BILL NUMBER: S2702

SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the opera-
tion of all-terrain vehicles by minors

 
PURPOSE:

To raise the age of ATV operators to fourteen years of age, in certain
circumstances.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Section 2409(2) of Article 48C of the Vehicle and Traf-
fic Law to change the age of completing an ATV safety course and earning
an ATV safety certificate from ten years of age to fourteen years of
age.

Section 2 of the bill eliminates the possibility of a sixteen year old
with an ATV safety certificate supervising a minor operating an ATV and
              

to change the age of legal operation of an ATV by a minor from ten years
of age to fourteen years of age, under certain circumstances.

Section 3 states the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Recent serious accidents and fatalities involving minors operating All-
Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) have highlighted the need to enact legislation.
In a study published by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences,
which looked at accidents involving individuals eighteen and under
between the years 2004 and 2014, 75% of the ATV fatalities were victims
between the ages of ten and fourteen. During this period, over 30,000
children aged fourteen and under went to emergency rooms for ATV related
injuries, including fractured bones, head and facial injuries.

Depending on the particular model, these vehicles can weigh 600 pounds
or more, and reach speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour. Machines of this
size and speed are not suitable for young children to operate.  Accord-
ing to the American Academy of Pediatrics, operating ATVs is especially
dangerous for young children, given their smaller size and relative
immaturity; in addition the group believes that children are "not devel-
opmentally capable of operating these heavy, complex machines."

This legislation amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law and makes several
changes to promote greater ATV safety and prevent tragedies involving
minors. First, the allowable age to receive an ATV safety certificate
will be raised from the current ten years to fourteen years or older.
Currently, children as young as ten are permitted to earn an ATV safety
certificate from the Department of Motor Vehicles by taking an approved
safety course. Next, in relation to the operation of an ATV, children
under sixteen will only be allowed to operate an ATV on public land, as
permitted by section 2403 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, as long as
they are supervised by someone eighteen years or older. They would no
longer be permitted to be supervised in the alternative by someone over
sixteen who holds an ATV safety certificate. In addition, the bill rais-
es to fourteen years old from the current ten the age at which a minor
who has received a safety certificate may operate an ATV in the same
manner as someone who is sixteen or older, meaning without supervision
and on any area of land that is permissible for those sixteen and older.

The Legislature must take steps to protect young children, whose inexpe-
rience and lack of understanding of the potential dangers associated
with ATV riding make them a vulnerable population. Raising the age to
receive a safety certificate and operate an AN in the same manner as a
sixteen year old, as well as removing the provision in the law allowing
for supervision by someone sixteen or older who has a safety certificate
will help to prevent senseless accidents and deaths.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-2022: S680/A586 - Passed Senate/Advanced to Third Reading

2019-2020: S5035/A6087 - Died in Transportation/Advanced to Third Read-
ing

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become a law.