First Quad

Family riding rules that actually get followed

Turn the safety advice from AHS, Alberta Agriculture and Parachute into house rules: supervision, passengers, where and when to ride, sober riding, and side-by-side age minimums.

Rules work best when everyone knows them before the key turns. Here's a set of family riding rules built from what Alberta Health Services, Alberta Agriculture and Parachute recommend. Print it, talk it through, and stick it on the shop wall.

Our family's riding rules

  1. Helmet on, every ride. Plus eye protection, gloves, boots, long sleeves and long pants. Even on our own land, where Alberta's law doesn't require it.
  2. Right rider, right machine. Nobody under 16 on an adult-size ATV. Every rider passes the fit check (feet on the pegs, hands on the grips, seated fully, all at once) on the machine they ride. See Age and size.
  3. No passengers on a one-rider ATV. Many ATVs are built for one person only. Check the label and the manual. Only carry a passenger on an ATV designed for two, and never more than the seats allow.
  4. Adults supervise young riders, within sight. Parachute's guidance for supervised 14 and 15 year olds is an adult within clear sight of the rider.
  5. Daylight only. AHS advises riding in daylight hours.
  6. Sober riding. No alcohol or drugs before or while riding. Parachute notes half of ATV-related deaths involve alcohol or drugs.
  7. Stay where ATVs belong. Designated trails and areas we've agreed on. No pavement or roads, and cross roads only where it's allowed.
  8. Control your speed. Parachute calls excessive speed a major risk factor in ATV deaths. Set youth-model speed limiters and keep the key.
  9. Tell someone, carry a phone. Where you're going, when you'll be back, a phone or radio and a first-aid kit.
  10. Training first. Every new rider takes a course before riding on their own.

Side-by-sides have age rules too

Side-by-sides (UTVs) aren't a workaround for the ATV age advice. Their manuals set their own minimum ages. For example, Segway's Fugleman UT10 owner's manual says the driver must be at least 16 and hold a valid driver's licence. Passengers need a proper seat and seatbelt, and should follow the manual's passenger requirements. Never ride in the cargo box.

On the farm

Alberta Agriculture's ATV safety guidance applies to farm chores as much as to fun: no one under 16 on an adult ATV, a machine suited to the youth's age, weight and maturity, a helmet with face and eye protection, sober riding, no passengers on a one-person ATV, and operator training. Our sister site Acreage Rig covers farm-use rules in more depth.

Questions about a machine's age label, speed limiter or passenger rating? The powersports staff at Frontier Mitsubishi (Grande Prairie) and Borderlands (High Level and La Crete) can walk you through it.

Sources

Guides in this section

Our first in-depth guides for this section are being written and fact-checked now. In the meantime, start with the overview above or browse all guides.