[Patty]: Welcome to CPSC's podcast for Tuesday, February 26th, 2008. I’m Patty Davis.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has released new data on ATV deaths and injuries. CPSC estimates that in 2005, there were 870 ATV-related deaths, continuing their increase in recent years.

CPSC’s Scott Wolfson is here to talk about what this report means.

Scott, why are ATV-related deaths on the rise?

[Scott]: We continue to see an increase in both deaths and injuries due to our concern with both the increase in ridership and the behaviors that certain young and old riders are partaking in. There are ways to ride safely and stay alive while riding.

[Patty]: At the same time, a very positive sign is that fewer children are dying on ATVs. Can you talk about that?

[Scott]: We are seeing a positive sign of those kids 6 to 15 decrease in the number of deaths and injures. But the riders age 16 to 24 are going up in terms of the number of deaths and injuries.

[Patty]: What are the top causes of ATV incidents?

[Scott]: We have seen in a special report of 100 deaths--tragic deaths—involving children that collisions is actually the number one cause of death with those kids. And rollovers is number two. So knowing your terrain, riding at the right time of day and in the right area are the keys to staying safe.

[Patty]: What do you think is behind the rise in the increase in the deaths for the ages of 16 to 24?

[Scott]: We are seeing that not only is rider ship up, but we’re in this Xbox, YouTube culture where people are riding in riskier ways. They’re out there on paved roads doing wheelies, doing different stunts. We want people to enjoy their riding experience but to do it safely.

[Patty]: What can riders do to stay safe on an ATV?

[Scott]: We believe these deaths and injuries would drop dramatically if people would stay off of paved roads, keep them in the off-road setting, strap on the helmet every time they ride, keep it as one rider on one ATV, that they never ride under the influence, and that parents put their kids on youth-model ATVs.

[Patty]: What’s CPSC doing to address the problem?

[Scott]: We’re on a two-track approach to really reduce dramatically these terrible number of deaths and injuries. Number one, we’re working on some new rules to make ATVs themselves safer. And number two, we are out there at the grassroots level advocating to parents, to young riders to really ride safe, ride smart.

[Patty]: Thanks Scott

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That’s it for this week’s CPSC podcast. Thanks for listening.

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