The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will be instituting many new standards in the months to come. One of those standards concerns all terrain vehicles (ATVs), a product which has been responsible for numerous injuries and deaths - many of those affecting children.

New standards

We interviewed Sonia Hayes-Pleasant, spokesperson for the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), who explained these new standards:

A lot of new standards are being put in place - including ATVs. Most recently there's been a ban on 3-wheel ATVs as of September 13th 2008 and we are working to turn the SVIA/ANSI voluntary standards into a mandatory standard. That's going to happen around mid April of 2009. It will become mandatory 150 days after being published in the federal register.

We are also encouraging importers and manufacturers of ATVs to come up with action plans, if they do have one already on file with the agency. The statute requires that ATV manufactures and distributors file an ATV action plan and it must be approved by us by mid April 2009. So, we're definitely looking forward to making sure that ATVs are going to be safer to ride.

Yamaha Rhino being investigated

According to Hayes-Pleasant, the CPSC is also investigating the Yamaha Rhino and considering stricter regulations to make it safer as well. She told us that, "There have been a number of incidents and it is product we are looking into right now."

The CPSC is classifying the Rhino as a utility terrain vehicle (UTV) instead of an ATV. We asked Hayes-Pleasant how the two differ. She continued, "A UTV is a utility terrain vehicle with a bench seat. ATVs are the 4-wheelers and traditionally have a saddle seat. UTVs have two seats (though some have 4 or more) with seat belts and a steering wheel, whereas ATVs have handlebars."

CPSC wants to make ATVs safer for people to enjoy

The CPSC's new action plans are aimed at safety, according to Hayes-Pleasant. She explained, "Many [injuries and deaths] are preventable and we like to get out as much safety information as possible. ATVs are not toys. They are powerful and potentially dangerous vehicles. We don't want to take ATVs away from people; we just want to make them safer for people to enjoy."

To learn more about what the CPSC is doing, visit their website by clicking here.