Our Mission: Dedicated to the Safety of Children
The mission behind the implementation of Chandler's Law is to decrease the rapidly rising number of ATV-related injuries and deaths in South Carolina. Medical and safety groups in our state are alarmed that most of the injuries and accidents involving children are occurring with drivers and riders who are under the age of 16. However, since 44 other states have enacted ATV riding laws for children, many have seen dramatic reductions in the number of ATV-related deaths and accidents.
It is important that you know the group of medical and safety experts who have put together this website, along with the Saylor family, want you to be fully aware of Chandler's Law regarding the operation of ATVs in our state. We are not here to judge; we are here to raise awareness about the law and hope that in doing so, parents who choose to let their children ride ATVs understand that they are responsible for what their child does or doesn't do when riding.
Chandler's Law provides basic safety requirements for children under age 16 riding ATVs. We know that getting children to do what parents tell them can be hard, especially when we're trying to keep them safe. There is a reason for that! Children's brains do not fully develop until their early 20s, meaning that they don't always make the best decisions and certainly haven't fully developed their motor or reflex skills. More than 85 percent of ATV accidents and fatalities nationwide happen when no adult is supervising. At the MUSC Children's Hospital, almost all ATV-related injuries or deaths that have occurred since 2004 happened when no adult was around.
While the American Academy of Pediatrics promotes the idea that no child under age 16 should operate an ATV, the South Carolina legislature has initiated a different approach for our rural state. We recognize that the law is a bit confusing, but we want you to explore this website in the hopes that after reading about the new law and its details, you'll come to the same realizations that we have:
- Requiring safety equipment and ATV operation training for kids is now the law, so parents are liable for what their kids do on ATVs.
- Numerous safety courses are offered through the ATV Safety Institute.
- The easiest and best course of action is to make sure that your children have the right size ATV, the right safety gear, and the right ATV training for every ride.
