Final Push to Stop the Ban on Youth Motorcycles and ATVs Begins this Week

BLUERIBBON COALITION PARTNER ALERT!
Final Push to Stop the Ban on Youth Motorcycles and ATVs Begins this Week
Dear BRC members, supporters and action alert subscribers,
Two years ago the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
implemented a new law, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
(CPSIA), regulating lead content in certain products including youth
model all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles and snowmobiles.
As a result, the CPSC initiated a ban on youth model OHVs.
Both the American Motorcyclists Association (AMA
) and the Motorcycle Industry
Council (MIC ) have been working with state,
local and other national groups on a fix. Today we have two action
items from each organization to recommend to our members to help fight
this unfair ban.
On January 25, Representative Denny Rehberg
(MT)
introduced H.R. 412, the Kids Just Want to Ride Act of 2011, which
would exempt kids’ off-highway vehicles (OHVs) from the Consumer
Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 that effectively bans
their sale beginning December 31, 2011. H.R. 412 is the most promising
and viable legislative remedy available to permanently exclude
kid-sized motorcycles and ATVs from the unintended consequences of the
CPSIA.
The AMA and others are strongly supporting this bipartisan effort and
are urging everyone who is concerned with the future of youth riding
to contact his or her representative and ask them to cosponsor H.R.
412, the Kids Just Want to Ride Act of 2011. For an easy email action
item and more info please go here
.
The Motorcycle Industry Council, who has been at the forefront in the
effort to encourage the CPSC modify their regulations, has sent out a
call to action for enthusiast and everyone in the powersports
community to help. We’ve pasted MIC’s Media Release below. Please,
take a minute; read it over and then Take Action.
Thanks in advance for your efforts,
Brian Hawthorne                                Ric Foster
Public Lands Policy Director              Public Lands Department Manager
BlueRibbon Coalition                         BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102                       208-237-1008 ext 107

Motorcycle Industry Council
Media Relations
(949) 727-4211, ext. 3027
The Final Push to Stop the Ban on Youth Motorcycles and ATVs
Begins this Week
Congressional Hearing to Review CPSIA; Grassroots Advocacy
at the 2011 Dealernews International Powersports Dealer Expo
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 14, 2011 – Two years of persistent efforts by
powersports enthusiasts, dealers and other industry representatives
have driven Congress to action. On February 17, the U.S. House of
Representatives Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade will
hold a hearing to review the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
(CPSIA). The Motorcycle Industry Council continues to focus Congress’
attention on the unintended ban on youth model ATVs and motorcycles
resulting from the CPSIA’s lead content provisions – and the safety
risks that the ban presents to youth riders – and has submitted a
letter 
for the hearing.
“Congress knows that the risk to children comes from banning youth
models, not from the lead in metal parts, and there now is a will to
solve this problem once and for all,” said Paul Vitrano, MIC’s general
counsel. “We urge Congress to stop the ban by either lowering the age
range of ‘children’s products’ to age 6 and under or granting a
categorical exemption for youth ATVs and motorcycles, as provided in
Representative Denny Rehberg’s bill, H.R. 412.”
MIC has issued a video call to action
urging
the powersports community to make a final push to encourage their
Congressional representatives to amend the CPSIA to ensure youth ATVs
and motorcycles remain available. “The timing of this hearing is
perfect,” Vitrano added. “With much of the industry gathering in
Indianapolis this week for the Dealer Expo, we have a tremendous
opportunity to flood Capitol Hill with hand-signed letters and
electronic messages asking our Representatives and Senators to stop
the ban.”
Enthusiasts can use the portal on www.stopthebannow.com  to send an
electronic message to their Members of Congress as well as the members
of the House and Senate committees with oversight of the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission. MIC also will again work the floor at the
Dealer Expo to gather thousands of signatures on letters to
Congressional leadership. For those not attending the show, the
letters are available on www.stopthebannow.com.
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 industry association representing
manufacturers and distributors of motorcycles, scooters,
motorcycle/ATV/ROV parts and accessories, and members of allied trades
such as insurance, finance and investment firms, media companies and
consultants.
The MIC is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with a government
relations office in metropolitan Washington, D.C. First called the MIC
in 1970, the organization has been in operation since 1914. Visit the
MIC at www.mic.org.

# # #

The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national recreation group that champions
responsible recreation, and encourages individual environmental
stewardship. With members in all 50 states, BRC is focused on building
enthusiast involvement with organizational efforts through membership,
outreach, education, and collaboration among recreationists.
1-800-BlueRib – www.sharetrails.org

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