As many families are packing up trailers and looking forward to heading into the great outdoors this long weekend, there is a call for children under 16 to be banned from driving ATVs.

The Canadian Paediatric Society is calling for the strict regulations.  The society says every year, 447 children under the age of 15 are admitted to hospitals for injuries suffered in all-terrain vehicle accidents, and the number continues to rise.

“ATVs pose a high risk of injury to children and youth,” says Dr. Natalie Yanchar, Chair of the CPS Injury Prevention Committee and the statement’s author. “Kids don’t have the knowledge or strength to operate these vehicles safely. Their lack of sound judgement when encountering a potentially dangerous situation and tendency toward risk-taking only adds to the danger.”

In Alberta, children under 14 can operate an ATV while under the supervision of an adult.

“Provincial and territorial governments need to play a bigger role in regulating and legislating ATVs,” says Dr. Yanchar, a paediatric surgeon at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax. “ATV injuries and fatalities are far too common. Unsafe behaviours, like taking passengers and driving without a helmet, need to be stopped.”