Safety for off-road vehicles

A new report has highlighted the risk of crashes involving ATVs being operated off-road by young drivers. According to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the US, ATV injuries led to over 2 million visits to hospital emergency departments in the period between 2000 and 2015. In 2015 alone, there were 108,000 visits to emergency rooms in the US, as a result of ATV crashes.
November 14, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

A new report has highlighted the risk of crashes involving ATVs being operated off-road by young drivers. According to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the US, ATV injuries led to over 2 million visits to hospital emergency departments in the period between 2000 and 2015. In 2015 alone, there were 108,000 visits to emergency rooms in the US, as a result of ATV crashes.

A recent article in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons states that ATV crashes can result in serious brain injuries as well as skull fractures, concussions, spinal fractures, and a range of other broken bones.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) has started a campaign to raise awareness over the risks involving crashes with ATVs.

“While the AAOS campaign, and various other public safety campaigns have had a visible impact on ATV related injuries, more needs to be done,” said Joey Johnson, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and an author of the article titled, “Trends in all-terrain vehicle injuries from 2000 to 2015 and the effect of targeted public safety campaigns.”

Orthopedic surgeons have to deal with the injuries to many patients who end up in hospital emergency facilities following ATV crashes. As a result, AAOS introduced a multimedia campaign in 2007 to highlight the risks facing young and inexperienced drivers.

There was an upward trend in the injury rate from 2000, when the injury rate was 36/100,000 people. The injury rate then peaked in 2007 at 54/100,000. However following the campaign, ATV injuries decreased 34% between 2007 and 2015, dropping back to 34/100,000.

Related Content

  • EU missing target of halving road deaths by 2020, says ETSC
    April 12, 2018
    Halving the number of deaths on Europe’s roads by 2020 is not likely to be achieved, according to the European Transport Safety Council. The 28 members of the European Union reduced the number of road deaths by 20% from 2010-2017, far less than the 38% cut needed to stay on course to meet the 2020 target. The European Commission has just published data showing that deaths on EU roads fell by only 2% last year, following a similar decrease in 2016 and a 1% increase in 2015. “For four years in a row, the
    Read More
  • UK road safety sees good and bad
    February 5, 2016
    There is both good and bad to be seen in the latest data on UK road safety from the Department for Transport (DfT). For the year ending September 2015 there were 23,700 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, a 3% decrease compared with the previous year. However road deaths increased by 3% to 1,780, compared with 1,731 for the year ending September 2014. There were also 188,830 reported road casualties of all severities, 3% lower than for the year ending September 2014. Of note is the fact that motor
    Read More
  • The global road safety crisis needs to be addressed
    October 12, 2017
    The global road casualty rate continues to climb as motorisation levels grow and is particularly acute in the developing world. Developing countries suffer from a particularly high rate of crashes and around 90% of road fatalities. The impact, both in economic and human terms, is unsustainable. These countries cannot afford the loss to their economies of the young and economically active.
    Read More
  • The global road safety crisis needs to be addressed
    October 12, 2017
    The global road casualty rate continues to climb as motorisation levels grow and is particularly acute in the developing world. Developing countries suffer from a particularly high rate of crashes and around 90% of road fatalities. The impact, both in economic and human terms, is unsustainable. These countries cannot afford the loss to their economies of the young and economically active.
    Read More

Highlighted Content