What Size is Right for You? - ATV Aware
Susan Harris
Author
05/18/2021
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33
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What size is right for you?
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- [00:00:00.212](bright rock music)
- [00:00:27.720]Hi there.
- [00:00:28.553]I'm Susan Harris, educator for Nebraska Extension,
- [00:00:31.155]and we are going to talk about what size of ATV
- [00:00:35.010]is right for you.
- [00:00:36.940]If you ride ATVs as a family, for work, or recreation,
- [00:00:40.846]let's start with what is most important in our lives,
- [00:00:44.170]our kids and grandkids.
- [00:00:45.808]I really hope you'll set some rules.
- [00:00:48.530]This statistic will take your breath away.
- [00:00:50.842]Of all the kids under 16 who are injured in an ATV accident,
- [00:00:55.940]almost all of them were on an adult sized ATV.
- [00:00:59.790]The odds are not in your favor if you let a kid under 16
- [00:01:03.090]on an ATV in any way, operating it, or as a passenger.
- [00:01:07.325]One more statistic to prove that,
- [00:01:09.864]a whopping 56% of all youth fatalities
- [00:01:13.470]or deaths were under the age of 12,
- [00:01:16.150]most of them taking place on an adult size ATV of course.
- [00:01:19.950]When children drive an ATV,
- [00:01:21.890]their smaller body mass makes it harder to balance
- [00:01:24.420]the vehicle through weight shifting
- [00:01:26.160]and their hands may be too small to fully grip the handles
- [00:01:29.050]and operate the brakes.
- [00:01:30.700]Shorter arms and legs also mean less ability
- [00:01:33.260]to turn the vehicle or absorb shocks as well.
- [00:01:36.340]Kids can be launched off the ATV when hitting a bump
- [00:01:39.180]or a rut.
- [00:01:40.013]Even when they're tall for their age
- [00:01:41.840]or have operated ATVs growing up,
- [00:01:43.776]they still do not have the maturity to drive a vehicle,
- [00:01:47.320]and an ATV is a vehicle with much less to keep them safe
- [00:01:50.930]than a car has.
- [00:01:52.670]These size recommendations are important to know
- [00:01:55.730]and your local ATV dealer can help fit your child
- [00:01:58.760]with the correct size.
- [00:02:00.144]There are a few ways to be sure you have
- [00:02:02.410]the right size for a body.
- [00:02:04.142]Clearance between the ATV seat
- [00:02:06.635]and an inseam while standing on the foot rest
- [00:02:10.070]should be a good four inches.
- [00:02:12.422]Feet should be able to be flat on the foot rests
- [00:02:15.800]when sitting
- [00:02:17.130]and grip, throttle, and brake reach should be good,
- [00:02:20.590]even when turning, but wait,
- [00:02:22.700]there's one more thing to consider.
- [00:02:24.530]If your child is under 16
- [00:02:26.420]and easily fits an adult sized ATV, it's illegal.
- [00:02:31.240]It's not just a matter of size and fitting to the vehicle.
- [00:02:34.530]It's a matter of mental capacity and experience,
- [00:02:36.970]something younger people have not quite developed
- [00:02:39.060]sufficiently to react to situations
- [00:02:40.990]on high powered machines like this.
- [00:02:43.362]There is a reason it's against the law to operate an ATV
- [00:02:46.950]in Nebraska unless you have a driver's license,
- [00:02:50.250]many reasons actually.
- [00:02:53.000]I refer to this as my mountain scene,
- [00:02:55.460]created from data from DHHS that considers our ages
- [00:02:59.500]as we have traumatic injuries in Nebraska.
- [00:03:02.320]Green represents females and gray represents males.
- [00:03:05.520]See how the 10 to 15 year old bracket for girls
- [00:03:08.130]reaches its high point right there at that tender young age?
- [00:03:11.691]Well, for guys it keeps going up
- [00:03:14.070]but then it sharply declines at age 34.
- [00:03:17.262]The intriguing part of this graph is that the U shape
- [00:03:21.260]in the middle goes down in our parenthood years.
- [00:03:25.300]We seem to be safer,
- [00:03:26.970]but then it peaks again in the 55 to 64 year old bracket
- [00:03:30.840]for both women and men.
- [00:03:32.810]Why?
- [00:03:33.643]Well, maybe because, again,
- [00:03:35.110]it's those kids that are too young to be on adult size ATVs
- [00:03:38.610]having accidents and the guys are more likely to be
- [00:03:40.580]risk-takers when they're young
- [00:03:41.810]and in their early manhood on that side of the 'U'.
- [00:03:44.750]And then on the other side of the 'U'
- [00:03:47.030]we have an aging population of farmers and ranchers.
- [00:03:50.270]So just more people at that age are riding.
- [00:03:53.699]As we age, we lose reaction times
- [00:03:56.750]and physical skills we used to have.
- [00:03:59.560]And the big one is that we just become complacent.
- [00:04:03.610]We get away with stuff over the years and think less
- [00:04:06.490]and less about it until well, you know.
- [00:04:10.401]Mostly what I find as I travel the state
- [00:04:14.180]to educate about ATVs is that kids
- [00:04:16.600]and adults don't understand the physics of an ATV
- [00:04:20.320]and what situations make it so dangerous.
- [00:04:22.870]And many people don't take the time to be careful
- [00:04:25.160]until they've suffered some kind of devastating loss
- [00:04:27.370]or injury.
- [00:04:28.640]We don't want you to be a statistic.
- [00:04:31.070]So be sure to watch the next installments of this series
- [00:04:33.830]to be better informed and ATV aware.
- [00:04:36.589]I'm Susan Harris from Nebraska Extension.
- [00:04:39.730]Thanks for joining me.
- [00:04:41.561](bright rock music)
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