This is the tough question that parents must face when purchasing a kids youth ATV. Is it safe for my child to ride an ATV? Like anything else there are certain risks involved and elements of danger. A bicycle is dangerous and can cause injury, a skateboard, a trampoline and even walking to school. Parents tell their children to ride a helmet when riding a bike and staying on the bike path and away from cars. This is how parents manage risk and minimize injury The same approach needs to be followed with ATV riding.

First, buy an appropriate sized ATV. Extreme Motor Sales has ATV's from 50cc - 110cc for youth ATVs. All too often parent's want to buy an ATV that is too powerful and too large for children. The reason they give?, "I want him or her to grow into that ATV so I don't have to buy another so soon". Extreme Motor Sales' ATV's are so reasonably priced that you can purchase a 50cc ATV for $600.00. Allow your child to learn how to ride on a size appropriate ATV or Dirt Bike and once they have mastered the mechanics for safe ATV quad riding ,move them up in size. Small ATV's hold their resale value and you will be able to recoup those costs while keeping your child safe. Most ATV's come with fantastic safety features to keep your child safe while learning to ride such as throttle limiters or governors', which is a small screw attached to the throttle box that allows you to limit the speed of the quad ATV. Tighten the screw down and the ATV can be slowed down to a maximum of 5 MPH, loosen it to increase the speed as the child becomes more experienced. Also available are ATVs with remote controls, the remote allows you to start, stop and set an audible alarm on the ATV. If the child is driving towards a dangerous area and you want them to stop, you don't have to yell or chase them down, just hit the stop button also known as remote kill switch and the engine shuts off and the ATV comes to a gradual stop. Another safety feature are foot wells, which are foot guards that connect from the front wheel fender to the rear wheel fender, that prevent children from putting their feet down and getting tangled in with the wheels. Remember the old 3-wheelers, they only had foot pegs, and if you put your foot down the rear wheel could and did run over them causing injury. Not the case any more.

Next, think safety gear. Use a recommended, quality dot, Department of Transportation approved helmet. Our dot youth helmets start at $60.00. Often heard…."What is the cheapest ATV helmet that you have?" Don't make the same mistake, spend the money on a good helmet now and keep your child safe forever. You can get complete gear packages including helmet, goggles, chest protector, boots, jersey, pants and gloves for $299.99. Extreme Motor Sales has the RSVP program, which is Ride Safely Value Program that gives you an extra 10% off youth gear purchases when purchasing a youth ATV. Purchase the safety gear and enforce the rules of wearing safety gear while riding or no riding at all. If you do not reinforce the importance of safety then your child will not either.

Finally, an ATV is not a babysitter or a way to keep your child busy while you do other things. Children must be supervised by an adult at all times. There is no substitute for adult supervision to keep children safe while riding. Do not allow kids to ride passengers at any time. If you are not familiar with proper ATV riding there are local groups that provide ATV safety courses.

Ride Safe, Ride Smart and Ride Forever.

Parent's, ATV quad riding is a great self-esteem booster, a healthy way to exercise and a great leverage tool for say keeping grades up. We at http://www.ExtremeMotorSales.com believe that ATVriding is a sport that all children and families can and should enjoy.