Here is a story from the Syracuse paper this am....
Click here >>>
ATV injuries, ridership on rise <<<
As with more riders will come more injuries... its a simple fact...
Why are they not reporting on the kayak user increase and subsequent drownings... and the increase of them????...
Hmmm... makes you really think.... lets single out the ATV's !!!
I guess it is the way I am reading it... having had a issue with a local camp owner near me today doesn't help me in this matter I guess....
Anyways.... here is what the article says if you don't want to click on the link...
ATV injuries, ridership on rise
Common sense urged for riders to reduce number of accidents that maim or kill. Sunday, July 15, 2007By Catie O'Toole Staff writer
More people are buying and riding all-terrain vehicles than ever before.
At the same time, more ATV riders are getting hurt and dying.
There were 18 fatal ATV crashes statewide in 2005, the latest year for which statistics are available from the U.S. Department of Transportation. That's up from two in 1994.
The number of people injured while riding ATVs appears to be climbing locally.
Last year, University Hospital treated 36 people injured in ATV accidents. So far this year, the hospital has treated 32 people, including 18 who were admitted to the hospital, according to Doretta Royer, a hospital spokeswoman.
According to police reports, one ATV hit a rock in a field. Another struck a guide rail on a city street while fleeing police. Most of the machines flipped or rolled, throwing riders far enough for it to hurt. Some riders were wearing helmets. Others were not. But all have survived.
"These people who are crashing, they're just not thinking," said ATV rider Thelma Moot, 62, of Altmar, who got her first four-wheeler two years ago.
"It's a sad thing because it takes away from the people who are really interested in riding four-wheelers," she said. "Just use regular common sense. You shouldn't have three people on a four-wheeler."
ATVs are so popular the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates 16.3 million Americans ride them.
In New York state, ATV sales jumped more than 200 percent from 1995 to 2006. Last year, vendors sold 856,000 new machines.
Catie O'Toole can be reached at
cotoole@syracuse.com or 592-7140.
