Benjamin Franklin once said “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

I’m not sure that’s exact, but it’s very close and makes the point.  Life is dangerous.  Get over it.  I’m not a political blogger, actually I barely blog at all.  Sometimes however I get so frustrated with society and I have to say something.  Last month a new federal law (“Lead Law”) went into place that forbid any good that could be potentially targeted at children under 12 not contain more than 600 parts per million of lead be sold.  On the surface most of you will say this is a great idea, but what transpired is a ripple down effect into the lives of good tax paying citizens and a huge economic impact into good tax paying businesses.  Motorcycles for instance use lead in many of the hard parts that are used to build the machines.  No one has ever been injured from eating motorcycles, yet it’s now illegal to sell motorcycles, ATVs, skateboards, bicycles or any other product that may contain a certain amount of lead if it could be targeted for the youth market.

Now today, to get back on title of the post, the geniuses on the Elementary & Secondary Education Committee in the House of Representative in Illinois have decided it should be illegal to operate any off-road vehicle if you are under 16 or do not have a drivers license (click right here to see it)  First of all, shouldn’t these folks be trying to figure out how to better educate the people of Illinois and stop worrying about whether or not kids can enjoy off-road recreation?

If you are reading this and you think this actually makes sense, let me mention some of the impacts this will make if enforced.

• Shut down any business that sells off-road vehicles to youth
• Make it illegal to take your under 16 year old child hunting with you if you happen to use an ATV to reach your specific hunting area
• Make it illegal for a farmer’s child to use any type of off-road vehicle to accomplish their chores
• Force children who have a potential career as a professional in any type of off-road racing to move to another state to train and practice
• Shut down many motocross (and other) tracks in Illinois who depend on youth racing to operate
• Ruin a past time of thousand of people in Illinois who take their entire family off-road riding on the weekends
• Make it illegal for your child to ride a vehicle you spent thousands of dollars on last year if you live in Illinois
• Make it illegal to ride your off-road vehicle regardless of your age if you don’t have a drivers license
• Make it illegal to ride your ATV to your neighbors house even if you live in a very rural area
• Creates a slippery slope to ban golf carts, go karts and many other types of recreational vehicles

(sigh)

-Chris