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Hold your horses. Before we get to the fun and exciting part about ATV riding, remember, safety always comes first.
ATV RIDING SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
As with all mechanized vehicles, safety is something that should never be overlooked – never. And so, before you go zipping off into the woods, here are a few ATV riding safety measures you should take to ensure that your excitement doesn’t end up in excruciating pain.
No, I don’t mean changing gears up on your ATV, I mean you need
to wear the right protective clothing. Protective clothing not only protects you from harm in case of an eventuality but it is essential in guaranteeing a smooth ride.
Picture riding your ATV at a high speed and a fly hits your eye
or a small stone hitting your bare hands. If that has never happened to you, trust me when I say it can be an experience you’ll never forget.
That is why you need to don protective clothing such as
helmets, gloves, boots, and clothing that covers every part of your body.
No matter how tempting it may be to carry your friend along on
your 1-man ATV, fight the temptation with everything you’ve got. ATVs are specially designed to distribute weight and maintain a delicate balance of weight.
In simple terms, they a have a center of gravity that can
easily be upset. Overloading your ATV will make it unstable and increase the risk of accidents and injury.
You also need to know the carrying capacity of your ATV before
thinking of adding extra weight. But as a general rule of thumb, if your ATV was designed for one rider, never pick up passengers.
As much as ATV riding is fun and relatively safe, riders under 16 must always be supervised by an adult. The reason is simple – an ATV is not a toy and can cause grievous bodily harm or serious damage to property if care is not taken to use it properly. No matter how skilled your teen or kids may be, always have an adult supervise them as they ride.
This safety precaution cannot be overemphasized enough. All limbs must be kept exactly where they are supposed to be, even in the event of an accident. Most injuries on ATVs occur when the rider tries to jump off or brace themselves for a fall by sticking their hands or legs out.
Don’t.
ATVs are designed in such a way that if they lose their balance, the vehicle will touch the ground before you do. Trying to break a fall with your limbs will result in nothing more than broken limbs.
As with all kinds of machinery, riding an ATV under the influence of alcohol or some other substance is a sure recipe for disaster. And
if you are taking medication that affects your mental stability, the same rule applies.
Drugs and alcohol impair your judgment and negatively impact
your reaction times, making you a risk to yourself and anyone else who will be unfortunate to be in your path. Awesome!
These are just some of the basic safety precautions and
measures you need to take in order to have an exciting and fun time as you ride your ATV. There are many more and you would do well to participate in some ATV safety workshops wherever you can find them.
Now on to what we are both here for – ATV riding fun tips. Here
are 6 easy to implement ways of spicing up your ATV riding so as to avoid the boredom associated with monotony.