ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Starting next year, New Yorkers must be 16 years old to legally operate an ATV.

The change comes after recent ATV crashes by minors, some of them resulting in fatalities. Sponsors of the bill say young children’s smaller size and immaturity increases the risk of accidents.

“According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, […] the group believes that children are ‘not developmentally capable of operating these heavy, complex machines,’” the bill says.

The legislation also requires children under 16 to be supervised by someone 18 or older while riding an ATV on public land.

“Raising the age to receive a safety certificate and operate an ATV in the same manner as a sixteen-year-old, as well as removing the provision in the law allowing for supervision by someone sixteen or older who has a safety certificate, will help to prevent senseless accidents and deaths.”

The amended bill will become law at the end of February.