Spreading the word: Using vehicle hang-tags to inform consumers about ATV safety

Objectives: Children ≤ 15 years account for high proportions of all-terrain vehicle (ATV) related injuries and deaths. Youth riders often drive inappropriately-sized ATVs, have limited formal training and lack safety gear. Direct-to-consumer safety message marketing, to improve safety knowledge, has not been previously evaluated. Methods: Cardboard hangtags with youth oriented ATV safety messaging were placed on showroom ATVs in two dealerships. Hangtags contained youth ATV injury statistics and manufacturer safety recommendations and were fixed to the vehicle's hand throttle, requiring active removal by purchasing individuals. Anonymous surveys, distributed at time of sale, included multiple choice and Likert scale questions focused on demographics, safety knowledge, ATV usage and evaluation of hangtags. Results: As of this year, 76 completed surveys were returned. Respondents were principally males with 4-6 years of riding experience (69.7%) purchasing vehicles >90cc (59.2%). Participants had previously owned about 2 ATVs, had not participated in formal training (84.2%) and did not purchase safety equipment with the ATV (65.8%). Fifty-six percent of the primary drivers for the purchased machine were reported as <16 years old. Seventy-three percent of respondents reported reading the hangtag information, and ranked the information as understandable (mean on 5-point scale=3.64); containing new information (mean=3.29); and influential in changing their behavior (mean=3.30). Conclusions: ATV safety hangtags were observed and read by purchasers. Most survey respondents felt the hangtags contained understandable new information that would be incorporated into ATV use. ATV safety hangtags may represent an economical and effective means to communicate ATV safety messages to consumers.