ATV safety is a big issue with me. As a father of 2 toddlers who have wheels on their feet instead of toes, and an avid off-roader and ATV owner, I'm even more sensitive to ATV safety where kids are concerned. I spend a lot of time at places like ATVSafety.gov and other sites that promote ATV safety. I also spend a lot of time scouring the web on this topic.

Lately there's been a large amount of abuse of ATV accident statistics by several groups, and un-countable news agencies. I try to point them out when I find them. I constantly see reports proclaiming an increase in ATV related accidents and injuries. What I rarely see is the other side of the statistic; the even larger increase in ATV use. That part is conveniently left out because it actually shows that accident/injury rates are going down.

Having statistical proof that it's going down is making it harder to get legislation to ban kids from ATVs outright, and that's a good thing.