41 ATV fatalties in WV to date 2007

WVaHillbilly · Oct 2, 2007

milkman said:
There's no way to out legislate stupidity, look at our cars, IT'S THE OPERATORS that need fixin.

I was just thinking of the roll bars,seat belts that they require on tractors,they have helped save lives. I know they have saved me from injury.
It seems to me that a roll bar and seat belt would help prevent injury if a 4 wheeler flipped over on an individual,but I agree a person needs to ride in a responsible,safe manner.

SnowRidge · Oct 2, 2007

WVaHillbilly said:
I would think that some type of roll bar and seat belt should be required or mandated on ATVs.

That would end weight shifting and standing on the pegs, which seems to an important factor in keeping one of these things under control.

'Twould also be very interesting when the roll bar hooked a branch as one of them blasted down a narrow trail in the woods.

EddieWalker · Oct 2, 2007

Shawn reminded me of two different hunting trips. One time was in the Caribou National Forest of South East Idaho. I was on public land and had been there about three days before the season opened. I had a few small bucks spotted and one that was decent, but not what I was looking for.

On the morning that hunting season opened, I d was in postition to oversee a large canyon with two ridges about an hour before daylight. For 45 minutes, I watched vehicles in the valley below driving around all over the roads. I had no idea it would be so crowded. Then a few minutes before daylight, the ATV's started showing up. They were everywhere. It was unbelievable that anybody thought they could get an animal from one of the, with all the noise they made. I sat and watched them for a few hours witout seeing a single animal. I sort of hoped they would kick something out, but nothing moved. I did hear a few shots off in the distance, but don't know if they were shooting at an animal or each other.

I learned my lesson on public land that morning and never hunted National Forest Land again.

The next time came across ATV's was on an elk hunt in the Mt. Zierkle Wilderness in Norther Colorado. No vehicles are allowed into wilderness areas. I've found that hiring an outfitter to pack a group of us in a few miles will greatly increase the number and quality of the animals seen. On this trip, we rode horses about two miles through the National Forest before crossing into the Wilderness area. The Forest area was full of ATV trails and even though it was two days before opening day, we had to get off the trail numerous times to let them pass us. Some were just out riding around, probably clueless that they were moving the animals into the Wilderness area, and others were hauling gear into their campsites along the boundry line.

Not one of them said that they had seen anything. We just smiled and kept on riding.

Of the four of us, we shot two 5x5 bull elk and the other two guys had oportunities on smaller bulls. On the way back, we were treated like celebrities because we had bulls, and nobody had seen any animals.

Eddie

RobJ · Oct 2, 2007

dooleysm said:
It seems like EVERYONE around me has one, adults, kids, it doesn't matter. It's ridiculous to me. A woman at work last year had a 9 year old son killed in an ATV accident. No way are my kids getting ATVs.

Careful, yall are getting close to blaming the "gun" or the "ATV" for these problems. A 9yo looks cute on a 700# Brute Force until they grab the throttle while holding on and it takes off. Parents are supposed to make the smart decisions for a 9yo last I checked. And even properly trained teens will have a crash once and a while and may even get killed. Teens also get killed on bikes, motocycles, skate boards and in swimming pools, cARS! and, and, and...etc.

I've seen the new cheap atvs for kids and they can be goverened. But are probably not because mom or dad wants to ride them WOT, kids see this and want to do the same. Both of my kids ride my atvs, they are a 1999 and 2002 model and have a geared tranny. When learning I put them in first gear while learning. At least this mostly took speed out of riding because I can outrun the ATV in 1st gear.

People will avoid an ATV but will pass out cell phones to new 16yo drivers. Yeah, they will never talk and drive at the same time.

Rob

WVaHillbilly · Oct 2, 2007

SnowRidge said:
That would end weight shifting and standing on the pegs, which seems to an important factor in keeping one of these things under control.

'Twould also be very interesting when the roll bar hooked a branch as one of them blasted down a narrow trail in the woods.

I never thought of the weight shifting....it would be difficult to stand up unless thge roll bar was built so you could stand up in the center. I am sure the manufactures have already thought of the roll bars.

RobJ · Oct 2, 2007

EddieWalker said:
I learned my lesson on public land that morning and never hunted National Forest Land again.

Well that's public hunting and I bet all those ATVs had one thing in common...a driver!!

What's worst an ATV driving by or a guy with a rifle. We use to hunt some of the Texas state parks and the TPWD Type I hunts. The Type I's are basically a permit to hunt on paper lands that the state leases. We get the books early, scout the land, see no one. Then on opening day 3-4 guys walk under our tree stand. Wearing orange some stop and hunt 30 yards away!! AFTER I say dude I'm here!! I hear it can get bad on the lakes when duck hunting, some guys in a boat will anchor 40 yards away and shoot over your head. Or some jet-skier will cruise up and say "yall duck hunting?"...Here's your sign fellow(see Bill Engvall).

For the deer hunting we learned to scout the areas not so easy to get go or close to a road or clearing. Then after that we'd get there REAL early and hunt late hoping all the movement would send something our way. It's funny, I've seen guys ride an ATV to a stand that's a couple hundred yards from camp.

I guess if you are on land its an ATV of motorcycle. If you are on water, it's a jet ski.

I'm glad I haven't had to public hunt for many years now.

MikeD74T · Oct 2, 2007

Wow, another post that runs the full range of emotion some based on actual experience & some on lack of experience, all valid to some degree. In another post today is a list of the 10 most dangerous jobs, I've held all except commercial fishing so my thoughts may be squewed.
I currently have 5 snowmobiles and 5 four wheelers. My grandsons ages 11 & 4 each ride. The 4 year old has "age appropriate" machines but the 11 year old has adult machines because he's physically too big for 90-120 cc machines. Rather than wait until they're 16 years old & hand them the keys to a 100 mph vehicle after the state required 40 hours of instruction I'm indoctrinating them to the time/distance relationships of motor vehicles at a slower pace for a longer time, as we did with our children. My wife & I ride slowly as an example to them. We also don't allow others on our property to ride fast enough to set a bad example. At the same time we're teaching them about maintaining safe trails and respect for property, both ours & other peoples. We belong to a club North Country ATV Home that advocates family riding and invites yahoos to ride elsewhere.
I'd never challange a parents right to choose whether your kids participate in motorized pastimes but eventually they will, and with proper guidance & accumulated experience they will survive, without they may not. I feel the same way about firearms. MikeD74T

escavader · Oct 2, 2007

MikeD74T said:
Wow, another post that runs the full range of emotion some based on actual experience & some on lack of experience, all valid to some degree. In another post today is a list of the 10 most dangerous jobs, I've held all except commercial fishing so my thoughts may be squewed.
I currently have 5 snowmobiles and 5 four wheelers. My grandsons ages 11 & 4 each ride. The 4 year old has "age appropriate" machines but the 11 year old has adult machines because he's physically too big for 90-120 cc machines. Rather than wait until they're 16 years old & hand them the keys to a 100 mph vehicle after the state required 40 hours of instruction I'm indoctrinating them to the time/distance relationships of motor vehicles at a slower pace for a longer time, as we did with our children. My wife & I ride slowly as an example to them. We also don't allow others on our property to ride fast enough to set a bad example. At the same time we're teaching them about maintaining safe trails and respect for property, both ours & other peoples. We belong to a club North Country ATV Home that advocates family riding and invites yahoos to ride elsewhere.
I'd never challange a parents right to choose whether your kids participate in motorized pastimes but eventually they will, and with proper guidance & accumulated experience they will survive, without they may not. I feel the same way about firearms. MikeD74T

Very well said MIKE,Icant agree more!!!!!
My kids were raised on the atvs and snowmobiles,riding on the with us at a very early age.We ride all over this state each summer,from smooth logging roads ,to severe offroad mountain climbing.It is the whole familys favorite activity,and we get alot of family time togeather.We are all very saferiders,always using good judgement and practicing safaty first,and i might add similar to most riders here in WESTERN MAINE.We all belong to a club,that helps maintain the trails,and also support local charities etc.The kids wear helmets.The oldest started riding moms old machine with us on the trails this year-she does great.They both ride the two magnums on our property,inlow gear and under supervision.I will not allow the youngest to ride alone on any trail ride,i dont feel she is of adequate size or strength yet,however the oldest is 180 lbs and a very strong kid.She also drove her own snowmobile riding with me last winter.Let her ride with friends or alone ?NO WAY!
We dont have but a handfull of deaths each year on atvs.Its because the riders in this state got our acts togeather,with laws on the books,about kids riding,mandatory safety courses ,helmets for kids,and lots and lots of clubs to educate.Anew law is about to be passed i presume ,if you dont belong to a club you will pay a lot more to register.Get caught drinkin and you lose your drivers licence and any licence for inland fisherys and wildlife,such as huntig and fishing.Although down there things might be way out of hand ,its a relitively safe sport up here.I think more get shot deer hunting then killed on atvs up here.
Roll bars will make matters worse on an atv.sometimes we practically lay them on their side to get into a ravine or on a washed out trail .Aroll bar will just make them tippy.Need a low center of gravity -it is an off road vehicle or ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE. I would never strap myself or a passenger on .Your just asking to be crushed.
ALAN

RayH · Oct 2, 2007

I have no problem with kids on 4wheelers. They didnt really exist when I grew up, all we had were motorcycles and the occational 3wheeler-(talk about a death trap), so I grew up on dirt bikes. I had motorcycles from about the same age I could ride a bicycle until a graduated high school. I also rode them on the streets but only as a means to get from point A to point B. We saved all the crazy stuff for the dirt, mud, hills and woods.
Now the problem I have with kids riding on the roads these days is that they seem to be doing their "crazy stuff" on the streets. If they could just obey the rules of the road, use some sense and save the crazies for someplace appropriate, I would have no problem sharing the roads with ATVs or motorcycles. But that doesnt seem to be the case.
I know its not logical but sometimes I truely believe people are getting dumber. 30 years ago we rode on the streets and had no problems, we rode in pickup beds and (usually) didnt fall out, the whole time I was in HS, only one kid from our county killed himself drinking and driving, no one wore seatbelts and he was the only fatality I can remember, no one ODed, no one shot or stabbed other students or their parents, I dont know what happened. The people I went to school with are the parents of todays generation of idiots. What went wrong?