Write your Representatives and the Consumer Product Safety Commission Today! I started riding (all kinds of vehicles) off-road when I was a just a kid. But now, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 — probably unintentionally — will prevent youths from riding (and competing with) motorcycles and ATVs, because of a lead-content rule designed to make kids toys safer. Please urge your representative to use common sense and exclude use of motorcycles and ATVs from being included in this rule. Here's a quick and easy way you can take action, today. Please do!
If you want more info, here are the details from the American Motorcycle Association:
On August 14th, 2008, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Intended to make children's everyday toys safer, the rule governing implementation of the act threatens to end youth off-highway vehicle (OHV) riding entirely.
According to section 101(a) of the enacted legislation, all youth products containing lead must have less than 600 parts per million (ppm) by weight. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has interpreted the law to apply to various components of youth OHVs including the engine, brakes, suspension, battery and other mechanical parts. Even though the lead levels in these parts are small, they are still above the minimum threshold.
The unavailability of youth OHVs will devastate family OHV recreation and cripple amateur competition, creating a domino effect across all aspects of motorized recreation.
In order to assure continued availability and access to youth OHVs, the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) and Specialty Vehicle Industry Association (SVIA) submitted petitions to the CPSC asking that certain vehicles be excluded from the final rule governing the law.
It is critical that Congress and the CPSC know the petition exists and that they act on it to maintain a vital form of recreation for American families, preserve youth racing and protect the thousands of jobs associated with this industry.
Please write or call your Representative and the CPSC today and ask them to approve the petition to exclude youth OHVs from the CPSIA lead content requirements.
You can send your Representative a letter by using the 'Take Action' option. To contact the CPSC directly, use their contact form by clicking here.
Thanks for the heads up on this. I didn’t realize this act was going to affect Motorcycles, ATV’s and the likes. I for one would rather see my kid ride off-road than having him hang out at the seven eleven store with his friends, where the likelihood of getting oneself into trouble is much higher.
AMA’s government relations staff has set up a
Legislative Alert at
http://www.amadirectlink.com/legisltn/rapidresponse.asp.
This system works incredibly well because it is easy for people to do (you don’t even have to be an AMA member) and it results in a letter that goes to the person’s US Representative and Senators. Letters are treated more
seriously by elected officials than phone calls and also, AMA can track them and report the totals to Congress.
Hi there,
I’m just working on my second novel for young adults. I want to write about teenagers and motorcycles, but am curious to see what’s out there on the market for teens/motorcycles first. Can you recommend any fiction books that has a teen protagonist and has something to do with motorcycles? Bookstores and libraries don’t classify young adult books this way – it’s been a lot of hunting with few results. I’m hoping you can help or know a lot of people you can ask to help.
Cheers, Nicole
inkslingingwordsmith@gmail.com or twitter: nickijoecanuck