ATV fatality calls attention to offroading safety in Nebraska
September 11th, 2009 by Kurt Niland
The untimely death of 21-year-old Brenda Strizek, a native of Valparaiso, Nebraska, who lost her life in an all-terrain vehicle accident on August 8, 2009, has called attention to the issue of ATV safety in Nebraska. A few days after the accident, Lincoln’s Journal Star published an article entitled “ATV fun comes with risk,” highlighting the recreational and practical benefits of off-road vehicles, but also underscoring their dangers.
Safety in any moving vehicle, be it a bicycle, boat, car, or ATV, begins with the driver. There are also some things passengers can do to protect themselves, such as using the seat restraints and wearing a helmet. But the fact remains that ATVs are exceptionally dangerous (many consumer and safety advocates argue they are excessively dangerous) forms of transportation in any circumstance.
On the night of August 8, 2009, 24-year-old Myles Virgil took 21-year-old Brenda Strizek, a native of Valparaiso, Nebraska, and two other passengers out for a ride in a Kawasaki ATV. While driving along a bike path, Virgil lost control of the vehicle. He and all three passengers were thrown from the vehicle as it rolled into a ditch. Strizek died at the scene.
Virgil has since been arrested and charged with unintentionally causing Strizek’s death by illegally operating a motor vehicle. Is this a case in which the driver is solely to blame? Or might the ATV also be at fault?
The Journal Star writes, “In a risk-averse age in which kids ride in massive car seats and are ordered by their parents to put on helmets for a bicycle ride down the block, there are odd exceptions to the public’s apparent obsession with safety.
A glaring example is the all-terrain vehicle.”
ATVs are fast, heavy, and unregulated motor vehicles. Some, as the Journal Star notes, can reach speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour and many, such as the Yamaha Rhino, weigh more than a thousand pounds. These characteristics leave little room for error. One bad move on an ATV and you could lose an arm, a leg, or possibly your life.
“In rural Nebraska, ATV accidents have become the leading cause of agricultural fatalities,” the Journal Star writes. “From 2004 through 2007, one-third of ag fatalities involved ATVs, which are handy for many tasks on farms and ranches, as well as for recreation.”
The escalating number of ATV accidents and injuries prompted the University of Nebraska to conduct ATV training sessions throughout the state last year. The trend in Nebraska represents the larger trend nationwide. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, serious ATV-related injuries have increased for eight consecutive years. At least 542 ATV fatalities have been reported in the U.S.
Every year, scores of people hop aboard as passengers without any knowledge of ATV safety, only to find themselves the unwitting victims of a serious accident. Children easily fall into this category. One third of ATV injures and deaths involve kids age 16 and younger.
A government website that compiles data relating to ATV injuries and fatalities strongly recommends that ATV owners not allow passengers on most ATV makes and models.
“ATVs are designed for interactive riding – drivers must be able to shift their weight freely in all directions, depending on situation and terrain. Passengers can make it very difficult to control the ATV,” the website says.
Source: Journal Star