In our ATV- and Snowmobile-Related Injuries in Youth Project, we asked participants to tell us what they thought about some key issues. The issues included the minimum age at which they felt it was safe to be on an ATV or snowmobile, as well as what they thought about wearing a helmet, taking a safety course, having children ride, and taking passengers.
The Surveys
After the presentations, we asked participants what they thought were the minimum ages at which it was safe to drive ATVs and snowmobiles. We also asked them to rate how much they agreed or disagreed with some statements about ATV and snowmobile use.
What did they say about the issues? Click a link below to find out.What did they say about age?
On the whole, the majority of these 300 people were convinced that the minimum age at which it is safe to drive either an ATV or a snowmbile is 16 years (i.e., 94% said 16 or older). There was
some variation, as you can see in the chart, which shows the spread of ages people felt were safe to drive ATVs and snowmobiles. The variation was small, however, and the group clearly expressed a strong opinion on this issue (standard deviation for ATVs was 1.00 and snowmobiles 1.11).
To read some of the comments that people added about age, click here.
To download the project report with detailed results, click here.
What did they say about the other issues?
There was a lot of support for measures that could prevent injuries in youth. Participants were asked to rate on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 meant they strongly disagreed and 10 meant they strongly agreed, the following statements:
- No driving ATVs under 16
- No riding ATVS under 16
- Children should never ride as passengers on ATVs
- Passengers can ride on ATVs only if the manufacturer specifies so
- No driving ATVs without an approved helmet
- No riding ATVs without an approved helmet
- No driving ATVs without an approved safety course
- No riding ATVs without an approved safety course They answered the same questions for snowmobiles, as well.
The degree of agreement for all of the statements was at least 7 out of 10, as the chart below outlines. Of particular note, the average level of agreement with statements supporting helmet use was extremely high—the average level of agreement that no one should ride an ATV without a helmet was nearly full agreement, 9.52, which rounds up to 10 out of 10. Participants felt very strongly that helmets should always be worn by both drivers and riders of both types of vehicle. This was also reflected in their discussions.
The average levels of support for allowing passengers to ride only if the manufacturer specified so and being able to drive only if one has taken a safety course were also very strong. For both, the average level of agreement was slightly above 8 out of 10.
The chart below illustrates the overall results of the ratings; to read participant's detailed comments on these topics click here.
