Officials continue to warn of ATV dangers
The Farmington Daily Times, 8/21/2007
By Lisa Meerts
People assume all-terrain vehicles are more stable than motorcycles and
children can safely play with them, said John McPhee. But even playing football
causes less serious injuries.
Just more than a week ago, a 10-year-old girl on a Sunday outing with her parents in La Plata Canyon, Colo., was hospitalized after an ATV accident occurred. Authorities did not release her name nor the extent of her injuries but said she tumbled 150 feet off an embankment.
"The best we could tell, the family was driving along the road, and she apparently just drove off the road and down the embankment," said Doug Zalesky, an assistant chief for the Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Protection District.
McPhee, who works on preventing children's injuries for the New Mexico Department of Health, advocated for laws requiring all children to wear helmets and protective eyewear, and be supervised by an adult. It may take years before the effects appear in statistics but as with seat belts, where it took three decades before half the population used them, McPhee trusts the laws will work.
Educating people who buy an ATV second-hand has proven challenging, McPhee said. They are not offered the free safety classes dealers give to new owners.
Another serious problem occurs when parents let children ride large ATVs.
"Ninety-five percent of serious injuries and fatalities occur when children are
riding on adult-sized ATVs," he said. "The data clearly states it's not riding
an ATV. It's riding an ATV that's too large for you."
The New Mexico Department of Health reports 38 people died in ATV accidents over five years ending in 2006. No specific upward or downward trend exists in that timeframe. The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees popular areas for
ATV use in San Juan County, also cannot point to changes in the accidents it sees.
"If there are a bunch of accidents with nonfatal injuries, they may be going to the doctor on their own, and we're not seeing them," said Rich Simmons, a BLM outdoor recreation and wilderness specialist. "They're dangerous things, those ATVs, if you don't know how to use them."
Doug Sandefer, owner of Doug's Kawasaki Motorcycles, echoed the sentiment and said many people do not heed advice or educate themselves on how to be safe.
"You can't protect people from hurting themselves, no matter what you do," he said.
The ATV industry has put a lot of effort into educating people about safety,
largely because it does not want the industry stigmatized. As required by law,
Sandefer said he refuses to sell one to anyone under age 16. He also pointed to
children riding oversized machines as a main cause of injuries.
"I just won't do it," he said. "I've had a number of people I've made very mad about that."
He pointed out an incident in October 2006 where one child died and a second one was seriously injured after their ATV was struck by a pickup truck. They were driving on a road — which is illegal — when they were hit by a driver who was blinded by the sun.
People think just because they can drive a car, they can drive an ATV, Sandefer said. That causes problems, as do the parents who turn their children loose without supervision. But he believes, all things considered, accident rates could be higher.
"There's probably not as many accidents as there could be for the number of machines that are in the hands of people with no common sense and no training," he said.