CAPS PaperAll-terrain vehicle riding among youth: how do they fair?
Section snippets
Participants
Eligible participants were Connecticut youth between 10 and 17 years of age attending 4 major 2007 Connecticut summer/fall agricultural fairs representing the 4 major geographic areas of the state.
Procedure
After oral informed consent, we administered a brief 35-item self-administered survey.
Measures
Survey questions from Warda et al [15] and Tormoehlen et al [16] were used to help guide the development of a more comprehensive questionnaire. We assessed item construction, comprehension, and ease of completion
Demographics
We collected 238 surveys in 4 separate summer/fall agricultural fairs. The mean age of respondents was 13.5 years and 70% were male.
Experience and ownership
The mean starting age of riding was 9.1 years. One third reported riding an ATV “a lot” and another third “often.” Most riding experience was as a driver (68%), but 14% reported experience only as a passenger, and 18% reported an equal experience as both driver and passenger. We asked the respondents if the ATV they used was their family's (32%), their own (29%),
Discussion
This study provides additional insight into youth ATV use and riding behaviors. Connecticut youth are beginning their ATV riding at a young age and riding ATVs with powerful, adult-sized engines. Furthermore, riding is frequent and mostly for recreation. Riding practices seem to vary significantly by age group, with more risky behaviors being reported by older children.
Another important finding is that risky riding behaviors such as riding without adult supervision, riding after dark, riding in
Acknowledgments
We thank Jyoti Sharma and Chris Szabo for their assistance collecting survey data and Leonard Banco, MD, for his critical review of the article.
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