For the Mail Tribune

SALEM — A bill that would bar children under 12 from operating all-terrain vehicles is being modified following an uproar from a large Southern Oregon ATV club.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. Alan Bates, D-Ashland, said he is negotiating to allow children ages 8 to 12 to ride ATVs on farms or private property. They still would be prohibited from doing so on federal, state and county lands open to the public.

Language also was being considered to place restrictions on persons younger than 12 who operate ATVs, and limit operators 12 to 16 to ATVs with engines of 90 cc or less.

Bates said e-mails he's received overwhelmingly support some kind of restrictions on ATV use. "They're not specific, but most want something to be done," he said.

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Asked if the threat of a recall by Patrick Bates (no relation), president of Temporary Insandity ATV club, influenced his decision to modify the original proposal, the Ashland physician said it "made me think twice." But, he added, "it also strengthened my resolve to do something."

Bates is co-sponsor of Senate Bill 49 along with Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Lake Oswego. The ban against operators under 12 is being promoted by Safe Kids, a nationwide safety group.

Patrick Bates said his organization is not anti-safety and supports other bills introduced this session on ATVs.

They include requiring vehicle titles, safety courses for operators under 15, and helmets for adults (children already must wear them), and a ban on double riding.

The proposed changes, still being worked out, could be incorporated during committee hearings on the bill, if it gets a hearing.

Don Jepsen is a freelance writer living in Salem. Reach him at jepsen34@open.org.