Banned ATC

[redryder]

Just who exactly banned the 3 wheelers? Guys I work with talk about how these bikes are banned and how dangerous they are. I was just wanting some facts so I can have a well reasoned arguement with them.
Who banned three wheelers?
Are thee wheelers more dangerous than four wheelers?
Somebody on these forums has a signature that states "More people were killed on 4 wheelers the first year after the ban than were killed on 3 wheelers before the ban."
Is that a true statement?
Thanks for any info.

[SYKO]

umm.....so where you hiding under a rock for the last 20 years or what?? just do a search for the cspc

[84honda200s]

trikes were only banned from production and from being imported/ sold in the us by dealers i believe. it all went down in 1987 i think it was. this "ban" was only supposed to be for 10 years. it was put in effect by the cpsc. they can be dangerous if there is a total moron driving it (just like a quad). anything is dangerous if someone is careless and reckless. yes as far as i know the statement you made "More people were killed on 4 wheelers the first year after the ban than were killed on 3 wheelers before the ban." is true from what i herd.

[atc4everbob]

Not that I'm a physics geek or anything, but yes, 3 wheelers are considered more dangerous than 4 wheelers. The main reason is because 3 wheelers can tip left or right easier than a quad. Quads have the stability of the additional wheel in the front. But, for us guys that grew up on 3 wheels, we know what we can get by with and what we can't. Most die-hard quad riders don't like the less-stable 3 wheelers and are quick to bad mouth them. But for those of us who started out on them, YEAH BABY, I'll take a 3 wheeler please!!! It's all in the eyes of the beholder. The last post was a good point. There are idiots everywhere that ruin things for everybody. Look at it this way, a gun is totally harmless until picked up by hands. Then it becomes potentially dangerous depending upon who's holding it.

[BigRedRunner]

We need a F.A.Q. on the main page that gives the history of how the consent degree went down.

[ATC-Eric]

The ban did only last 10 years, its just that Honda and the boys werent stupid enough to try another go at it. With the amount of lawsuits settlements that were won, I'd almost be suprised to hear Honda didnt make a thing off of trikes.

[Mobular]

Just who exactly banned the 3 wheelers?

In the mid eighties, the Japanese companies producing the trikes that we all love, agreed to cease production of them under threat of a, or multiple, lawsuits. There was no "ban"! Besides, at that time all manufacturers were well underway with quad production, so they simply turned their efforts towards those without skipping a beat and avoiding very expensive legal fees. With that said, no one has "banned" trikes, well, except maybe racing organizations, riding parks and a few repair shops, but they are simply showing their ignorance and buying into the great myth of trike "instability".

[redryder]

We are getting closer to some good info!

[84honda200s]

here read this the whole entire thing. it will answer most if not all your questions.

http://www.3wheelerworldforums.com/s...ad.php?t=68925

[Mobular]

here read this the whole entire thing. it will answer most if not all your questions.

http://www.3wheelerworldforums.com/s...ad.php?t=68925

The above link(s) address the situation concerning the currently available trikes coming from Asia. I do believe that the OP was asking about the original action taken during the mid 80s. There was one tidbit that is applicable to this and here it is:


ATVs were first available in this country in the early 1970's, and
became increasingly popular in the early 1980's. With their rise in
popularity, the number of ATV-related incidents also rose. On May 31,
1985, the Commission published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking
(``ANPR'') stating the Commission's safety concerns and outlining
options the Commission was considering to address ATV-related hazards.
50 FR 23139. In 1987, the Commission filed a lawsuit under section 12
of the CPSA against the five companies that were major ATV distributors
at that time to declare ATVs an imminently hazardous consumer product,
see 15 U.S.C. 2061(b)(1).\2\ The lawsuit was settled by Consent Decrees
filed on April 28, 1988 that were effective for ten years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\2\ The five distributors were American Honda Motor Co., Inc.,
American Suzuki Motor Corp., Polaris Industries, L.P., Yamaha Motor
Corp., USA, and Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA. In 1996, Arctic Cat,
Inc. began manufacturing ATVs and entered into an Agreement and
Action Plan with the Commission in which the company agreed to take
substantially the same actions as required under the Consent
Decrees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. The Consent Decrees

In the Consent Decrees, the distributors agreed to: (1) Halt the
distribution of three-wheel ATVs, (2) attempt ``in good faith'' to
devise a voluntary performance standard satisfactory to the Commission....etc...........


3. ATV Action Plans/Letters of Undertaking

The Consent Decrees expired in April 1998. The Commission entered
into voluntary ``Action Plans,'' also known as ``Letters of
Undertaking'' or ``LOUs,'' with eight major ATV distributors (the five
who had been parties to the Consent Decrees, plus Arctic Cat, Inc.,
Bombardier, Inc. and Cannnondale Corporation, which no longer makes
ATVs) See 63 FR 48199 (summarizing Action Plans).\4\ Except for
Bombardier's, all of the Action Plans took effect in April 1998 at the
expiration of the Consent Decrees. (Bombardier's took effect in 1999
when the company began selling ATVs.) The companies agreed to continue
many of the actions the Consent Decrees had required concerning the age
recommendations, point of sale information (i.e., warning labels,
owners manuals, hang tags, safety alerts, and safety video),
advertising and promotional materials, training, and stopping
distribution of three-wheeled ATVs.


\3\ In the FR notice, the Commission noted that it
``specifically reserved its rights under the consent decrees to
institute certain enforcement or rulemaking proceedings in the
future.'' 54 FR 1407.

[redryder]

That was some good reading! Thanks

[hazard]

in my opinion i think the press and media have alot to do with it, everything gets blown out of proportion with news and politics, crap like that, theres some story on the news every night with some mother of some dumb kid ( no affence to mothers) ranting and raving about how her kid got hurt or killed because of some product (atv, car, swimming pool, faulty recliner, i bad pillow that somehow accidentaly suffocated him.... etc etc you get the point) then the whole sitituation get blown up and its on every tv channel and its the talk of the nation for a while then they have to ban something because of a MISTAKE A FLUKE, SOMETHING THAT JUST HAPPENED FOR A STUPID REASON nobody was even at fault but someone has to get the blame, usually manufacturers, then people like you and me who are well rounded and use or heads for something other than a hat rack get pissed because what we used to get alot of enjoyment from is banned, if stupid *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* could stay out of the media i am 100% sure we wouldnt have this problem, all it takes is some common sense, teach kids to be smart, listen to them and what they have to say so they dont rebel against everything, a little common sense goes along ways but to some people that is just too far out of reach and who gets the blame and the crap end of the deal, GOOD PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME again thats just my opinion and i hope i didnt affend anyone who reads this.

[torker]

Aaaaleluuuuuyahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


To what he said...

TORKER.

[350xBomb]

in my opinion i think the press and media have alot to do with it, everything gets blown out of proportion with news and politics, crap like that, theres some story on the news every night with some mother of some dumb kid ( no affence to mothers) ranting and raving about how her kid got hurt or killed because of some product (atv, car, swimming pool, faulty recliner, i bad pillow that somehow accidentaly suffocated him.... etc etc you get the point) then the whole sitituation get blown up and its on every tv channel and its the talk of the nation for a while then they have to ban something because of a MISTAKE A FLUKE, SOMETHING THAT JUST HAPPENED FOR A STUPID REASON nobody was even at fault but someone has to get the blame, usually manufacturers, then people like you and me who are well rounded and use or heads for something other than a hat rack get pissed because what we used to get alot of enjoyment from is banned, if stupid *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* could stay out of the media i am 100% sure we wouldnt have this problem, all it takes is some common sense, teach kids to be smart, listen to them and what they have to say so they dont rebel against everything, a little common sense goes along ways but to some people that is just too far out of reach and who gets the blame and the crap end of the deal, GOOD PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME again thats just my opinion and i hope i didnt affend anyone who reads this.

Can you say "60 minutes?" They ran a show back in the 80's that completely slandered three-wheelers and became a driving force toward the decree.

[deathman53]

I deal with this all the time, where I ride people think I'm riding an "illegal" machine and that the cops can come and take it way, stuff like that. Its ignorance to common sense rules and most of the people who do this, ride their quads like they are couches, not moving thier body around, leaning alot into turns, sitting on the back of the seat and popping the clutch with and going nearly wot, stupid stuff like that. The 16-20 yr olds are the WROST they brag to no end about their quads and when they see a trike, they automaticly assume, that they are very dangerous, since they never seen one and get real coc**y about their quads and how they are "far more advacnced technology" than the trikes are. The only thing that is more advanced is the front suspension, rear suspension didn't go too far in the last 20 years. Most of the rear suspensions now are comparable to 85/86 atc250r and its close cousin 86-89 trx250r.