Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, along with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and scores of other child advocates, wants to keep children safe and urges parents to use extreme caution when considering the use of all-terrain vehicles by children.

At first glance ATVs may seem harmless enough. They have four wheels, sit low to the ground and look stable. But you can't always trust your eyes. Every year, tens of thousands of children under age 16 are seiously injured on ATVs designed and built for adults.

In formal policies, both the AAP and the AAOC recommends that children under the age of 16 not be allowed to drive ATVs. Denise Dowd, MD, pediatric emergency medicine physician and chief of the Children's Mercy section of Injury Prevention, testified before Congress last year urging limits on the use of ATVs by children.