The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) has announced its support for, and urged quick passage of, the “Enhancing CPSC Authority and Discretion Act of 2011” (ECADA). The discussion draft of the bill, released by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), would end the ban on youth-sized all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles and snowmobiles caused by the unintended consequences of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

In a May 11 letter to Rep. Bono Mack, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, Paul Vitrano, MIC general counsel, wrote, “While we continue to believe that the best way to ensure the continued availability of youth off-highway vehicles is to categorically exclude them from the lead content provisions, this proposed legislation, if enacted as drafted, would provide welcome relief and improve safety.”

The MIC letter stated that, since its enactment in 2008, CPSIA has effectively banned the sale of age-appropriate youth off-highway vehicles.  As a result, the act has actually created unsafe situations for young riders by reducing the availability of appropriate-sized, speed-restricted youth models.

“ATVs and motorcycles do not present any lead-related health risk to young riders, and Congress has made it clear that it never intended the lead content restrictions and testing requirements for toys to apply to these vehicles,” Vitrano noted in the letter.

The MIC also endorsed the bill’s common sense changes to the Public Database to create a more useful database with accurate and relevant information for consumers.

For more information about the Motorcycle Industry Council, visit www.mic.org.