ATV accidents seem to be quite common anymore, I remember when it was three-wheeler accidents. They were actually made illegal in Pennsylvania. I do own an ATV. But it's more like a Gator, has six wheels, neat for hunting/yard work, has a cab that attaches, dump back, snow blower.. I'd have to seriously screw up to tip that thing over, in fact, I'd have to try to make it roll.
Wish my lawn tractor had been that way... :unsure:
Seems that nearly every ATV accident locally is fatal, or ends with someone being critically injured. In the rare times that I respond w/ the local companies I am a member of, the operators were all too small for the quad they were using, obviously not able to handle it. There are three type of accidents that seem to happen more often with them #1. Flip over backward. #2. Hit a tree/pole/fence at night. #3. Struck by a vehicle.
I don't get many in the city, obviously, but we do have moped accidents. The last call I was on here in the state forest, as a park ranger, there were five children on a quad. There are certain places where ATV’s and snowmobiles can be used on state and federal lands. This was not one of them, but somehow they got in to the property, likely on a state road at a trail crossing. If they were permitted to ride ATV’s on this trail, as with any trail on DCNR property, the speed limit is 10mph. That doesn’t change, anywhere in the commonwealth. But this trail was not set up for ATV use, it was too dangerous, as the walking path was wooden planks on railroad ties, and the railroad bridges were only rated for foot traffic due to age.
The children were going at a rate of 35-40mph, on a rails to trails path. (Abandoned railroad bed turned into a hiking path - illegal to use motorized vehicles on it due to threat to wildlife and forest fires) There are ties in the soil that give it feeling of constant speed bumps when driving on it. I took a forest fire truck down it b/c some idiot set the bridge on fire. It’s the most uneasy feeling, makes you feel like your either going to vomit or wet your pants. The ties have spikes and rail plates to add effect of walking to a ghost town. To prevent traffic, there is a gate at every former crossing, and at every logging trail. The bridge is only railed wide enough for single file walking, while it is 18' wide, the sides are blocked with iron rails pounded into the soil. We can’t block the trail with barriers, because it is important to have access in case of accidents, or again, fires.
A chain of events ultimately lead up to the crash. First a girl fell off the back, striking the base of her skull on a iron plate, killing her instantly. Second another girl, jumped off, scared, and fractured both forearms. While trying to hit the emergency kill switch, we assume, possibly unable to slow on the down grade, the vehicle hit an exposed tie, overturned down an embankment and struck a tree.
The twelve year old girl we believe to have been operating the vehicle, which has a mfg warning that it was illegal to operate unless 16 years of age, and with a permit, was found approx. ten feet away, unconscious. We packaged her, and put her in the forest fire truck, and took off to meet an ambulance, a distance of some fifteen miles, with no equipment, other than a stokes basket and a very basic first aid kit, as required by OSHA.
One girl was found under the vehicle, deceased, likely from asphyxiation. And finally there was the fifth girl, who had internal bleeding, but ran to a solar powered telephone two miles down the hill, and called the fire lookout tower for assistance... Luckily it was staffed. Her and the girl w/ the fractured arms were the only survivors, and neither could remember what happened... It was a very nasty scene. The girl who was unconscious looked like she was either paralyzed or had every bone from the neck down fractured; and the two DOA's had massive, open head injuries. None of them had helmets. Al least one would have survived with a helmet, all probably would have walked away if they had been following the 10mph federal land limit.
