All Expo attendees were encouraged to sign letters and send e-mails on behalf of the industry and its customers. The letters will be delivered to the Consumer Product Safety Commission today and copies will be sent to congressional leaders, urging them to support the MIC and SVIA requests for exclusion so that youth models can continue to be sold. The act is cutting off access to appropriate-sized models for children 12 and under, and ruining sales at many dealerships nationwide.

“This was just part of an all-out effort to exclude ATVs and motorcycles from this overly broad regulation,” said Paul Vitrano, general counsel for the MIC and SVIA. “For weeks, we’ve been urging the CPSC to grant our petitions and for members of Congress to support our requests. We’ve worked on a lot of media coverage and we’ll be delivering a lot of mail, from constituents nationwide, about this regulation being bad for both families and business as it pertains to the powersports industry.”

By Monday at noon, 4,390 Expo attendees had signed letters. And more letters were sent directly to representatives, via the Web site of Americans for Responsible Recreational Access (ARRA) at www.arra-access.com. Attendees also were encouraged to visit www.tomself.com, a Web site that helps users generate letters to key congressional subcommittee members. Rep. Tom Self, from the 116th District in Missouri, replaced his home page with a letter-generator to reach out to the U.S. Congress as well as state representatives and senators.

“This situation is serious and we are very concerned about an unintended consequence of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act,” Vitrano said. “With right-size models being unavailable to families, we may see more kids out on adult ATVs and we know that this leads to crashes. The CPSC, the ATV industry, consumer groups, safety advocates and parents all agree that it’s critical to keep riders under the age of 16 off of large ATVs designed for adults.”

The industry has urged the CPSC and federal legislators to take a common-sense approach to implementation of the CPSIA’s lead-content provisions and minimize the negative economic impact of the current ruling. Some products may need to be destroyed, which would result in severe hardship to manufacturers, distributors and their dealerships during a time of economic disruption.

Since 1983, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America® has promoted the safe and responsible use of All-Terrain Vehicles through rider training programs, public awareness campaigns, and state legislation. The SVIA also serves as a resource for ATV research, statistics, and vehicle standards. The SVIA, based in Irvine, Calif., is a not-for-profit trade association sponsored by Arctic Cat, BRP, CROSSRUNNER, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, KYMCO, Polaris, Suzuki, Tomberlin and Yamaha. For membership information, call (949) 727-3727. For safety information or to enroll in the ATV RiderCourse^SM nearest you, visit www.atvsafety.org and click on “Online Enrollment” or call (800) 887-2887.

The Motorcycle Industry Council exists to preserve, protect and promote motorcycling through government relations, communications and media relations, statistics and research, aftermarket programs, development of data communications standards, and activities surrounding technical and regulatory issues. It is a not-for-profit, national trade association representing manufacturers and distributors of motorcycles, scooters, motorcycle/ATV/ROV parts and accessories, and members of allied trades such as publishing companies, advertising agencies, insurance firms and consultants. The MIC is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with a government relations office adjacent to Washington, D.C. First called the MIC in 1970, the organization has been in operation since 1914.

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