Powersports Vehicle Safety
Riding powersports vehicles, like ATVs and UTVs, is thrilling and fun, but you have to be practical about it. In order to keep yourself and others safe, you must operate your powersports vehicle responsibly. Here are some basic safety tips for powersports vehicle riders.
Stay Sober
Whenever you’re operating heavy machinery, it is essential that you retain your focus and reflexes. Drinking alcohol or using recreational drugs will dull your senses, slow your reflexes, and make you more likely to take risks while riding your powersports vehicle. Stick to drinking water or sports drinks instead and save the beers for home consumption.
It’s not only alcohol and drugs that can make you lose focus or have a more difficult time operating your powersports vehicle. Some health conditions and prescription medications can preclude you from safely operating a powersports vehicle. Check with your doctor to see if you’re cleared to operate heavy machinery, and if you know that a new medicine might affect you adversely, let someone more capable drive.
Monitor Kids
When you let teenagers drive a powersports vehicle, you should supervise them carefully, making sure that they follow all the same rules that you do about staying sober, paying attention to obstacles, and using good safety practices. Very young children should never ride in a powersports vehicle as they are not equipped to hold car seats. For those children who are old enough to ride, make sure they have their seat belts fastened when the vehicle is in motion and that they keep their hands and feet inside the vehicle. Let them know not to distract the operator, too.
Stay On The Path
Whether you’re a novice or an expert powersports vehicle operator, when you’re riding on a posted trail, you should never stray from it. Doing so could damage the surrounding environment and endanger wildlife in the area. You also don’t know what’s out there and you could hit a rock or ditch without being able to see it beforehand. Trails are constructed to be safe routes through an area so it makes sense to stay on them.
If you’re new to off-roading, it can be helpful to drive behind a more experienced operator who can lead you on the safest route and alert you to potential obstacles so that you can steer around them. It pays to give yourself some practice time in your powersports vehicle if you’re a novice rider, going on much less rocky terrain and at slower speeds until you are comfortable with how your given model handles.
Stop by our dealership in New Haven, IN, to check out our great stock of new and used powersports vehicles for sale. Schnelker Marine & Powersports serves our customers in Fort Wayne and Auburn, IN.