Reports say that Rivers was driving on a path near South Chestnut Street and East Franklin Avenue in the Beulah community southeast of downtown Foley when he struck a wire that had been strung across the path. London sustained serious neck injuries when she hit the wire and was pronounced dead at the scene. Rivers also received serious neck injuries and was taken to South Baldwin Hospital for treatment. The older girl suffered no injuries and was released to family.

Authorities say the accident took place about 6:15. The incident is under investigation and no arrests have been made. Some reports say that the wire was strung between 2 posts, one on each side of the trail, bearing “no trespassing” signs.

London would have celebrated her fourth birthday next week.

According to government records, children represent 40% of all ATV-related injuries and deaths. More than 50 children are admitted to Alabama Children’s hospitals every year with injuries they received in an ATV rollover or other accident. The most common injuries associated with ATV accidents involve the head, face, and spine; traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and paralysis, and fractures are some of the serious injuries children typically receive in ATV crashes.

ATV injuries and deaths have escalated sharply in the last couple of years as off-road vehicles become increasingly popular.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › 3-year-old Alabama girl dies when ATV strikes a wire

According to KSL, an NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, Olson hopped onto the back of a friend’s ATV last September and went for a ride. Her friend lost control of the vehicle, and in the accident, Olson, who was not wearing a helmet, struck her head.

Olson’s mother Kim Laird told KSL that emergency workers said her daughter had actually died at the scene. Olson spent nearly a month in a coma. Now, a year after the accident, she spends her days in rehab trying to relearn the basic, everyday functions that most people take for granted: walking, talking, eating, and even blinking, too.

“It injured the motor skills in the right side of her brain, that operates the opposite side of her body,” Laird explained to KSL. “I really do believe if she had a helmet on she would not be in the condition she’s in,” Laird said.

Olson warned other ATV and motorcycle riders to wear their helmets. “I’ve suffered enough. I wouldn’t want anyone to suffer as much as I have,” she told KSL.

Olson and her family hope for a full recovery from the debilitating effects of the traumatic brain injury. “I want to be … to get up, to go to my car and go to the mall and go shopping,” she told KSL.

The Utah Department of Health says that at the time of injury, only 29 percent of seriously injured Utahns under the age of 18 were wearing a helmet as state law requires. Utah law does not require people age 18 and older to wear helmets while operating or riding on an ATV.

For the full story and a video of Morgan Olson’s story, click here.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Utah teenager injured on ATV urges others to wear helmets

Friends of Ritter told the Gaston Gazette that he was always smiling, that he would never part with his ragged Old Navy cap, that he had an appetite for double cheeseburgers and was seldom seen without a Pepsi. He was someone we all know. To a 4-year-old girl named Lily, he was Dad.

Ritter was driving an ATV less than a mile from his home near High Shoals, N.C. on Tuesday, September 8. He attempted to pass another ATV driven by 20-year-old Jackson Depietro, resulting in a collision that caused both vehicles to wreck.

Ritter’s passenger, 15-year-old Michelle King, and Depietro received treatment at a local hospital and have since been released. Ritter was thrown from the vehicle and hit the ground, receiving a severe head injury. He was transported to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he died on Friday.

According to the NC Highway Patrol, none of the three were wearing helmets, required by state law unless the vehicle is being used for farming, hunting or trapping.

The Gaston Gazette reported that Ritter was a car racing enthusiast who would spend his free time at the local track and racing events. After he became a father, however, he gave up his favorite hobby to spend as much time as he could with his daughter. Rather than racing cars, Ritter became a spectator, and he would often take Lily to the speedway to watch the races.

“She loved to go out to the dirt track and watch races with him,” Ritter’s wife Hope told the Gaston Gazette.  “That was one of their hobbies.”

East Lincoln Motor Speedway, where Anthony was a regular, held a memorial for him during its weekend races. A video of the memorial can be viewed online at YouTube.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › ATV collision claims the life of North Carolina racing enthusiast

Forest “Eddie” Ray was killed on September 13, 2007 while operating a Yamaha Rhino near his home in Orange County, Texas, about 50 miles southeast of Houston. School was closed for the day as Hurricane Humberto approached the area, giving Ray some free time to enjoy the family ATV.

Reports say that Ray tried to maneuver the Rhino from grass onto a paved road when the rollover occurred. Ray sustained a fatal head injury when the vehicle rolled over onto him, crushing his head. His parents allege in the lawsuit that Yamaha made and marketed a product they knew to be defectively designed and prone to roll over. They also accuse Yamaha of skimping on costs by not installing vital safety features.

Earlier this year, Yamaha attorneys argued that the fine print on an agreement signed by the plaintiffs at their Yamaha dealership precluded the plantiffs’ right to take their grievances to trial. Court documents showed that the plaintiffs’ finance agreement from the dealership contained an arbitration clause.

The court denied Yamaha’s motion to force arbitration on June 30. An appeal was rejected on July 16. The trial opened on August 17 in the 163rd Judicial Court in Orange County, Texas before a jury of eight men and five women.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › First Yamaha Rhino lawsuit goes to trial

Following the advice of his doctors, Bullock’s parents moved him to the Children’s Center in Bethany, Oklahoma, a non-profit pediatric hospital. Bullock would spend the next two years of his life at the center, relearning the most basic functions of living – walking, talking, eating. The hospital staff persisted in treating Bullock, even though he showed no signs of improvement for 6 months.

Suddenly, the spark of life that people recognized as Bullock, the boy they remembered, began to emerge. Rehab workers had engaged Bullock in a slew of therapeutic exercises with little to no result, but musical therapy proved different.

According to Tami Crawford, a recreational therapist at the Children’s Center, following the patient’s leads and customizing therapy sessions is essential to recovery.

“It’s all about thinking outside the box – working with the patients themselves about what they want and can actually do,” she told The Oklahoman.

Bullock enthusiastically participated in his musical therapy sessions and began singing before he recovered his ability to talk.

Megan Long, a music therapist who worked with Bullock, said that music rehabilitates the whole brain. “Music is a full-brain function. If you have brain damage in one part of the brain, we can still use music to retrain that other side of the brain because music appears all over the place,” she told The Oklahoman.

“If the language portion of your brain is damaged you may lose the language but with music, you could still sing,” Long explained.

Bullock moved back home after living at the Children’s Center for two years, but he was determined to give back to the hospital that helped him so much. Now an Eagle Scout and a junior in high school, Bullock works on improving playgrounds at the Children’s Center and elsewhere – civic duties that give him a vast amount of joy. He also completed a two-mile Walk to Cure Diabetes course with his parents.

The injuries Bullock received in the ATV accident years ago still continue to shape his life – his left arm is numb and rigid and he has problems walking — but the young man is determined they won’t hold him back.

SOURCE: Yamaha Rhino Rollover › Boy’s recovery from ATV accident injuries considered a miracle