FACTS

1. A study conducted by John Hopkins University compared the relative danger posed by riding four-wheel ATVs to the risk of “extreme” sports on two wheeled off-road motorcycles. The researchers found that ATV vehicle riders were fifty percent more likely to die from their injuries than those with similar injuries who were riding dirt bikes. The ATV riders were also 55 percent more likely to need hospitalization and 42 % more likely to need to be placed on a ventilator. The study authors indicate that the study dispels the myth that four wheels are always safer than two.
2. While the researchers in the John Hopkins study could not reach a definitive conclusion about why the risk of serious injury and fatality was so much higher for those on ATVs as opposed to motocross motorcycle riders, they inferred helmet use was partially responsible. Approximately sixty percent of the motocross motorcycle riders involved in the study wore helmets whereas only about thirty percent of ATV riders did.
3. The most common type of injury cause involves the ATV flipping or rolling. When this happens, an ATV driver and passenger can be thrown from the vehicle, or even pinned down by it. Many people don’t realize that, in general, ATVs are not designed to carry passengers in the back.
4. Because children often lack the physical strength, cognitive abilities, and fine motor skills to operate ATVs properly, their risk for injury is greater than that of adults. Studies have found that adolescent and teenage ATV riders have more severe injuries and more head injuries than any other age group.

STATS

• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which maintains injury statistics for ATVs, has documented a total of 14,129 reported ATV-related deaths.
• In 2015 alone, the CPSC estimates that nearly 98,000 people received emergency room treatment for ATV-related injuries.
• Tragically, 20 percent of the children were younger than 16 at the time of their deaths. The vast majority of these riders also weren’t wearing helmets.
• ATV injuries and fatalities on farms and ranches are widespread and increasing. NIOSH identified 2,090 ATV injuries and 321 ATV fatalities between 2003 and 2011, with three out of five of the occupational deaths occurring in agriculture.
• The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPCS) reported that in recent years an estimated 25,500 individuals were treated for ATV-related injuries in hospital emergency rooms; nearly 10,000 were hospitalized and over 400 deaths were recorded. Over 30 percent of the injured persons were less than 6 years of age with 27 % of the fatalities to children under 6 years of age. The CPSC report also indicated that 6.4 % of all ATV accidents occurred on the farm, resulting in more than 20 fatalities on American farms annually.
• Well over a third of on-farm deaths in 2020 are directly attributable to quad bikes and side-by-sides alone. If you add tractors into the mix, these three vehicles shockingly account for over half of all on-farm deaths”.