ATV-related deaths surpass 15,000, with kids making up more than 20%: report

Bethesda, MD — All-terrain vehicle-related deaths involving kids younger than 16 accounted for more than 1 in 5 of the 15,000-plus ATV-related deaths recorded between 1982 and 2017 in the United States, according to a recent Consumer Product Safety Commission report.

The commission’s 2017 Annual Report of ATV-Related Deaths and Injuries report states that, of the 15,250 total ATV-related fatalities recorded over the three-and-a-half decades, 3,315 (21.7%) were children 15 and younger. Of those, 1,450 (43.7%, and 9.5% of the overall total) were younger than 12.

States with the most ATV-related deaths from 1982 to 2014 were Texas (773), Pennsylvania (702), West Virginia (698), California (694) and Kentucky (629).

Last year, CPSC launched a campaign encouraging riders to keep ATVs off paved public roads. Nearly one-third of reported deaths from 2010 to 2013 occurred on public roads, according to the commission.

“Even if your county or town law permits ATVs to be driven on paved public roads, we urge you to take caution and keep your ATVs off these roads,” Ann Marie Buerkle, acting chair of CPSC, said in a press release. “Off-road vehicles are not designed to be driven on paved surfaces, and collisions with cars and other on-road vehicles can be deadly for ATV operators.”

The study defines an ATV as an “off-road, motorized vehicle having three or four low-pressure tires, a straddle seat for the operator, and handlebars for steering control.”