Federal officials concede that the death toll is an undercount. Fatalities involving some trail machines are not included.
Editor's note: Story was updated April 11. See clarification at end of the story.
Business groups call on well-connected lobbying firm to help thwart unwanted federal standards. They have not been disappointed.
Despite mounting casualties from crashes of recreational off-highway vehicles, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has shot down a proposal to track injuries and deaths involving the popular trail machines.
The Ocean State v. Big Oil: Rhode Island, which has more than 400 miles of coastline, has become the first state in the country to sue oil companies for the cost of protecting itself from rising seas. More than a dozen cities and counties in four other states have filed similar lawsuits that aim to hold…
More than 14,000 people, including roughly 3,200 children age 15 or younger, have been killed in crashes of all-terrain vehicles since federal safety officials began keeping track in the early 1980s. Studies have shown (here and here) that over half of the deaths occur on public or private roads — even though ATVs are required…
Manufacturers of off-road vehicles have mounted fierce resistance to proposed federal rules aimed at reducing rollover crashes that have killed hundreds of riders. After failing to persuade the Consumer Product Safety Commission to shelve the rules, the companies have turned to Congress to run interference. Powered by an aggressive social media campaign and political donations,…
Rebuffing off-road vehicle manufacturers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted today to move forward with rules aimed at preventing rollover crashes that have killed hundreds of riders. The rules would include minimum handling and stability standards for the popular trail machines known as recreational off-highway vehicles, or ROVs. The vehicles also would be engineered…
Manufacturers of off-road vehicles have enlisted the help of a dozen U.S. senators to try to block regulations intended to prevent rollover crashes that have killed hundreds of riders. In a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the senators urged delaying a pending vote on safety standards for the popular trail machines known as recreational…
A leading consumer group is warning that the increasing use of all-terrain vehicles on the nation’s roads poses a “growing public health crisis” and is calling for immediate action by U.S., state and local officials. “ATVs are not designed to be on roads,” said Rachel Weintraub, the Consumer Federation of America’s legislative director and the co-author…
Last Mother’s Day, Jaret Graham, 14, climbed on the back of an all-terrain vehicle driven by his 12-year-old cousin. As they sped down a paved stretch of country road in west Texas, the 12-year-old lost control, went into a ditch and fell off the vehicle, injuring his leg. Jaret was thrown off and hit his…
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