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According to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recently published all-terrain vehicle data “appears to indicate that the numbers of deaths and injuries caused by ATVs declined in 2008 as compared to 2007.”
January was a deadly month across North America for teenagers riding all-terrain vehicles. ATV accidents are responsible for hundreds of deaths and thousands of serious injuries each year. Especially alarming is the growing number of accidents involving children and teenagers, who account for a third of all injuries and fatalities linked to ATV crashes.
City, county, and state officials are banding together in many parts of the country to offer all-terrain-vehicle awareness and safety events. The need for more ATV safety instruction and awareness events increases as the number of people who become seriously injured or killed in rollovers and other ATV accidents continues to grow.
A 13-year old South Carolina boy died last Sunday when the all-terrain vehicle he was driving rolled over and landed on top of him. According to reports by South Carolina CBS affiliate WBTW, Benjamin “Shane” Byers, a resident of Johnsonville, SC, was rushed to Lake City Hospital but was pronounced dead at 2:53 p.m., approximately one hour after the accident occurred.
The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission announced a recall of about 8,500 Polaris all-terrain vehicles for defects that may pose a crash hazard. According to the CPSC, Polaris Industries of Medina, Minn., has received 19 reports of incidents involving the recalled 2009 and 2010 model-year ATVs.
In December we reported how one Mississippi coroner became an advocate of stricter laws governing the use of all-terrain vehicles in her state after witnessing the injury and death the vehicles can cause. Now, other people in that state are echoing the call for more ATV legislation, including the Sheriff of Warren County, Mississippi and two state lawmakers.
