Happy Birthday - don't kill yourself!

Over the July 4th weekend a 9-year-old received an ATV for a birthday present. This really struck a chord with me because several youngsters tear around our neighborhood on various gas-burning, noise making, dangerous contraptions. The ATV buyer bragged about the great price and the glee of the youngster. Excitement turned to fear when the child promptly crashed. A skinned elbow later the adults urged "get back in the saddle."

Before climbing on my soap box, let me admit to riding some dangerous vehicles in my life. I only had to be thrown from two motorcycles (as a passenger) to decide it wasn't THAT much fun. Open jeeps before seat belts never killed me. And I enjoyed driving fast. My father acknowledged that though fast was fun, it probably wasn't worth the risks. I still drove fast more than I should have. I've been very lucky.

But let's get back to the costs of that new ATV. A well-intentioned person started a child on what may be a life-long affair with a vehicle designed to destroy the environment. Off-the-road vehicles expose people to a dangerous, energy-wasting pastime that causes air pollution, soil erosion, increases in health care costs, reductions in workplace productivity and oh, yeah, death! The Consumer Product Safety Commission cites an increase in ATV deaths of 180 percent between 1995 and 2004. Don't take my word, just google ATV accidents!

My rant is loosing steam, because these vehicles ARE fun, and the American thrill for speed and recklessness runs so deep in our culture and maybe too many people make too much money on this stuff for the situation to ever change. If you think there is hope, please let me know.