National report details total number of serious ATV injuries
Serious injuries caused by ATVs in 2007 remained at virtually a flat rate compared to the year prior, according to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The report found serious ATV injuries requiring emergency room treatment rose from 146,000 in 2006 to 150,900 in 2007, an increase of less than 1 percent that the CPSC deemed was not statistically significant. However since 2001, there has been a 37 percent increase in serious injuries.
The estimated number of ATV-related fatalities fell from 948 in 2005 to 882 in 2006. To date, 542 reports of ATV-related fatalities have been identified for 2007, but the CPSC said this number is expected to increase as additional data is gathered. The states with the highest numbers of reported deaths identified in the period 2005-2007 were West Virginia (143), Florida (123) and Kentucky (114).
Children under 16 suffered 40,000 serious injuries in 2007, or 27 percent of all injuries, the CPSC said. This is a 2 percent increase from the 2006 estimate. CPSC found this decrease was not statistically significant. However since 2001, there has been an increase of 17 percent in the number of children under 16 seriously injured on ATVs.
