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ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - Alachua County Fire Rescue and Alachua County 4-H have received a $3000.00 grant from the National 4-H Council to provide All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) safe riding education to youth. A teen-adult partnership team is being formed now. Interested teens, 14 as of 9/1/07, and adults can contact Alachua County Fire Rescue Public Education Coordinator Lorraine S. Williams at 384-3106 or lsw@alachuacounty.us for more information.
Using the 4-H ATV Safety curriculum, the partnership team will plan and conduct multiple ATV safety education workshopsover the next 8 months. These workshops will include interactive, hands-on and "heads-on' activities to build critical thinking and life skills, but will not include actual ATV riding. An educational session for parents will be included to inform them of the latest research on injury prevention and safe riding practices. Statistics from the www.atvsafety.gov website show that nationwide, in 2006, there were 111 youth deaths and 39,300 youth emergency room treated injuries. Many of these accidents could be lessened or avoided with appropriate education and safety practices.
Families with ATV's are encouraged to supervise their children while riding on an ATV, to provide helmets and appropriate clothing for riding, to not allow on-road riding, and to make sure the ATV is the right size for the youth.
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