ATV-Related Deaths & Injuries

• August
• 21

11:31 pm ATVs

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s latest estimates, from December 30, 1987 to the end of 1991, there were more than 1033 deaths and 224,500 injuries from all ATVs. Almost 40% of the victims have been, and will continue to be, children under 16. During this period approximately 415 children died and 90,000 were injured riding ATVs. The CPSC currently estimates that there will be 239 deaths and 48,100 injuries from ATVs in 1992 alone.

Although the number of deaths and injuries from three-wheel ATVs has decreased since 1988, this was expected to occur since ATV manufacturers had already begun shifting sales from the three-wheel to four-wheel models. By December, 1987 manufacturers had already announced they were no longer producing three-wheel models.

On the other hand, the number of deaths from four-wheel ATVs has steadily increased since 1988. In fact, the CPSC estimates that the number of deaths from four-wheel ATVs will increase from 97 in 1986 to a projected 165 in 1992, a 70% increase. The number of injuries on four-wheel ATVs is also on the rise and the CPSC estimates that injuries will increase from 18,900 in 1986 to a projected 28,600 in 1992.

In 1984 the CPSC began investigating the hazards of ATVs and began rulemaking in 1985 to address the risk of ATV injuries. In December 1987, the Department of Justice filed an action in federal district court asking for a court-ordered remedy to protect consumers from ATV-related deaths and injuries on behalf of the CPSC. On the same day the CPSC filed a “preliminary consent decree” that it had negotiated with the ATV manufacturers.Concerned that the preliminary decree would not adequately protect the public, especially children, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Consumer Federation of America, Public Citizen, and the American Academy of Pediatrics moved to intervene and requested a hearing on the adequacy of the decree before approving it in final form. Although Judge Gerhard Gesell denied intervenor status, he permitted the applicants to participate as amici, and to submit proposed amendments to the decree.