Off-road warriors as young as 6 are taxing local emergency rooms in an "epidemic" of battered brains and busted bones as lawmakers debate today whether to hike the state’s minimum age for operating an ATV from 10 to 14.
And even that’s not tough enough, believes Katie Kearney of Plymouth, whose 8-year-old son - the namesake of "Sean’s Bill" - was crushed to death in 2006 beneath a 500-pound all-terrain vehicle that the adult hosts of a playdate allowed Sean to drive, unbeknown-st to his parents.
Kearney asserts the legal cutoff should be no less than 16 years old for ATV operators.
"In Massachusetts you can’t ride an electric scooter until you’re 16. You can’t ride a jet ski until you’re 16. You can’t drive a car until you’re 16. Why should you be able to drive an ATV?" she asked.
Last month alone in Massachusetts, a dozen children under the age of 16 required emergency medical care after being thrown from ATVs, crashing into trees, flipping over and, in the case of a 12-year-old Plymouth girl, nearly drowning in a cranberry bog, according to Dr. Peter Masiakos, a pediatric trauma surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.
"It is epidemic. I can’t imagine burying a child that had a preventable death," said Masiakos, the physician upon whose shoulders four years ago fell the sad duty of telling Katie and Mark Kearney their boy was dead.
Referencing state public health statistics, Masiakos said that since 1982, 19 kids under age 16 have been killed riding ATVs. Between 2004 and 2005, he said 900 children under age 16 suffered ATV-related injuries and 35 more had moderate to severe brain trauma requiring intensive care and rehabilitation.
The state Senate already has approved raising the minimum ATV age to 14. The House will vote this afternoon, considering proposals such as requiring children 16 and under to pass an ATV safety course.
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http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100609parents_target_atv_rules_push_pols_to_pass_age_limit_in_sons_name/
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