Are we partially to blame for land closures and ATV bans?

We’ve all done it at one point or another.  You’re outside, on your ATV, just putting around the yard, and your trusty friend, who promises to protect you on every ride; he’s sitting on a shelf, or hanging on a hook.  He’s your helmet, your first line of defense against injury or death.

Not only is wearing a helmet while riding a good guideline to follow, it is the law.  But let’s not discuss the law, or limit our discussion to helmets, let’s look at what is endangering our sport today.  There are groups out there, organized and unorganized, who have made it their sole purpose in life to ban us altogether.  They’ve managed to close down land, and even ban ATVs in certain areas.  In their eyes, we are a menace to the environment; ripping and tearing up everything in our way.  We disrupt all that is good with the world.

Are we actually like that?  Well, there are a few out there who are, but the vast majority of us are actually out to enjoy nature, not destroy it.  Unfortunately, we are only as good as the worst examples of our sport, because they are always the ones who seem to grab so much attention.  Every time activists against our sport hear about someone in the news who was injured or killed riding ATV’s, it fuels their cause that much more, and gets them one step closer to a ban.  And if that accident happened while the rider wasn’t wearing a helmet, then we are all labeled as reckless miscreants.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) states that in 2002, 113,900 people went to the emergency room with ATV-related injuries, and they estimated that at least 30% of those were children.  Sadly, that number would dramatically decrease if precautions had been taken.  It is our responsibility to prove to these groups and our local, state, and federal governments that as a majority, we respect the environment we ride in, we respect others around us, and we do everything possible to make our sport as safe as possible.

As I am sitting here writing this article, I think back to last summer when I was riding at Michaux State Forest in Pennsylvania.  I was loading the quads back up from a day’s riding, when two maniacs go ripping through the gravel parking lot, no helmets, racing and doing doughnuts.  After the dust finally settled and they went to their vehicle, a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) vehicle pulled up beside me.  He had received a report about two guys tearing up the parking lot, and asked me if I had seen them.  “I sure did, sir.  They’re right over there.”, I said.  And he went over to them to do his job.  I felt a little guilty about it, but then I thought to myself, “These are the idiots that ruin it for all of us.”.

We all must stand together to stop these activists from taking away something we hold dear to us.  We can do this by properly supervising our children, and making sure they are not riding beyond their skill level and capabilities.  Our children emulate everything we do.  If we don’t wear a helmet, they will feel as though they don’t have to wear one either.  We can help out by doing quarterly trail cleanups.  Call your local Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to see how you can help; they’ll appreciate you for it, and you will have taken a step forward to ensuring a place to ride.  But, always remember, there are eyes on us at all times waiting for us to fail.  Show them that we care as much about safety and the environment as they do.  If we all stood together and did this, their cause would deteriorate, and they would have to move on to something else.

If this article has made you think about something you’ve done that could’ve hurt our sport had someone been watching closely, then my job here is done.

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