ATV safety a high priority for Junior Rangers

Learning to drive an all-terrain vehicle properly was a key part of the safety training at Camp Loon, the annual advanced training camp for Junior Canadian Rangers, held in the bush north of Geraldton each July.
“Most Junior Canadian Rangers can ride an ATV but only a few can ride correctly and safely,” said warrant officer Johanne Martel, the Canadian Army instructor in charge of the ATV training site at the camp. “They just jump on an ATV in their communities and off they go, with no tuition at all.
“We have too many unnecessary deaths and injuries involving ATVs in northern Ontario. And that’s because there’s no safety training. What we provide here is not available in their isolated communities.
”The kids pay attention and they grasp what we are teaching them.”
The Junior Rangers learned how to check their machine for mechanical and other defects before they rode it. They learned to wear gloves, long sleeves, eye protection, and, most importantly, a helmet when they rode.
“Some kids come here and they are afraid because they’ve seen or heard about injuries or even deaths in their communities or have experienced an accident themselves,” Martel said. “We put the joy of riding a machine safely back into them.”
The highlight of the day’s training was a challenging 20-kilometre cross-country ride that took more than an hour to complete. During it they negotiated fallen tree trunks, soft sand, shifting stones, hills, plastic cones, bumps, and manouevred between trees with only inches to spare, as well as overcoming other obstacles.
The training was only possible because of the support of Polaris Inc., a leading manufacturer of ATVs. Junior Rangers are not allowed to ride Canadian Forces ATVs. So Polaris, for several years, has donated the use of its machines in the interests of promoting the safe use of ATVs in First Nations in northern Ontario.
“Without the support of Polaris it would be impossible for us to offer this training,” said Martel. “There are almost no words to describe what Polaris does for us. They give us different size machines for our different age groups and after the camp they repair the damage to their machines and sell them as second hand, used vehicles. Our ATV safety program works because of the generosity of Polaris.”
One of the ATV instructors was master corporal Kim Cheena, a Canadian Ranger from Moose Factory.
“The rates of injuries and even deaths are so high in isolated, northern communities,” she said. “I’ve seen six or eight people on an ATV going full speed with no helmets or anything. There’s a real need for this training.
“Some of the kids are nervous or afraid. We get them to ride and as they go along the trail they build up their confidence and they finish up thanking us and telling us they feel so much better about riding.”
What the Junior Rangers learned about ATV safety at Camp Loon they took home with them.
“I see some of their parents are starting to ride with helmets and safety gear,” Cheena said. “The kids go home and they tell them what we have taught them.”
“One kid said he didn’t want to do the trail ride,” Martel said. “I convinced him he should go and enjoy himself. When he came back he said: ‘I’m really glad I went. Thank you. I had a blast.’”
(Sergeant Peter Moon is the public affairs ranger for 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group at Canadian Forces Base Borden.)