People love to talk trash about “kids these days,” but youngsters could be the saviors of the things we love the most. ATV industry professionals in Ontario, Canada, realize this and are working to launch an online safety program for young riders in the province.
Ready to RideON comes from the Ontario Quad Safety Council and was developed alongside the Ontario Federation of All Terrain Vehicle Clubs with help from Yamaha Motor Canada and Bombardier Recreational Products. The program will help educate younger riders, which in Ontario includes kids aged 12 to 15. No safety training is currently required in the province.
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The initiative hopes to help reduce the number of ATV-related injuries and deaths, of which there were 181 in 2018. Almost half of those were children between the ages of 10 and 14, and the SickKids study that found those numbers also noted that the chances of injury or death in a crash were much lower in areas with required safety training. Overall, Ontario saw 151 fatalities and 1,500 injuries between 2016 and 2022, with loss of control as the leading cause of those accidents.
Riders aged 12 to 15 can participate in the two-hour training program for $40 Canadian. Topics include the basics of ATV operation, an overview of parts and functions, and trail etiquette.
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