Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) can be great fun for children and adults alike; unfortunately, these same recreational vehicles are the cause or mechanism of thousands upon thousands of personal injuries and, in some instances, the deaths of children. Just because an All Terrain Vehicle seems like great fun – – parents and other adults responsible for the care and well being of children should pay close attention to the statistics out there which show over 100,000 visits to the emergency room due to injuries / deaths attributed to All Terrain Vehicle use and operation. Some States like Pennsylvania have restrictions as age requiremnts for use of ATVs. While laws can help deter dangerous activities by children and dangerous activities permitted by adults, children across the Nation and in Pennsylvania continue to operate All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) without training, licensure, adult supervision, or proper training. There are dangers both when a child operates an ATV and when a child is a passenger of an ATV. At any moment, a child operator or passenger can fall off of an ATV. This can be especially dangerous if the child is not wearing a helmet, the ATV is being operated at a high rate of speed and / or is taking a sharp turn, and when the ATV is being operated on rough terrain or on a street.