Remaining Safe On Powersport Vehicles
Some of the best powersport athletes in the world were in Superior stressing helmet safety
SUPERIOR, Wis.- Some of the best athletes in motorsports and powersports were in Superior Thursday stressing the concerns of being safe on off-road vehicles.
One out of every five all-terrain vehicles fatalities is under the age of 16, 90% of those a child wasn’t wearing a helmet, and 95% percent of them didn’t have a safety certification.
Which is why, Superior Middle School hosted a helmet safety event Thursday were students and people in the community learned about proper helmet fit and safety.
Superior native, Kristen Almer brings in 30 years of knowledge in powersports. Her 11-year-old nephew died in an ATV crash in 2013. He wasn’t wearing a helmet.
“If we can just teach children to put a helmet on their head and we can teach them the importance of safety certification, we know we are going to safe lives. Plain and simple” said Almer, Co-Founder of ‘Let’s Ride Powersport Safety Program’.
Kids got the opportunity to meet star powersport athletes like Hubert Rowland of Nitro Circus and even 13 time X Game Gold Medalist, and Minnesota’s own Levi LeVallee, both of which shared their thoughts on making sure those of all ages remain safe.
“So the biggest message I am trying to bring to the kids in the area of Superior is power sports safety. Use your helmets, be safety certified to operate your machines because the safer you are, the more likely you are to get back up and try again”, said Rowland.
“And I think when you tell those kids it’s literally one guy had a seatbelt on and the other one didn’t in a UTV, and the one that didn’t passed away, it really drives it home that this is important. This is a very important thing and we have to take this seriously”, said LaVallee.
And as a thank you to Douglas County for hosting this event, they were gifted a one-of-a-kind helmet from Factory Racing Inc.
“Just to bring this sort of recognition to Douglas County, that is a recreation county. We have ATV trails, snowmobile trails everywhere. To bring these sort of athletes in the motorsports industry here and to have something like this made for our county is awesome”, said Jake Engelman, Douglas County Sheriff Recreational Officer.
This event was the first of its kind and there is already national interest in bringing this message to all 50 states. Organizers say they are looking to make this a yearly event in Superior.
