Last month, less than a week after an Irmo teenager died from injuries suffered when his ATV crashed, the South Carolina Legislature finally passed a law requiring anyone under age 16 to take a safety course and wear a helmet while riding an ATV.
The new law allows exceptions for children on family farms, children hunting or children under the direct supervision of a parent or guardians.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Harry Ott of St. Matthews, previously passed both houses in the legislature twice but was vetoed both times by then-Gov. Mark Sanford. The House concurred with a Senate amendment on April 28 and sent the bill to Gov. Nikki Haley, who had said she would sign it.
Known as Chandler’s Law, the legislation was named after Chandler Saylor, a 16-year-old Swansea High School student who died in an ATV accident in 2003. Ott attended Saylor’s funeral and made a commitment to his parents that he would introduce the safety legislation. Until now, South Carolina was one of only six states that did not have an ATV law.
“We’re not trying to infringe on anybody’s rights,” Ott said. “We just think if you put children on an ATV unsupervised, we should at least put a helmet and eye glass on them.”
The action by both the House and Senate came just days after Daniel Beckwith, 14, was killed when his Artic Cat ATV struck a tree. Another teenager riding with him was seriously injured. Neither teen reportedly was wearing a helmet.
While the Saylors did not get as strict a bill as they wanted, they were pleased with the outcome.
“It has the things we felt were important from the very beginning — the training, the helmets, the supervision,” Pam Saylor said.
The bill makes it illegal for a parent to allow a child aged five or younger to operate an ATV, requires that children ages 6 to 15 take a safety course before operating an ATV and requires children 6 to 15 to wear helmets while operating an ATV. Also, anyone 15 or younger driving an ATV on public land must be accompanied by an adult.
Children on a family farm would not be required to wear a helmet to ride from one end of a field to another on an ATV. Any child could use an ATV to get to deer stands or duck blinds. And children ages 6 to 15 could skip the training classes as long as they ride on private property within visual supervision of their parents or guardians.
There were 116 ATV-related deaths in all age groups in South Carolina from 1982 to 2008, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, 63 children 16 or younger have died in ATV accidents in the state in the last 10 years.
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