Worrying Smarter: Singing the ATV Blues

by Natalia E. Pane, M.A., M.B.A

“My name is Cynde Nichols. I live in Caldwell, Idaho. I have 3 boys and 3 girls. My family and I were avid atv riders. We own 5 atvs. A suzuki 80, a 250 trail boss, a 400 scrambler, a 425 magnum and a 700 sportsman. My husband and I have rode atvs for 11 years. My husband and Murphy were up camping and we were going to meet them in 2 days. They were riding the 700 sportsman just down the road from camp to see if they could see fish in the river. Murphy was riding in front on the 700 sportsman with his dad driving. They slid on some loose gravel and the 4 wheeler flipped. Throwing my husband and Murphy off…”

This is how just one of the nearly 70 stories on “Concerned Families for ATV Safety”[i] begins. These are families who lost children in ATV accidents and do not want you to suffer their fate. ATVs are dangerous enough that the federal government even has a special website designed just to address ATV accidents, recognizing how deadly these vehicles can be if not used properly: www.atvsafety.gov.

ATVs are one of the deadliest forms of transportation for our children. ATVs are responsible for 40% more child deaths than bicycles. For children ages ten to fourteen, ATVs are responsible for three-times the numbers of deaths as motorcycles.[ii] Boating, skateboarding, and other activities don’t even come close.

For younger children, a common incident is an attempt to travel up too steep a hill ends in the ATV flipping over and crushing them.  Other incidents include getting knocked off, and not having a helmet to protect them because, for example, they were just going for a quick ride around grandpa’s yard. Even small bumps can have big consequences. I read one story about a child who died when he and his father were done with their ride and simply pulling the ATV back into the garage. The little hump entry into the garage was enough to shoot the child off.

For ten to fourteen year olds, about 75 percent of the time, the child who died was the driver of the ATV.[iii]  The driver-incidents were equally divided between collisions (e.g., hitting another ATV) and noncollisions (e.g., flipping the lone ATV). Of those who died, only about one in five (20 percent)[iv] was wearing a helmet.

Heads up to West Virginians: you have two times the rate of fatalities compared to any other state, factoring in population. Next in line are North Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming, Kentucky, Idaho, Montana, Vermont, Mississippi, and South Dakota.

Recommendations from www.atvsafety.gov include:

• Every rider should take a hands-on safety course. Formal training teaches drivers how to control ATVs in typical situations. Drivers with formal, hands-on ATV training have a lower injury risk than drivers with no formal training.
• Always wear protective gear—especially a helmet—when riding an ATV. Select a motorcycle or other motorized sports helmet and make sure it is certified by the US Department of Transportation and/or the Snell Memorial Foundation.
• Do not drive an ATV with a passenger or ride as a passenger. The majority of ATVs are designed to carry only one person. ATVs are designed for interactive riding—drivers must be able to shift their weight freely in all directions, depending on the situation and terrain. Interactive riding is critical to maintaining safe control of an ATV, especially on varying terrain. Passengers can make it difficult for drivers to control the ATV.
• Do not drive ATVs on paved roads. Because of their design, ATVs are difficult to control on paved roads. Many fatalities involving ATVs occur on paved roads.
• Do not permit children to drive or ride on adult ATVs. Children are involved in about one-third of all ATV-related deaths and hospital emergency room injuries. Most of these deaths and injuries occur when a child is driving or riding on an adult ATV. Children under sixteen riding adult ATVs are twice as likely to be injured as those riding youth ATVs.
• Do not drive an ATV while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Alcohol and drugs impair reaction time and judgment, two essential skills for safe ATV use.

One-sentence take away: Children should drive their own, child-sized ATV and not ride with an adult or on an adult ATV—and always wear a helmet.

Blog first published Sept 7, 2014 on Calvert Education blog.http://blog.calverteducation.com/featured/worrying-smarter-singing-the-atv-blues/