For Immediate Release                                                           Contact: Samantha Dallaire   

January 28, 2010                                                                                 617-722-1500

Murray: Senate Passes Improved Safety Regulations

for Use of All-Terrain Vehicles

(BOSTON) – Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) announced today that the Senate has passed legislation improving safety regulations for operators of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in Massachusetts. The bill requires ATVs, off-road motorcycles and snowmobiles to be registered and all operators to wear helmets. It also establishes a minimum age of use for ATVs. 

“We have to consider the safety of people, especially children, who use these vehicles,” Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) said. “This bill will hold negligent users or owners accountable and help reduce the bad practices that harm individuals and children.”

Since the tragic ATV-related death of their eight year old son Sean in 2006, Mark and Katie Kearney of Plymouth have tirelessly advocated for increased ATV regulations and have worked with Senate President Murray’s office to put together this safety legislation.

“These are needless accidents, and I am so pleased that the Senate understood this and passed regulations that will hopefully prevent this kind of tragedy from ever happening again,” said Katie Kearney. “The passage of this bill shows that if you see a problem, you can go to your legislator and do something.  Senate President Murray has been a caring advocate for this legislation and has been by our side throughout the process.”

According to the National Trauma Data Bank, more than 70 percent of pediatric ATV injuries and deaths involved children under the age of 14. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found a 33 percent increase in all ATV-related injuries since 2001. In 2006 alone, at least 111 children under 16 were killed in ATV accidents.

“This legislation passed by the Senate would undoubtedly save the lives of many children and stem the tide of the preventable and costly pediatric brain injuries that are treated in the trauma centers of this Commonwealth,” said Dr. Peter T. Masiakos, a trauma surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The bill prohibits anyone under 14 from operating an ATV, unless it is for a sanctioned race supervised by adults over 18. It also establishes penalties and fines for reckless and negligent use, leaving the scene of an accident, and unauthorized use and false registration.

In order to cross a public way, public safety provisions in the bill require that crossings are marked and approved as part of an authorized recreation vehicle trail system. The bill also prohibits ATV use that does millions of dollars of damage every year to public and private property, wildlife and crops.

In 2007, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation created an Off-Highway Vehicle Working Group to identify strategies and solutions to address the growing concerns regarding the illegal and unsafe use of snowmobiles and recreation vehicles. Much of this bill, which also creates a new state off-highway vehicle advisory committee to address ongoing concerns, stems from their work.

Further provisions of the bill include:

• Prohibits possession of a loaded firearm, rifle or shotgun while riding on a recreation or snow vehicle;
• Requires that a person between 14 and 16 years of age may only operate an ATV with an engine capacity up to 90 cubic centimeters, and such use must be directly supervised by someone over 18;
• Provides that operators of recreation vehicles born after January 1, 1991 must complete a vehicle safety and responsibility course;
• Mandates that recreation and snow vehicle owners who knowingly allow persons to use their vehicles are liable with the operator for any damage or injuries;
• Establishes an Off-Highway Vehicle Program Fund that collects registration fees and revenues from fines and forfeitures to pay for law enforcement activities, land acquisition, trail maintenance and development, and the development of safety and training programs.

 

This bill now goes to the House of Representatives.

 

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Murray was elected in March 2007 as the first female President of the Senate in Massachusetts history.  From January 2003 through March 2007, she chaired the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.  She is currently serving her 9th term in the Massachusetts Senate, representing the people of Bourne, Falmouth, Kingston, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Sandwich and precincts 10, 11, and 12 in the Town of Barnstable.  For more information, visit www.ThereseMurray.com.

 

 

REMINDER: Please remember to vote for the MA Senate Election this Tuesday 1/19/10

 

AAP advocacy website:

http://www.mcaap.org/legislative-advocacy/
http://www.aap.org/advocacy.html
 - Health reform specifically: http://www.aap.org/advocacy/washing/mainpage.htm

   – next MCAAP meeting Weds 1/27/10 @ 630

 

Haiti disaster- Links for updates –> healthychildren.org, or “friendsofchildren”

http://www.aap.org/donate/fcfdonate.htm

We have a date!

We’re very excited to announce that this year Residents Day at the State House will take place on Thursday, April 15th 2010.  We’re currently working on contacting speakers and getting the word out.  Stay tuned for more information in the upcoming months.

Children’s Health Advocates Unite

Residents and fellows of MassGeneral Hospital for Children devote most of their time to treating sick children in a hospital setting, but this June they devoted a day to preventing and curing illness outside of the hospital wards.

This year’s fourth-annual Pediatric Residents and Fellows Day at the State House (RFDASH) brought out about 80 residents, fellows and faculty from various hospitals to advocate for legislation that affects children’s health.

Updated schedule

8:30          Registration and breakfast

9:00          Welcome and introductions

9:15          Lauren Smith MD, MPH – Medical Director of the Mass Dept of Public Health

“Public Health and Health Disparities:  The Social Becomes Biologic”

9:45          Peter Masiakos MS, MD – Pediatric Surgeon, Mass General Hospital

“The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few:  How Meaningful Legislation Impacts Children’s Health”

Focus on the Issues:  S366: An Act to Regulate the Use of Off Highway and Recreation Vehicles

10:15        The Kearney Family: A family’s perspective on the ATV bill

10:30        Short break and snack

10:45        David DeMaso MD- Chairman of Psychiatry, Children’s Hosp of Boston

Focus on the Issues:  S757 & H3586: An Act for Coordination of Children’s Mental Health Care Services

11:00        Sean Palfrey MD- Prof of General Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center

With a visit from Alice Wolf- State Representative 25^th Middlesex District

Focus on the Issues: S859 & H3453: An Act Establishing the Massachusetts Childhood Vaccines Program and    the Massachusetts Immunization Registry

11:45        Visit from Senate President Therese Murray

12:00        Sean Palfrey MD & Ed Brennan, Esq. – Legal Counsel & Lobbyist, MCAAP – Workshop: “How to be an Effective Lobbyist” & Question & Answer Session

12:30        Lunch

1:00          Meetings with individual legislators

2:00 –       Feedback and Wrap-up

Schedule of Events

8:30                 Registration and breakfast

9:00                 Welcome and introductions

9:15                 Lauren Smith – Director of the Mass Dept of Public Health

9:45                 Peter Masiakos- Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Mass Gen Hospital

10:00               The Kearney Family: Discussing Impact of the ATV Bill

10:15               Short break and snack

10:45               David DeMaso MD- Chair of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston, Mental Health Bill

11:00              Alex Calcagno – Lobbyist for the Mass Med Society, How to be an Effective Lobbyist

12:00               Sean Palfrey-Prof of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center & Ed Brennan- Lobbyist for the MCAAP, Immunization Bill                     

12:20               Questions & Answers

12:30               Lunch

1:30                 Meetings with individual legislators

Mental Health Bill

Mental health coverage for the young is critically important.  I am faced with patients regularly who struggle to get the healthcare they need.  For those with insurance, the waits are tremendous and for those without (or with coverage that limits mental health benefits) they often go without or their parents take on significant financial risks to get them care. 

The MCPAP-Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (http://mcpap.typepad.com/) has offered some much needed relief but it is not enough.  We must get more coverage for childhood mental health and increase reimbursement in order to encourage more mental health providers to train to take care of children.

ATV Bill

Once again, this year’s Resident Day at the State House event is shaping up to be a phenomenal combination of education and advocacy. I remain extremely proud of the tireless work the MGHfC residents put into this event. Every year is better than the last. I am really excited to be coming this year and we’re all hoping that this may be the extra push that the ATV age restriction legislation needs to pass!

RSVP for RDASH 2009

We just had a recent meeting of our pediatric advocacy group!

We are ready to send out the final information for our RDASH 2009 event. We are so excited to have two amazing keynote speakers this year: Dr. Lauren Smith who is the medical director of the Department of Public Health and Dr. Peter Masiakos who is one of our pediatric surgeons at MassGeneral Hospital for Children. We are still working on settling our active issues from this year but will definitely be learning about the ATV bill and talking to legislators about it. We are also hoping to discuss the Mental Health Bill this year and funding for immunizations.

Here is the info for our event ! Please RSVP if you are interested in attending.                                   – Alenka Zeman MD PGY-3 Senior Resident

Pediatric Residents and Fellows Day at the State House                                                                                                                                       

Monday June 1, 2009 

8:30am- 3:00pm Great Hall- Massachusetts State House

RSVP by April 1st to Catherine Aftandilian    caftandilian@partners.org

Please include in your reply:

Name, Institution, Home address, T-Shirt Size & whether or not you will participate in the morning only or full-day session.

We hope to see you there!
Resident Advocacy Group, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children

 

RDASH 2009

After a good deal of soul searching and numerous email exchanges, we finally have a date for RDASH 2009!  This year, we will be visiting the Massachusetts State House to advocate for pediatric health issues on Monday, June 1st, 2009.  The event is from 9 am to 4 pm and is free to all participants.  We’re already working hard to come up with a great set of speakers.