drivers. Not in the least. Driven in a responsible manner, with total respect for the environment, the vehicles can be, I am told, most pleasurable. My concern, and that of many, is the lack of an age control for young drivers. It seems if they can straddle the machines, then, in today’s lingo, it’s “good to go.”
My friend Alan Weeks, who now resides in Ottawa (Stephen Harper beware), sent me an article from the Ottawa Sun. It told of an accident on June 26, that came at the height of the local debate on the mini ATVs, purchased by Barry Barnett without Rodney MacDonald’s knowledge. As my departed stepfather liked to say, “Don’t eat that, Elmer, that’s horseshit!”
Premier Rodney MacDonald, at the time of the roll out of these machines, said in defense of the initiative announced by the Department of Health Promotion and Protection, "It's not uncommon for those vehicles to be provided in training courses. If it's an investment in safety for our young people, the government's willing to make it."
If that is the case, how could he then say, and Barnett confirm, that he had no knowledge of the purchase. “Don’t eat that, Elmer….”
The Ottawa Sun article, written by Jon Willing, brought home a powerful message on the type of “investment.” MacDonald was referring to. It told of a young Aylmer, Ontario boy who died from injuries he received in an ATV crash, a young boy who was always comfortable around the rugged sport machines, according to residents who live near his home.
The same neighbours also told the Sun reporter that the boy was hardly ever seen riding his ATV without wearing a helmet. One of the neighbours, Celine Gagnon, reportedly cried when told of the death. “He was always wearing protection, even gloves,” she said. “There was always someone outside with him. He was never left without supervision.”
She also informed the reporter that the boy regularly rode the small machine, described by others as a smaller ‘child-sized” version of the recreation vehicle. Sound familiar? Yep, the very same type of machine our provincial government tried to slip past a sleeping public.
And the accident didn’t take place in the wilds of the Ottawa Valley, on a busy street or when he attempted, as so may do, to cross a busy highway.
No, the Aylmer tragedy occurred when the ATV struck a tree in the front yard of his home. While, at the time of the accident, it wasn’t clear whether he was wearing a helmet, police believed he was.
It is the type of accident the experts at the IWK, Safe Kids Canada and the Canada Safety Council warn about. Warnings that go unheeded by our political leaders who worry more about rural votes that public safety. If they were truly concerned with the public’s well-being, they would pass legislation that makes the eligible age for driving an ATV 16 years of age.
Statistics released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information state that 36 per cent of ATV-related injuries involve children between the ages of five and 19.
The government may be getting their money back (putting out a political fire storm) but the 66 mini ATVs are still out there, waiting for young legs to straddle the body, tiny hands grip the steering apparatus and rev the engine up.
Oh yes, did I mention the youngster, Jonathan Blais, who was killed in his front yard, was seven years old.
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist and broadcaster with friends in high places – Alan Weeks lives in an Ottawa highrise)
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