AMA urges action on bipartisan letters to the Consumer Product Safety Commission

AMA urges action on bipartisan letters to the Consumer Product Safety Commission Congressional Letters Being Circulated to End Youth OHV Ban.

Contact your Senators and Representative to have them sign-on!

In the battle to maintain access to youth motorcycles and ATVs, both the US Senate and House of Representatives are circulating letters to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) asking that these vehicles be excluded from Section 101 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The Act effectively banned the sale of youth off-highway vehicles (OHVs) earlier this year due to the presence of lead in certain functional parts. The American Motorcyclist Association is encouraging all AMA members, motorized recreation enthusiasts and rights activists to contact their Senators and Representative and ask them to sign-on to the letters.

The bipartisan letters, led by Senators Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MI) and Brownback (R-KS) in the Senate and Representatives Rehberg (R-MT) and Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) in the House, are signals from Congress that they support the continued availability of youth OHVs and recognize the importance of these vehicles to family recreation and motorsports. The letters also seek to bring together all concerned elected officials, respective of their chamber, under one united bipartisan demonstration of support.

Under the law, which is administered by the CPSC, manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers are barred from making, importing, distributing or selling any product intended for children 12 and under that contains more than 600 parts per million of lead in any accessible part. Members of Congress agree that the lead content in OHVs represents no tangible threat to young riders and that the vehicles do not belong on the ban list.

The fastest way to reach your Members of Congress is to call them. You can find contact information for all of your elected officials by entering your zip code on AmericanMotorcyclist.com, clicking on "Rights," then "Issues and Legislation." Additionally, a prewritten email is available for you to send to your Members of Congress immediately.

It is imperative that the youth OHV market be restored immediately for the health of family recreation, the survival of the sport and the prosperity of an industry already suffering in a downturned economy. Please contact your Senators and Representative right away and ask them to sign-on to the youth OHV exclusion request letters today.