ATV rollover kills six-year-old Alberta girl
July 30th, 2009 by Kurt Niland
A 6-year-old girl lost her life on Tuesday when the ATV she was a passenger in rolled over. According to the Edmonton Journal, the girl’s older stepsister was driving the ATV on a rural, private road about 15 kilometers southeast of Stettler, Canada, when the rollover occurred.
According to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Patrick Webb, both girls were wearing full-face helmets and were buckled in with seatbelts at the time of the accident. The girl who was driving was not injured and was able to run home for help, the Edmonton Journal said. RCMP authorities seized the ATV and deceased girl’s helmet. Autopsy tests haven’t been completed.
According to Sgt. Webb, the girls were traveling in a Polaris Ranger RZR, an offroad vehicle that is equipped with a roll cage.
Len Wagner, traffic safety coordinator for the Alberta Centre for Injury Control, told the Edmonton Journal that ATVs are “a way of life” in rural Alberta. Aside from a law prohibiting the driving of an ATV on public roads, the province of Alberta doesn’t have legislation that restricts ATV use on private property. Because children of any age can legally operate an ATV, many people, including parents, may interpret the lack of regulations to mean the vehicles are safe.
“She (the victim) wasn’t big, so did the seatbelt not work on (a person) her size? Did the helmet not work? We’ve got a lot of questions,” Webb told the Edmonton Journal.
Stettler County Council Joe Gendre, whose cousin died from injuries received in an ATV rollover, told the Journal that ATV rules are taken lightly by many people. He said the county designated an officer to patrol the lake district on an ATV because helmet, seatbelt, and registration laws are so often ignored.
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