YOUTH A.T.V.'S AND MOTORCYCLES BANNED WE NEED YOUR HELP ! ! ! !

[Makin Trax]

ATVRIDERS PLEASE HELP. WE ARE A LARGE GROUP WITH A HUGE VOICE. PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE AND HELP!!!



Here is a letter about the CPSC & lead based products that you all have probably heard about by now. The link at the bottom of the email didn't seem to work. If you go to http://www.tomself.com and fill in your name and hit enter, it automatically sends an email in your name..Please do it, it takes 10 seconds.



Thanks,









URGENT: Call to Action from MX Sports





Dear Industry Leaders, Racers, Fans and Enthusiasts,



Yesterday, a law went into effect prohibiting the sale of minicycles to children under the age of 13 as a result of the lead content in the machines (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, Title I, Section 101). This law, which arguably applies to both motorcycles and ATVs, treats any children's product that contains more lead than the limit established by law as a banned hazardous substance.



We have already begun to experience the devastating consequences of this new legislation upon our sport, as OEMs have already pulled these machines from their showroom floors. Youth racing is the foundation of our sport. That is when most of you fell in love with motorcycles in the first place, only to grow up to bring your own kids back to the racetracks. Only now, they can't ride.



On behalf of MX Sports (Loretta Lynn's), Racer Productions (GNCC), and ATVPG (ATV Amateur Nationals), we are extremely concerned with the short- and long-range effects of this new legislation, as the first rounds in all of our various series are less than two weeks away, and all include classes for youth racers under the age of 13. But it's not just our events - WORCS, NMA, Mini Os, SETRA, etc., are all adversely impacted.



It is our opinion that the new law is inapplicable to off-highway motorsports, as neither motorcycles nor ATVs have the potential for ingestion, and lead from motorcycles is not likely to be absorbed into the bloodstream or present a health hazard. Let's face it - when was the last time someone swallowed a motorcycle? Any other interpretation would be silly. Be that as it may, the law will continue to adversely affect our industry unless and until an exemption is granted.



Presently, there is a petition for an immediate temporary exemption pending before the Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC") filed by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) on behalf of the OEMs, distributors, and industry associations. This petition, if granted, would enable our industry to move forward this racing season while the applicability of the law to the off-highway industry is determined.



What can you do?



A form letter for submission to the CPSC in support of the petition for exemption is attached as prepared by the MIC. The letter will also be available this weekend at the Indy tradeshow. Simply print out one copy for each person in your family and submit it ASAP. In the meantime, AMA is preparing a letter for submission by its membership to the CPSC. Be on the lookout for that one as well.



Also, an electronic form letter has been prepared by State Representative Tom Self of Missouri. Please go his website at www.tomself.com. Just fill in your name and address and hit "Submit" to register your support. Please submit this letter on behalf of every member of your family - regardless of age.



What else can you do?



Contact your congressmen and senators; let them know that this legislation will have the unintended consequences of crippling an entire industry. Surely, it could not have been the spirit or intent of the new law to apply to motorcycles or bicycles (which apparently have lead in the brake cables).



Time is of the essence. The very future of our sport and of our industry depends on this. We must support the pending petition before the commencement of the national racing season.



Please give this matter your immediate attention, and forward this letter to EVERY PERSON available ASAP.



Thank you,





THIS WAS COPIED FROM ANOTHER SITE BUT AS A MOTORSPORTS ACTIVE FAMILY WE ARE ASKING HERE FOR YOUR HELP. I COULD NOT EVEN BUY A HELMET FOR MY SON TODAY AS IT TOO IS PART OF THE BAN. PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION ABOVE THANK YOU ! !

 

[Makin Trax]

HERE IS A COPY OF THE BAN



Here's the latest on the ban.



http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09115.html



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 30, 2009

Release #09-115

CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772

CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908





CPSC Grants One Year Stay of Testing and Certification Requirements for Certain Products



WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously (2-0) to issue a one year stay of enforcement for certain testing and certification requirements for manufacturers and importers of regulated products, including products intended for children 12 years old and younger. These requirements are part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which added certification and testing requirements for all products subject to CPSC standards or bans.



Significant to makers of children�_s products, the vote by the Commission provides limited relief from the testing and certification requirements which go into effect on February 10, 2009 for new total lead content limits (600 ppm), phthalates limits for certain products (1000 ppm), and mandatory toy standards, among other things. Manufacturers and importers large and small of children�_s products will not need to test or certify to these new requirements, but will need to meet the lead and phthalates limits, mandatory toy standards and other requirements.



The decision by the Commission gives the staff more time to finalize four proposed rules which could relieve certain materials and products from lead testing and to issue more guidance on when testing is required and how it is to be conducted.



The stay will remain in effect until February 10, 2010, at which time a Commission vote will be taken to terminate the stay.



The stay does not apply to:



Four requirements for third-party testing and certification of certain children�_s products subject to:

The ban on lead in paint and other surface coatings effective for products made after December 21, 2008;

The standards for full-size and non full-size cribs and pacifiers effective for products made after January 20, 2009;

The ban on small parts effective for products made after February 15, 2009; and

The limits on lead content of metal components of children�_s jewelry effective for products made after March 23, 2009.

Certification requirements applicable to ATV�_s manufactured after April 13, 2009.

Pre-CPSIA testing and certification requirements, including for: automatic residential garage door openers, bike helmets, candles with metal core wicks, lawnmowers, lighters, mattresses, and swimming pool slides; and

Pool drain cover requirements of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act.

The stay of enforcement provides some temporary, limited relief to the crafters, children�_s garment manufacturers and toy makers who had been subject to the testing and certification required under the CPSIA. These businesses will not need to issue certificates based on testing of their products until additional decisions are issued by the Commission. However, all businesses, including, but not limited to, handmade toy and apparel makers, crafters and home-based small businesses, must still be sure that their products conform to all safety standards and similar requirements, including the lead and phthalates provisions of the CPSIA.



Handmade garment makers are cautioned to know whether the zippers, buttons and other fasteners they are using contain lead. Likewise, handmade toy manufacturers need to know whether their products, if using plastic or soft flexible vinyl, contain phthalates.



The stay of enforcement on testing and certification does not address thrift and second hand stores and small retailers because they are not required to test and certify products under the CPSIA. The products they sell, including those in inventory on February 10, 2009, must not contain more than 600 ppm lead in any accessible part. The Commission is aware that it is difficult to know whether a product meets the lead standard without testing and has issued guidance for these companies that can be found on our web site.



The Commission trusts that State Attorneys General will respect the Commission's judgment that it is necessary to stay certain testing and certification requirements and will focus their own enforcement efforts on other provisions of the law, e.g. the sale of recalled products.



Please visit the CPSC Web site at www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html for more information on all of the efforts being made to successfully implement the CPSIA.



Statements on this vote by Acting Chairman Nancy Nord and Commissioner Thomas H. Moore are in portable document format (PDF).



---



Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.



To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC's web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

 

[Bill V]

It's basically the same ban that was threating to close down second-hand clothing stores and even garage sales nationwide, as it would have made it illegal for anyone to sell any childrens garment without first doing a lead test on each and every item.



They wised up and rewrote things to allow those to continue, and I suspect it won't be long before the same thing happens here.

 

[Sean M 2]

Letter sent.

 

[Kerry Matthews]

I was reading a post about this on a karting forum. First off, kids on dirt bikes are wearing safety gear, (helmet body armor, riding gear, gloves, boots, etc...) so how are they supposed to 'absorb' the lead? Gimme a freakin' break!!! Doesn't the government have better things to do? Like get a workable budget passed? More needless government interference within our lives.

 

[Tom Schindler]

First off, kids on dirt bikes are wearing safety gear, (helmet body armor, riding gear, gloves, boots, etc...) so how are they supposed to 'absorb' the lead?

Call me stupid, but why is there lead on the ATV in the first place?





Tom

 

[Bill V]

Among other places, it's in the battery. Certain other springs and coils also use lead.

 

[Makin Trax]

Lead is in the control cables valve stems battery cables not ON the ATV so to speak it's just another stupid law that will cause more harm than good. You are not going to stop kids from riding , they will now be riding machines to large and powerfull for their experience which is why the mini quads were made in the first place. thanks for those who have sent letters and for those that have not I would ask why but to each there own, common sense just ins't that common anymore :huh:

 

[Makin Trax]

bump

 

[Gerald Pierce]

done....

 

[Chad Merry]

I wonder how much money was wasted on this stupid, idiotic ban. Dont these fricking tree hugging idiots realize kids ride the motorcycles, they dont eat them!!!!

 

[Bill V]

Chad, those "fricking tree hugging idiots" have saved many, many lives through its actions since it was formed in 1972. Many of the safety precautions in place on all sorts of items, which we now consider standard and logically necessary, were brought about thanks to the actions of the CPSC. I agree fully that in this particular case, the implementation of this action was not properly thought out, and was applied to products it shouldn't have been. But far and wide, the benefits we have gained as consumers because of the CPSC and its actions over the years far outweigh the typically-temporary headaches like this which have occasionally occurred as a result.