Making safety a priority
Increase in popularity and power of ATVs led to stricter regulations
James Bond would be impressed.
Almost half a century after the fictitious British spy wowed the world with his four-wheel moon buggy in the 1971 film “Diamonds are Forever,” ridership of all-terrain vehicles is at an all-time high.
And with the last of the winter’s snow rapidly disappearing, more and more off-road enthusiasts are hitting the province’s countless trails with their motorized, large-rubber tired vehicles with engines as large as 800 cc that can offer up to 50 horsepower, and more for modified racing ATVs.
But with the activity’s growing popularity and the machines’ more powerful engines comes the need for rules and regulations to keep riders, passengers and others safe and properties undamaged.
Former provincial cabinet minister Barry Barnet has served as the executive director of the All-Terrain Vehicle Association of Nova Scotia, an organization he says puts safety first and foremost on its list of priorities.
“We spend a lot of time and effort with public education around the safe and responsible use of ATVs and respecting neighbours and property — we continue to press the message that you have to treat these things with respect and ride safe and responsibly and follow and obey all the rules and regulations,” said Barnet, a 56-year-old resident of Lower Sackville, who was the minister of health promotion and protection in former premier Rodney MacDonald’s cabinet in 2007 when the province’s Off-highway Vehicles Act was last amended with what he describes as a “robust set of regulations.”
“We’re getting the word out, but not necessarily to everybody, but we’re continuing to send the message to drive safe
and responsible and follow the rules and regulations — there’s no guarantee you’re going to have a safe outcome, but if you do that your odds will certainly increase.”
Certainly, the statistics support Barnet’s call for prioritizing safety.
One American study indicated that as many as 12,000 people died in ATV accidents in the United States over a 30year period. The Canadian Institute of Health Information released figures that show ATV accidents are responsible for
more hospital visits in Atlantic Canada than any other sporting activity, whereas across the country, cycling crashes resulted in a greater percentage of hospitalizations.
There are approximately 35,000 all-terrain vehicles registered in Nova Scotia, with at least two people estimated to have access to each machine. Along with recreational riders, many companies employ the use of ATVs for work in rural and remote areas.