Bills to require helmets and place age and passenger restrictions on riders of all-terrain vehicles are expected to be introduced when the Mississippi Legislature convenes the 2010 session on Jan. 5.

State Rep. Dannie Reed, R-Ackerman, weeks ago announced plans to file a bill that would require drivers on public land to wear a crash helmet, set a minimum age on drivers and limit how many can ride.

State Rep. Alex Monsour, R-Vicksburg, said Wednesday he would support restrictions on ATVs as they relates to younger children, but more statistic-gathering is needed before guidelines are adopted for adults. Monsour’s district includes much of non-municipal Warren County, where the most developed subdivisions often abut vast stretches of undeveloped land. 

“Enforcement is a problem,” said Monsour, who said that’s the main issue he’s heard from the Department of Public Safety. “They don’t have a definition of what the ticket would be.” The vehicles are designed for off-road use, most often on private land and well out of the sight of any state official who would enforce legal requirements.

ATVs come in at least two designs. Four-wheelers are the most common, steered with handlebars by a driver who sits on a saddle seat above the engine. The class also encompasses designs that appear more like golf carts. They include steering wheels and passenger seats.

Most four-wheelers carry manufacturers’ recommendations against any passengers and caution they should not be driven by young people, at least young people who have not undergone safety classes. Helmets are also recommended.

No four-wheelers and few, if any, ATVs are “street legal” under Mississippi law, which restricts use of any motorized vehicle on any public road that is not one for which registration and purchase of a license tag is required.

In recent public statements, Reed has cited figures from the state Department of Health showing 29 deaths and 1,500 traumatic injuries from ATV accidents in Mississippi in 2008. There have been two ATV-related deaths in Warren County this year.

A report in 2008 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission showed 8,995 ATV-related deaths were reported nationwide between 1982 and 2007, with 271 in Mississippi.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com