The New York Times’ editorializes today in support of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act that easily passed the House and Senate last week, and will soon be signed by the President. The editorial largely focuses on the improvements made in children’s safety, noting the "nearly 30 million hazardous toys pulled from the nation’s shelves" last year.

But the Times does mention a product that has brought far more injuries and deaths than toy magnets: all terrain vehicles. The bill mandates the commission to establish new safety standards for ATVs.

Indeed in the grand scheme of product problems ATVs trump toxic toys. Congress and consumer advocates have used the toy safety issue to write an unusually strong regulatory bill. What bears monitoring is if CPSC uses the bill as a springboard to focus on big-picture issues or heeds the call to be fixated on Thomas the Tank Engine.-MB

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