#AtvSafetyInstitute

The ATV Safety Institute will provide free rider training for the second straight year during ATV Safety Week this spring. The ASI is again working with partners across America who will be volunteering to provide free ATV RiderCourses and other safety education June 6–14.

“The first step toward safe ATV riding is taking the ASI RiderCourse, and we’re making it available to adults, kids and families all over the country early in the riding season,” says Cam Arnold, ASI’s vice president of rider training. “ATV Safety Week is about promoting the eight Golden Rules for safe riding, and we can think of no better way than to offer our class at no charge to participants. We invite everyone with an ATV to meet our Instructors, have some fun, and learn how to ride ATVs safely.”

With the busy summer riding season upon us, the ATV Safety Institute, the Right Rider Access Fund and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation DirtBike School encourage kids to enter the “Do the Ride Thing” Video Contest. The contest, in its third year, runs June 1 to August 15, 2012 and offers 19 prizes totaling $8,500. Students ages 6 to 18 may enter. The winning videos will be used as public service announcements (PSAs).

“What better way to motivate and inform people – especially kids and their parents – about the safe and responsible use of all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes than to have kids create videos that highlight one or more of the ATV Safety Institute’s Golden Rules or Dirt Bike Riding Tips?” says Paul Vitrano, executive vice president, ASI. “By harnessing the social networking power of YouTube, it gives kids the opportunity to ‘Do the Ride Thing’ and help other kids ride safe/ride smart.”

To enter, kids create a 15-, 30- or 60-second video/PSA, upload it to YouTube, and submit an entry form on the ASI website. For official video content requirements, contest rules and entry forms, visit atvsafety.org, dirtbikeschool.org, and/or riderfund.org.

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The ATV safety community recently marked the enactment of “Chandler’s Law,” which is aimed at protecting South Carolina’s young ATV riders through rider training, parental supervision, the use of proper safety gear, and prohibitions on children riding adult-sized models.

The event in the state capitol included South Carolina native Inez Tenenbaum, chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Senator Brad Hutto of South Carolina, representatives from the ATV Safety Institute and Pam and Steve Saylor, whose son Chandler died in an ATV crash in 2003. Signed in May by Gov. Nikki Haley, the new law officially took effect on July 1, 2011.

“At the CPSC, we know that an experienced rider is often a safe rider,” says Tenenbaum. “This is why the new training requirements in Chandler’s Law – the training courses conducted by ASI – are so important.”

Chandler’s Law is based on Model State ATV Safety Legislation, created by the not-for-profit Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA). This model legislation has been promoted and proposed to South Carolina and states throughout America by the SVIA for more than two decades.

“We truly hope that ATV enthusiasts throughout South Carolina, and even across the country, abide by Chandler’s Law, not only to honor his memory, but to dramatically increase their own safety,” says Pam Saylor. “It’s absolutely critical that ATV riders under 16 receive hands-on training by licensed trainers, ride the right size ATV and wear safety gear while operating these vehicles.”