Last week, an 11-year-old boy was critically injured after being thrown from an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on Jacksonville’s Westside. On Tuesday, July 19, the boy died of his injuries at Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, according to a report by Channel 4. Quoting the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the boy was on Manning Cemetery Road and was riding on the back of a four-wheel ATV on July 14 at about 2 p.m. The force of hitting a cattle guard threw the boy off the back of the vehicle. Neither of the other two people on the ATV, the 14-year-old operator or the 10-year-old passenger, was injured.
Our condolences are extended to the friends and family of this young boy for his sudden, unexpected passing.
We do not know the model or make the ATV but we do know is that children love to ride in ATVs.
During the Memorial Day holiday last year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that 28 deaths occurred in just four days. That is about seven deaths per day and five of the fatalities occurred in children under the age of 16.
ATV Precautions
Under Florida law, ATVs are not supposed to be used on paved roads so investigators in this case wanted to know where the accident occurred. The CPSC says everyone riding an ATV should take a hands-on safety training course and always wear a helmet.
Regardless of where it occurred in 2008 alone, 135,100 people, including 37,700 children, were treated in hospital emergency rooms for ATV-related injuries. And injuries appear to be increasing. According to a report in BusinessWeek, between 2000 and 2005, injuries increased about 60% with children accounting for about one-third of all ATV injuries and deaths.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) reported last year that multiple riders in an ATV were 10 times more likely to need an amputation.
Children shouldn’t be driving ATV’s, said the group, but that doesn’t seem to be affecting sales. In 1985, there were about 400,000 ATVs in the United States. Today there are estimated to be more than 9 million.
