Word: atvs
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...Memorial Day weekend the invaders descended with a vengeance. Each day some 250 ATVs gathered on a stretch of the Black River near Centerville, a wide-open area of gravel bars and shallow water. The weekend warriors jousted at one another with their three- and four-wheel vehicles, running up and down the riverbed with abandon. As some ATV riders sat chugging beer on the bank, cohorts roared past at breakneck speeds, narrowly missing other vehicles. Music blasted from portable radios and car stereos, commingling with the whoops of riders and the growl of unmuffled engines. The air stank...
...ATV crowd, it was all just good fun. But for conservationists and others interested in keeping the river pristine, the Invasion is a nightmare. Many had thought a bill passed by the Missouri legislature in April would ban ATVs in the river; the new law requires riders to have a landowner's permission to ride the river. The catch is that much of the Black River is still unposted, and the law has failed to halt the nightmare. "These things destroy the ecology of the river," says Larry Koeler, a Centerville lawyer, of the ATVs. "Some drivers drain their crankcases...
...motorcycle and a dune buggy. Costing an average of $2,000, they can cruise up to 50 m.p.h. and negotiate some of the toughest terrain around, from sand dunes and rock-strewn hills to marshy lowlands. They are also exceedingly dangerous. Nearly 7,000 people are injured in ATV accidents each month, and an estimated 900 people have been killed over the past five years. Many of the victims are young children, who do not need a license to drive ATVs because they are designed for off-road use. The ATV manufacturers, which include Honda and Kawasaki, agreed...
...stern as the Government's action was, ATV critics are not satisfied. Consumer groups and some Congressmen contend that Washington should recall all of the 1.5 million three-wheel ATVs still in use in the U.S. and force manufacturers to give purchasers a refund. Says James Florio, Democratic Congressman from New Jersey: "How can anyone truly concerned with safety in effect say 'Tough luck' to people who currently own these unsafe vehicles?" Government officials defend their action, maintaining that a recall would cause a lengthy court battle...
...than seven months have passed since the Consumer Product Safety Commission declared that all-terrain vehicles -- off-road buggies with three big wheels -- "pose an imminent and unreasonable risk of death or severe personal injury." The commission asked the Justice Department to require extensive warnings and free training for ATV owners and a refund program for those wishing to return their vehicles, but the department has yet to file its case. Last week a House committee called the department's delay "baffling and unconscionable...