I love this topic.
I worked at Kawi at the time. The government was on a witch hunt and made an appointment to come in and interview whoever was in charge of the ATV dept. Well, Kawi told me to go on vacation that day and they took the watercraft supervisor [Gary B.] who was actually an electrical engineer that originally worked in the snow mobile dept in Kawi’s Nebraska plant before it closed down, and who knew nothing about watercraft, much less ATV’s, and threw him under the bus. Our legal dept prepped him for several days on what, and what not to say, and to never mention my name and just play stupid.
The grossly misleading, one sided, TV program in the link below that was on worldwide TV, was the first time any of us at Kawi had heard publicly about any sort of big brew ha ha over injuries incurred while riding 3 wheelers, and the show was that beginning of the end for 3 wheelers. If my old brain remembers correctly, there was no interest by the gov to do anything about 3 wheelers prior to the show but the show brought the issue to their attention and they pursued it only after the show was aired.
60 MINUTES, part 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1I5DweHlnQ
60 MINUTES part 2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbptQDcLo-E
Enjoy hearing comments on the show from people that want to blame everyone and everything other then themselves, for injuries they or others might have incurred while riding a 3 wheeler.
Hear grown people [adults if you want to call them that] NOT assume responsibility for their own actions and imply things like, “Hey, even though I was required to be at least 16 years old [18 in some places now], and take 6 months of driving lessons in High School, then a written and driving test at DMV before they felt I was competent enough to drive a car on a SMOOTH flat road that is extremely UNLIKELY to tip over in a turn at ANY speed, and where I can see for MILES around AND which I "shouldn't" be suckin back a pint of Jack Daniels blue label or E85 corn gas while I drive it, I still don’t think I, or even my kids, need any training to ride an ATV simply because I and they can ride a bicycle, and an ATV has 3 wheels which is one more than a bicycle...I think, and I used to have a tricycle when I was 12…uh…I mean 5, that I rode with no problem, and even though this new ATC250R model tricycle has a 40 hp engine attached to it, it still couldn’t be that hard to run it wide open in a turn or blindly over a dune not knowing what is on the other side like maybe a cliff or another happy rider heading right at me at full throttle or maybe a truck or an ambulance that is picking up a rider that that used to think the same way I do before he went into a coma after smashing his head on his handlebars landing off a 30 foot jump while not wearing a helmet, and, because it is an off highway vehicle with no drivers license required to operate it I can pound back all the Jack I want before and during my ride.".
My favorite part of the program is where dad [who looks a bit unstable on his feet imo], while holding a beverage of some kind [must be a soda because goodness knows he is WAY to responsible to be getting H A M M A R E D in front of his kids [ESPECIALLY when he has to drive back home with them in the car in a few hours], sends his tiny kid out for what I think was their FIRST ride, UNSUPERVISED, with no USEFUL instructions whatsoever, BLINDLY, from the side of his van into oncoming traffic WITHOUT A HELMET, where the kid INSTANTLY gets mowed down by another rider. Then you hear the announcer say how dangerous 3 wheelers are and NOT that dad is a blithering idiot. It’s absolutely hilarious…I think. I must have replayed that part a dozen times in total disbelief.
Most of you here have probably gotten your foot off the peg at one time or another for some reason or another and ran your foot over and possibly got sucked off the bike in the process. Well the same thing happens with a quad also, and imo, this is one of the most common occurrences and causes of injuries on either of these bikes, at least for beginner riders, yet they still make quads. Last time I looked there seemed to be plenty of injuries from motorcycles too but they still make those too, hmmm.
I’m sure no one has EVER seen a quad or any kind of motorcycle on it’s side or upside down or has crashed on one themselves, yet I don’t remember if there is even any mention or footage of a quad or a motorcycle in the program.
Obviously riding a 3 wheeler is not as safe as sitting on ones couch, but at some point, imo, at least SOME of the responsibility for ANYTHING that happens to someone while riding, driving, flying, fishing, walking, drinking and so on, should be assumed by the person performing that particular activity.
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Originally Posted by wonderboy
...! ?. As with any words,they can be undone. But for now, sec 232 is IT. The "ban" was mostly voluntary. Yes, they would have much rather turned back the clock to mid 85 and had the good life. But Drunks and Barbara Walters wasn't gonna let that happen. I'll never forget how amped I was to milk early the night that 3 wheelers were gonna be on 20/20 !! Little did I know.......
