Personal responsibility revisited

by Phil Floria

I was once again reminded about personal responsibility after watching the news the other morning. The pretty talking head on the TV was telling me about a teenager who was killed when the ATV he was riding hit a ditch and it flipped over on top of him. It killed him instantly even though he was wearing a helmet.

Next they cut to a film clip of a man and woman obviously upset as they explained how the boy's parents had given him the ATV as an early Christmas gift. Then the man who turned out to be the boy's father began to tell the viewer how they needed to put restrictions on ATVs. He went on to say that no one should be allowed to operate an ATV without proper training and the county should put restrictions on when and where they can be used.

This is not meant to malign a grieving parent or make light of their grief.

But had the man on the TV done his job as a parent and protected his son by insuring he was ready to accept the responsibility of an ATV perhaps this tragedy could have been prevented. Instead we are once again reminded how it's someone else's fault that this happened. The ATV manufacturer, the salesman, the county were responsible for the boy's accident because they didn't act to protect him.

Yes they; not I the father, but they didn't do anything to prevent this adult man from buying a powerful mechanized machine and put an irresponsible teenager at the controls. It was they who didn't supervise the young man as he rode around on the machine, and it was they who didn't make rules for him to follow.

Once again, a machine is responsible. Like guns and motorcycles; ATVs don't do anything by themselves. It takes interaction with a human being before they can work either safely or recklessly.

Perhaps after the pain of the loss of a son passes; he will reflect back on his words. It must be very hard for a father to accept the responsibility for the death of one of his children. But the truth is; it was his decision, as an adult, a parent to put the machine in the hands of his son without proper instruction, training or supervision.

I'm sure he wouldn't have given his son the keys to the car without taking the time to teach him how to drive or insure he received driver training. He wouldn't give his son a new gun and then just let him go wherever he pleased to shoot it without some kind of guidelines and supervision.

Parental responsibility means that sometimes you have to say no, or you have to invest some of your time to insure the safety of your children. Had he done some investigating into what it takes to own or operate an ATV, and really understood the risks involved he may have refused his son's request. Or at least taken some of his time to supervise its operation; his son might still be alive today.

But it's always easier to blame someone else, or demand that the machine which is too dangerous be regulated beyond what's already been done; instead of accepting the fact that in the end it was his decision which led to the results.

Once again it's the machines fault and everyone else's except the person who made the decision. It seems to be a growing trend in our society today to pass laws and regulations to protect us from our own stupidity. There are more and more people calling for the regulation of machines without giving any consideration to penalizing those who misuse them.

Had a stranger given his son the ATV, he would be screaming about how irresponsible that person was in letting his son take the controls and riding the machine. He would be demanding the law do something. I see it as child neglect or abuse, the same way it would be if he left a loaded gun where a child could have access to it.

Life is not without risk, or responsibility. The decisions we make and those we make for others bear consequences. It's about time that we recognize this and take responsibility for them instead of passing it off to someone else or blaming machines.

The Biker eNews is a non-profit public service for the Tidewater and Peninsular Motorcycle Community. We are not affiliated with any organization or business. The Biker eNews is owned, operated and paid for by Phillip Floria. We accept no commercial advertising; our links are links of interest for motorcycle enthusiasts.