IWK not on board ATV program for kids

The children's hospital in Halifax is urging parents not to let their children drive ATVs, even though Nova Scotia has spent $230,000 to buy machines for a safety program targeting children as young as six.

The province announced this week it has bought 66 child-sized all-terrain vehicles for training programs for children and youth up to 15 years old.

The government passed a law two years ago making such training mandatory.

But Dr. Robin Walker, vice-president of medicine at the IWK Health Centre, said that kind of training could actually have an opposite effect.

"If this program leads to children more frequently operating ATVs because then their parents think that they're now trained to do so, this program could actually increase the number of children injured and killed," Walker said.

The IWK says no child under the age of 16 should be driving an ATV.

"The evidence shows very clearly that irrespective of the size of the ATVs, this includes kiddie ATVs, children under the age of 16 are at hugely increased risk of serious injury or death when they drive ATVs," said Walker.

Premier Rodney MacDonald is defending his government's decision to buy the smaller ATVs, saying it ensures children get the training they're required to get by law.

"It's not uncommon for those vehicles to be provided in training courses," he said. "If it's an investment in safety for our young people, the government's willing to make it."

The government is spending about $230,000 on the ATVs and trailers. Taxpayers will also give $30,000 to a provincial ATV association to run the safety programs, while manufacturers are contributing another $100,000.

The law bans children under 14 from riding ATVs anywhere except on a closed course. Parents have to supervise the riders and there must be someone with advanced first-aid training standing by.