Six drowning victims' bodies were pulled from the deceptively cold Strawberry Reservoir in 2006. Two were from drownings in 2006, one had been missing since 2001 and three dated back to 1995. Improved search equipment aided in finding the victims. Hypothermia and sudden violent storms are considered two of the biggest dangers at Strawberry.

When Utah's inland sands start calling, Little Sahara is the most popular ATV haven. Each year Little Sahara, west of Nephi and north of Delta, has more than 200,000 visitors come to its dunes.

There were 61 reported ATV crashes causing injuries — and three deaths — in Utah state parks during 2006. That compares to 97 injuries and two deaths in 2005. That does not include the 919 reported accidents and 13 fatalities in the past five years at Little Sahara (five of those deaths were not ATV-related).

"The major factors that have contributed to these accidents are alcohol, excessive speed and not following the laws and regulations," said Wende Wilding of the Richfield office of the Bureau of Land Management. "Young children riding on oversize OHVs, as well as riding with no helmet, contribute also to these accidents."

It is true that the great majority of Utahns — 92 percent, in fact — die from natural causes. Accidents generally get the headlines, though, and also have another notable aspect, safety experts say:

Most are preventable.

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com; sspeckman@desnews.com