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ATV rollover kills 6-year-old Oklahoma boy
November 30th, 2009 by Kurt Niland
A 6-year-old Oklahoma boy died Wednesday evening when he lost control of the all-terrain vehicle he was driving, sending the ATV into a deadly rollover. Reports from throughout the state say that the young victim, Daniel Brock Smith-Maynard of Sand Springs, Okla. was driving the ATV on a homemade dirt track on his grandfather’s property in Tulsa when the accident occurred.
According to officers from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the boy was wearing a helmet, but it was not enough to protect him from serious injury. Reports say that the boy was thrown from the vehicle and landed about 3 feet away from the ATV. He was rushed to St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, where he later died as a result of massive head injuries.
ATV accidents such as this have prompted the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission to push for more regulation and ATV safety awareness, especially when children are concerned. The CPSC is currently drafting new ATV safety rules that will become mandatory for all ATVs manufactured in or shipped to the United States.
The vehicles have flown under the regulatory radar since the early 1980s, when they debuted on the U.S. market. Sales have crept steadily upward since their introduction, but have exploded in the last 2 years. An alarming rate of serious injury and death has accompanied the skyrocketing ATV sales.
To help mitigate the problem, the CPSC is also cracking down on the import of defective Chinese-made ATVs. The agency recently seized a shipment of Chinese ATVs at the port of Houston because they did not meet U.S. safety specifications.
Sadly, China has emerged as a leader in the production of cheap ATVs for children, making more than 83 percent of the vehicles sold children ages 6 to 16 years. Often, these vehicles, which can sell for as little as $250, lack even the most basic safety features, such as front brakes.
The CPSC estimates that more than 100 children are killed every year in ATV accidents and 40,000 sustain injuries serious enough to require hospitalization.
