All-Terrain Vehicles: How They Are Used, Crashes, and Sales of Adult-Sized Vehicles for Children's Use
Highlights
All-terrain vehicles (ATV), which are off-road motorized vehicles, usually with four tires, a straddle seat for the operator, and handlebars for steering control, have become increasingly popular. However, ATV fatalities and injuries have increased over the last decade and are a matter of concern to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission), which oversees ATV safety, and to others. Many ATV crashes involving children occur when they are riding adult-sized ATVs. Manufacturers and distributors have agreed to use their best efforts to prevent their dealers from selling adult-sized ATVs for use by children under the age of 16. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act requires GAO to report on (1) how ATVs are used and the advantages of their use and (2) the nature, extent, and costs of ATV crashes. GAO addressed these topics by reviewing ATV use and crash data and by discussing these issues with Commission staff, industry officials, user groups, and safety stakeholders.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Product Safety Commission | To enhance the Consumer Product Safety Commission's oversight of ATV safety, the Commission should, when sufficient data are available, assess whether the size, power and weight of ATVs have increased in recent years and, if so, whether and how those increases correlate with the severity of injuries. Commission staff should consider the results of this assessment in the agency's future rulemaking on ATV safety issues. |
CSPC staff have not been able to obtain the data needed for this analysis.
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| Consumer Product Safety Commission | To enhance the Consumer Product Safety Commission's oversight of ATV safety, the Commission should resume undercover checks of ATV dealers, focusing on new market entrants, which have not been tested, to assess dealers' willingness to sell adult-sized ATVs for use by children. | In April 2010, we reported that about one-fifth of the deaths and one-third of the injuries resulting from all-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes involved children. Crashes involving children frequently occurred when they rode adult-sized ATVs, which are more difficult for them to handle. Manufacturers and distributors have agreed to use their best efforts to prevent their dealers from selling adult-sized ATVs for use by children. However, our undercover checks of selected dealers in four states indicated that 7 of 10 were willing to sell adult-sized ATVs for use by children. Consumer Product Safety Commission staff suspended similar checks in 2008 because of higher priorities. Therefore, we...
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| Consumer Product Safety Commission | To enhance the Consumer Product Safety Commission's oversight of ATV safety, the Commission should consider how the Commission's enforcement of the age recommendations can be strengthened and act accordingly. Options could include, but are not limited to, requiring ATV manufacturers and distributors to (1) provide more specific language about how they will enforce their dealers' compliance with the age recommendations and (2) make dealership agreements with dealers available for Commission staff to inspect how the agreements address the age recommendations. In addition, the Commission could consider making all of the action plans publicly available. | In 2010, GAO reported that all-terrain vehicle (ATV) fatalities and injuries involving children have been a significant problem over the last decade, and that crashes involving children frequently occur when they ride adult-sized ATVs. Although ATV manufacturers and distributors have agreed to prevent their dealers from selling adult-sized ATVs for use by children, noncompliance has been a persistent problem. To enhance the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) oversight of ATV safety, GAO recommended that the Commission consider how its enforcement of the age restrictions could be strengthened, considering options such as requiring ATV manufacturers and distributors to (1) provide...
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