Well Known Hazards of ATVs

[Bird]

I don't know whether this would be better in this forum or in the safety forum, but . . .. My wife just got off the phone with our old rancher friends and neighbors. Their 12 year old grandson took his little 3 year old brother for a ride on their 4-wheeler Friday evening, with the little guy sitting in front of him. The kid lost control in gravel, hit a tree, and ricocheted into a rusty barbed wire fence. The 12 year old has a broken arm, but the little guy is in critical condition in the hospital; don't know whether he's going to live or not. Needless to say, the 12 year old and the parents are really down, blaming themselves for allowing this to happen.

 

[Birdman]

That is really sad, hope the little guy makes it. Having owned an ATV for the past 8 years I have had a few mishaps, just been lucky that none of them resulted in serious injury. I think the ATV is one of the most dangerous things here on the farm, it is also one of the most useful. Please keep us informed of the outcome.

 

[bczoom]

Bird,

That is truly sad. My prayers go out to the little guy and the entire family.

Like Birdman said, they are one of the most dangerous but most useful pieces of equipment.

I've had a major accident on mine and spent several weeks in critical condition as well. I pulled through and am wishing the same for the little guy.

My 3 yr. old rides with me on occasion but I take it very easy and give him lots of protection. His safety is one of the main reasons I switched to a RTV.

Brian

 

[Bird]

My wife said the grandmother told her they hit a tree first, but the very brief story in the local newspaper (Corsicana Daily Sun) quoted the State Trooper as saying they were on a county road traveling at an unsafe speed on a gravel surface when they lost control and hit a barbed wire fence. Incidentally, there was a third boy, another 12 year old, on the back who did not suffer any injuries requiring a trip to the hospital.

 

[BB_TX]

That is truly sad and I hope that all turns out well. But as hindsight is almost 20-20, looking back it had all the elements for a disaster waiting to happen, immature operator, out of sight of adults and unsupervised, too many riders, and the kid probably trying to impress the riders on how he could drive. And just the slightest mistake on a 4 wheeler can send it flying out of control. He probably drove the machine safely around adults and they felt he could be trusted. Now they must all suffer for that.
I had mine up at the farm last weekend and on slopes that I mow across on my tractor, I could not go across on the 4 wheeler. Felt much more tippy than the tractor.

 

[Dargo]

I've not commented for quite a while because I have 5 kids and have been accused of being overly protective. Also, I truely hope the little guy comes out okay.

Way back when my 16 year old was 7, I had an ATV and he loved to ride it with me. I began teaching him how to drive it with me behind him helping him along. Much to my surprise, he suddenly jerked the front wheels to one side and hit the throttle. He later explained he saw that done on TV. He was trying to do a "donut". The ATV flipped. I held onto the handlebars and kept my feet firmly planted on the foot pegs and created a "safety cage" around him as it went over. It worked well for him, but broke my left femur. He was uninjured.

I sold the ATV and really worried what a 600 pound ATV would have done to him. Since then, it seems "all" of the neighbor kids have gotten ATV's and my kids want to go riding with them. My compromise was to buy the Kubota RTV, and later, a Yamaha Rhino. Although nothing will be completely safe, both of these vehicles feature fully certified ROPS and safety belts.

Again, I hope the little guy comes out okay. I'm just a doting father and am paranoid about knowing what a 600 pound ATV can do to a child. Please don't take this post as preaching, because it isn't. I know how bad the kids want to ride - I raced motocross for years as well as having several ATV's - but I really think kids under 16 shouldn't be on an ATV, especially if it doesn't have a roll cage and seat belts.

 

[Bowhunter]

Bird my prayers are with the 3 year old. I fully hope to hear that he made it through with no problems.

Dargo, have you done anything to modify the ROPS on your Rhino? A fellow member of an atv discussion board I belong to wrecked his Rhino a while back when he hit a snow bank, rolling the machine. His left leg fell out of the driver's area and was broken by the machine. He and others are looking into attaching some webbing along the bottom of the "door" area to keep this from happening in the future. They're thinking of something similar to what stock car drivers have in their windows.

 

[bczoom]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( A fellow member of an atv discussion board I belong to wrecked his Rhino a while back when he hit a snow bank, rolling the machine. His left leg fell out of the driver's area and was broken by the machine.)</font>

Several places are coming out with 1/2 doors for just this reason. I'm pretty sure Hunterworks and/or Tommy Toppers has something in the works.

 

[Bowhunter]

That would be the ticket!

 

[Dargo]

Yes, that seems to be the one potential "problem" area with a Rhino roll over. The 1/2 doors seem to be extremely overpriced from what I've seen. I'm either going to use the netting like you'd mentioned or make my own "leg minders" from some round stock. I even kept the wrist restraints from the Honda Pilots I had and have my son use those when he wants to blast around on the Rhino. I'd strongly prefer it not get rolled, but I'm only too aware that it can happen.