Advice for novice ATV riders: Six tips for parents

Safety gear
Invest in a high-end, brand-reliable helmet. Also add to your kid’s gear a chest protector, a good pair of boots, long pants and sleeves, gloves and protective goggles.

Correctly sized machine
This is trickier, so you’ll have to test a few, but, as ATVrider.com advises, “put your child on a machine purposely built for his or her size.”

Review the controls
Review the controls every time they ride, so they know the difference between the front and rear brakes, the throttle control and the kill switch like it is second nature.

No audience
When kids first learn to drive, make sure no one else is around. That is, no other kids or family members to impress.

Wide-open area
The best place to teach your kids how to ride is a large, flat, wide-open area free of obstacles.

Throttle limiter
Still another topic to consider: a throttle limiter. Many manufacturers like Polaris feature a throttle limiter that lets you limit how fast your young rider can go.