More than 550 people died in ATV accidents in '06

WASHINGTON — At least 555 people — including more than 100 children — died in all-terrain vehicle accidents in 2006. Government safety officials expect the number to go much higher as they receive information from coroners and hospitals nationwide.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated that an additional 146,600 people were treated in emergency rooms for ATV-related injuries — more than a quarter of them children.

As of 2004, the Utah Department of Health reported 12 people die each year on average and 4,000 are treated in emergency rooms for injuries suffered in off-highway-vehicle accidents.

Eric Stucki, Utah's off-highway vehicle education coordinator, said most of the accidents occur because operators overlook manufacturer specifications and Utah law. All too often operators take friends or family members, sometimes up to two passengers at a time, on vehicles specifically designed for one rider only. "More than one rider at a time is dangerous," Stucki said in a press release. "OHVs are not built for multiple riders because added weight shifts the overall center of gravity, making the machine more susceptible to tip or roll."

Consumer groups and parents who have lost children in crashes have complained for years about the safety of the popular off-road vehicles.

The industry contends it's not the ATV but the driver that's the problem.

"ATVs have never been shown to be an unsafe product, but there have been bad decisions made by people sitting on the seat," said Mike Mount, a spokesman for the California-based Specialty Vehicle Institute of America.

In its annual report released Thursday, the CPSC said Pennsylvania has had the highest number of reported ATV deaths since 1982, followed by California, West Virginia, Texas and Kentucky. Every state had at least one death attributed to ATVs.

The report said Utah had 131 deaths between Jan. 1, 1982, and Dec. 31, 2006.

"The signs are pointing to a very dangerous trend into more than 800 deaths per year," said CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson. The agency is still gathering data as far back as 2003. The report updates CPSC data with numbers from 2006, the latest year that agency staff have analyzed.

In 2005, there were 666 confirmed deaths related to ATVs, and the CPSC estimates the toll for that year could reach 870.

While overall injuries have risen steadily since 1997, injuries to children were down from 44,700 in 2004 to 39,300 in 2006.

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Contributing: Steve Fidel, Deseret Morning News