New riders and families
Before anyone's first ride: fit, training, gear and the rules your family sets
Plain-language guides for new riders and parents in northern Alberta. We show what health and safety bodies actually recommend for young riders, including where they disagree, so you can make the call for your family with the facts in front of you.
Latest guides
Age and size: does the rider fit the machine?
Youth ATV categories (Y-6+, Y-10+, Y-12+ and T), explained
What the Y-6+, Y-10+, Y-12+ and T youth ATV categories mean, their factory and parent-adjustable speed limits, and why a category label isn't the same as a safety recommendation.
Start with a topic
- Age and size: does the rider fit the machine?Manufacturer age labels, youth ATV categories, and the fit checks safety groups recommend.
- What Canadian safety experts say about kids and ATVsAHS, the Canadian Paediatric Society, Alberta Agriculture and Parachute, side by side, including where they differ.
- Training and gear for new ridersATV rider courses for adults and children, what to wear, and Alberta's helmet law.
- Family riding rules that actually get followedSupervision, passengers, where and when to ride, and side-by-side age minimums.
Who writes this
First Quad is written by the editorial team at Butler Motor Group Ltd., which owns three AMVIC-licensed dealerships in northern Alberta that sell ATVs and side-by-sides. We sell these machines, so we say so up front. On youth riding we report what Alberta Health Services, Alberta Agriculture, Parachute and the Canada Safety Council say, and we don't soften it.