ATV primer - Are they dangerous?
There are two types of ATVs. "Sport" and "Utility". THESE are sport ATVs...the kind people use to race around places like the sand dunes. That is generally the kind of ATV people ride when you hear of them getting killed or injured. Notice they look a lot different than our style of ATV.....the "Utility" type. That's not to say you can't get killed or injured on our kind....but it's a lot more rare and it's generally because it's someone playing around doing something they shouldn't. You can get killed/injured on a bicycle. For those of you who hear stories of people getting maimed on ATVs, please DO KEEP IN MIND that there are two distinct types of ATVs and two distinct types of ATV riders. I just had to post this when you are deciding to support the idea your mother proposed. It really would be a LOT of fun.
Comments
While it makes sense that a higher horsepower ATV would potentially result in more serious injuries, I can't find any clear information in the lay press or in medical literature regarding a comparison of injuries between the two types of ATVs. I've looked at several interesting articles on the subject today including one that showed similar injury risk between ATVs and motorcycles.
My unscientific study based on personal experience would suggest that ATV accidents are almost completely distributed 50% to 50%. The first group are what I will call idiot accidents. These are people going too fast, driving drunk, riding on a machine more powerful than they can handle, etc. The other 50% are riders with helmets, not at high speeds, who very accidentally and through little to no fault of their own find themselves injured.
Wow, way too long a response. My major reason for this post is NOT to condemn ATV riding, I plan on doing it more myself someday and like the 2010 family vacation idea (although I have some logistical issues that we will address at another time), but rather to just ask for more information--if available--on the studied risk of various ATVs. I plan on doing many dangerous things myself as well as with my kids including skiing, snowmobiling, hiking through known bear territory, and (when they're old enough) ATV riding. (I think I've used up my limit of space on this blog for the year)