CPSC Sets New Rules for ATVs

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued new standards for four-wheel all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) covering a variety of equipment and configuration issues including the maximum speed capability for ATVs and youth ATVs and the configuration of service and parking brakes. It also sets rules on the vehicle's pitch stability and sound level limits. ATVs will be required to have a certification label showing that they comply with the new standards. The CPSC first began investigating ATVs in 1987, when it filed a lawsuit against the five major ATV distributors in the U.S., seeking to declare the vehicles an imminently hazardous consumer product. ATV makers and sellers have until April to comply with the CPSC's final rule, published in the Federal Register on Friday. Before that date, manufacturers and distributors must provide the commission with an ATV action plan describing how they will implement the new safety rules.