safety gear, use it or lose it

[carmen]

Do or don't? Safety always seems to be the main concern of new parents getting an ATV for the family or just their kids. We have always used helmets and pads but I know many people only opt for the helmet (if that). Fess up, who does not use safety gear?

[oldsarge]

Racing dirt bikes or quads definitely. If I'm out putt'n around, no. Kids are another issue though, they're bone heads and don't always listen. A simple cruise of the back forty can turn into a race. Make them wear safety equipment! I know I should lead by example but sometime you just have to draw the line. I'm not suiting up for the Grand Prix if I'm only taking a casual ride.

[mamabear]

This subject always amazes me, especially when it comes to kids and bicycles. Motorized vehicles (ATVs and dirt bikes) do need to be addressed with safety equipment. I do wonder how some of us "older" folks ever made it to adulthood without helmets, knee pads and elbow pads. Don't you?

[CozInCowtown]

I think kids should come from the factory with a plastic bubble installed.
Safety YES!!!
Not letting them have any fun, No!!
Kids get bumps, bruises and scrapes, do everything possible to keep them safe within reason but don't be over protective.
Putting a 4 year old on an ATV?? What kind of idiot.....never mind!!
14 year old on an ATV?? Go have some fun kiddo but here are the rules and I will be watching!!
JMO,
DC

[Grandpa]

How did we survive? Easy, a horse had more sense than a 4 wheeler. There was always one kid in the valley that would say "hey watch this", which gave the rest of us a clue on what to avoid. We didn't have 24/7 tv daredevil shows to watch to give us more ideas. Saturday matinee at the movies taught us guys with white hats had more bullets in their guns than the guys with the black hats. So if we wanted to avoid getting gut shot and draped over a pole corral we had to wear white hats. Falling off the roof with a fatal bullet wound while trying to defend a crook wasn't near as appealing as riding off into the sunset with a pretty girl on the horse next to ours. I had one bicycle. That bicycle was all I had. If I wanted to run with the rest of the crowd, I had to keep that bicylce in good shape. It just wasn't worth bending a wheel doing a flip because that would have me footbound the rest of the summer. So, we played baseball without batting helmets, rode bikes/horses without hard hats or any other ppe other than blue jeans with rivets to absorb the road rash.