Ontario doctors: ban children from all 4-wheelers

There’s a growing push in the North Country for a regional trail-system for ATVs. At the same time, we’ve reported on a number of child-fatalities this summer in Upstate New York.

Our Ottawa correspondent, Lucy Martin, forwarded me a link to this story from the CBC, in which Ontario doctors are pushing for a complete ban on 4-wheeler use by children.

A position paper by the physicians’ group said children under 14 should not be permitted to operate ATVs of any size within the province.

The OMA said youths aged 14 to 16 should only be allowed to ride vehicles that cannot exceed 30 kilometres per hour.

“As physicians, we are seeing far too many children with serious injuries caused by the use of ATVs,” Dr. Suzanne Strasberg, president of the OMA, said in a release Wednesday.