Personal Injury Law

ATV Accidents - An Introduction to the challenge of ATV safety

By Steve Lombardi

ATV safety is a concern when we discuss brain damage and youthful exuberance. Damaging the brain causes long term problems that may not be readily apparent. So how do the numbers stack up for the normal way in which we measure the risk? How many deaths are there from ATV accidents?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported the statistics for ATV wrecks in 2005.

2002 - 606 deaths
2004 - 860 deaths
2005 - 870 deaths

There is a push underfoot to ban children under the age of 16 from being allowed to operate an ATV. Children under 16, in 2006 accounted for 30% of the more serious related injury cases. The CPSC has been stressing training of young riders as a way to reduce accidents. Between 2000 and 2005 sales of four-wheeled ATV's nearly doubled, yet the number of deaths has stayed about the same. Some estimates have the risk of death from use at about 1 in 10,000. ATV's can drive at speeds up to 38 mph, up from 30 mph. The debate goes on about what should be done.

So how does Iowa rank in terms of the number of deaths against other Midwestern states? Wisconsin has a higher rank at 15 and Minnesota at 16 compares with Iowa at being the 29th out of the 50 states. Between 1982 and 2001 65 Iowans died in ATV related accidents. That number between 2002 and 2005 rose by 31 additional deaths. Wisconsin during those two periods had 140 deaths and Minnesota 135 total deaths. Generally speaking children account for 18% of overall deaths.

There is an ATV safety page put out by the government. The February 2008 CPSC report of 2006 ATV-related deaths can be found on that site. As of December 31, 2006 the CPSC reports the total number of deaths in America were at 8,104. Iowans claimed 107 of those deaths. Twenty-nine percent of the total number of deaths was children under age 16.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on May 16, 2008 (boomark / email).